File/Folder Management

[Hellmark]

Is there anyway to have calibre manage book files and folder better? I have a few books that some how has three different files, but was only copied in once. Only one entry in Calibre, but shows folders as if that wasn't the case.

Basically, would be nice to have it go through and delete that those are in the calibre directory, but is not in calibre.

Also, would it be possible to not have it append the number to the end of the folders?

[itimpi]

Originally Posted by Hellmark

Also, would it be possible to not have it append the number to the end of the folders?

It is not possible to remove the number. This is required to allow Calibre to be able to handle duplicates correctly.

Ideally you should treat the Calibre library folders as a "black box" and not manipulate their contents outside Calibre.

[Hellmark]

That is kind of stupid behavior, ignoring the files, when calibre doesn't do everything. If I have to edit a book that is in Calibre, well, I'll need to work with those files.

[itimpi]

Fair enough, although I do know a number of people who prefer to export the file from Calibre when they want to work on it and then import it back when they have finished. It all depends on how you prefer to work.

The key point is to not rename any of the files while they are in the calibre file system or Calibre will lose track of them.

[PKFFW]

Originally Posted by itimpi

It is not possible to remove the number. This is required to allow Calibre to be able to handle duplicates correctly.

Ideally you should treat the Calibre library folders as a "black box" and not manipulate their contents outside Calibre.

Originally Posted by itimpi

Fair enough, although I do know a number of people who prefer to export the file from Calibre when they want to work on it and then import it back when they have finished. It all depends on how you prefer to work.

The key point is to not rename any of the files while they are in the calibre file system or Calibre will lose track of them.

I have often needed to convert files into many different formats to find which one works best on my reader. This means I often end up with the initial file added to Calibre and then at least 2-3 other formats.

Once I find the one I like, is it ok to just delete the others via windows explorer or some other application? Will Calibre still be able to keep track of the original and whatever is left? Or should I delete the unwanted files via Calibre and if so how do I do that?

Cheers,
PKFFW

[itimpi]

You should delete unwanted files via Calibre or you will end up with incosistencies between the Calibre metadata database and the actual file system.

If you want to keep the Book Entry in Calibre, then you can remove specific formats for a single book via the Edit Meta data dialog, or a specific format for many books via the Bulk Edit metadata dialog.

[PKFFW]

Thanks itimpi, didn't realise you could do it from the edit metadata dialog. That's a big help in keeping my collection small and clean.

Cheers,
PKFFW