Calibre deletes original file after adding books to library!?

[graphys]

Hi all,

where do I find the setting to avoid that calibre deletes the original .epub file after adding a book to the library?

Thx
graphys

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by graphys

where do I find the setting to avoid that calibre deletes the original .epub file after adding a book to the library?

Since calibre does not delete books by default you are may have to be more specific.

Look at Preferences - Adding books - Automatic Adding tab. If you have a folder specified and you put books in that folder as a method of adding books to calibre then the original books will be deleted. Stop using the Automatic Adding feature and you'll be fine.

If this is not the method you're using then the original epub (outside of calibre's library) will not be deleted. If you are not using the automatic adding method and you think your original books are being deleted then you have to clarify exactly what is happening.

[graphys]

Originally Posted by DoctorOhh

Since calibre does not delete books by default you are may have to be more specific.

Look at Preferences - Adding books - Automatic Adding tab. If you have a folder specified and you put books in that folder as a method of adding books to calibre then the original books will be deleted. Stop using the Automatic Adding feature and you'll be fine.

If this is not the method you're using then the original epub (outside of calibre's library) will not be deleted. If you are not using the automatic adding method and you think your original books are being deleted then you have to clarify exactly what is happening.

Thx for your help.
I was adding the books automatically and did not know that the original files will be deleted then.

[BetterRed]

see attachment - BR

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

see attachment - BR

Better Red, Doctor Ohh:

I've tried auto-adding with files in folders, which, it seems, does not work. I want to be able to add multiple folders, each containing a single book in two/three formats, no conversion needed or wanted. I know I can do this one folder at a time, using "Add Books from Directories," but I know that there must be a faster way that I'm simply not seeing. Selecting multiple folders in the aforementioned does not work. Can you point me at the correct destructions, please?

I don't want to use Auto-add for a single version of a book, and then have to manually add copies in other formats, that won't save me any time. I have about 2,000 I need to add--fast-ish ideas are welcome.

Thx much,
Hitch

[BetterRed]

Have you tried the second option - see attachment - I think this caters for the situation where there are multiple formats of the same book in each sub-directory (subfolder)

BR

[At_Libitum]

mehh, I hope then that each version does indeed live in its own subfolder, with 2000ish titles you don't want to have to separate them out into folders if the various formats are contained in the same folder for a single title.

Seems a combination of 2nd and 3rd option would solve that problem
"Multiple books per folder, assume every ebook file is a different format."

[Sabardeyn]

Hitch,
Another thing that might help when adding books is the merge settings, which should merge ebook formats where the title and author of a newly added book matches an existing entry in the database. Under BetterRed's image above, the last entry Control the adding of books has the settings that you need to control this function. The title and author information is obtained from your current import regex formula (Prefs>Adding Books>Regex) and metadata from filename/inside file settings.

One thing to keep in mind when Merging books is to pay particular attention to the other metadata - pub date, IDs (isbn, asin, etc), cover image, language, and anything else not in the filename. It is very easy to merge two different editions of a book if the title or series doesn't adequately specify any difference between editions. This becomes particularly true if you download metadata (which is prone to errors), get metadata from inside the ebook file, or share a database with another user (do they enter accurate metadata). Or any other variation in contents that would require a new ISBN be issued (guest foreward/intro, expanded storyline, reprint, illustrated, etc).

I'm not sure the above consideration pertains to your usage Hitch, but thought I would mention it -- "full disclosure" and all that.

I hope this is of some help.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

Have you tried the second option - see attachment - I think this caters for the situation where there are multiple formats of the same book in each sub-directory (subfolder)

BR

Red:

Yes, of course I've tried that; it only adds books from one folder at a time. You can't select multiple folders--it doesn't work.

@At_Libitum:

Well, yes, that would be nice if it worked, but it doesn't, which is why I'm asking here. We have archives of the books we've created for our clients. Each archive folder is authorname--booktitle with the created books inside, which are ePUB, MOBI, (once in a blue moon an LRF) and sometimes PDF. The 3rd option puts EVERY book in, even if you have 3 with the same title, as a "new" book. The 2nd option won't allow you to select multiple folders, unless I've missed a step. Unless the 2nd option requires that you pick a higher-level directory--e.g., "Books-For-Calibre" and then copy all our archives over to it selectively for the new books we want to archive (?). (Honestly, if that's the answer, I'm going to head-smack myself. I think I'll go try it. I know this sounds dense, but I didn't.)

@Sabardeyn:

Thanks. I'm pretty cautious about adding material, so I generally tell it not to add any books that it sees already in Calibre, as our cataloging has not been as scrupulous as it should be. The catalog is for other purposes; our archives are well-maintained, but cataloging tends to take a long-ish time, and is done when we have down-time.

We primarily use it to then export the data to disk, naming each cover individually, so that we can then FTP them (the covers) en masse to our website. Then, using Calibre's capture of the metadata we've embedded in the epUBs we can copy and paste a) the book description, b) the author info, and c) display evenly-sized covers (more or less) across the website. I know it seems very labor-intensive, but believe it or not, it seems to be the most consistent way to obtain the data we need to update our site in an organized fashion. ;-)

Because we have some of the authors up there, and some of the books, (about 700-ish) we get emails from authors being very...well, annoyed, if they are not up there. It's not something we've ever promised, and I certainly never intended the booklist to be all-inclusive, but....

Hitch

[BetterRed]

Then I must have misunderstood what you want to do, as I use that option almost every day to add dozens of 'book folders' in a single operation - each subfolder contains multiple files of the same 'text' in different formats.

If necessary move the individual book folders into an outer folder - 'books2add' - and use that folder.

If for some reason you cant move the folders into an outer folder, then copy the folders to an outer folder, or if you're short of disk space create folder links in the outer folder.

BR

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

Then I must have misunderstood what you want to do, as I use that option almost every day to add dozens of 'book folders' in a single operation - each subfolder folder contains multiple files of the same 'text' in different formats.

If necessary move the individual book folders into an outer folder - 'books2add' - and use that folder.

If for some reason you cant move the folders into an outer folder, then copy the folders to an outer folder, or if you're short of disk space create folder links in the outer folder.

BR

Ahem.



OK, so, this is one of those "oh, I am so stupid I don't want to admit it" moments. I kept trying to select multiple individual folders, inside my archive folder. For some reason, I just didn't think to go up a level. (I know--please don't say it.)

Some of our folders do have the occasional odd thing in them, for one reason or another, so I went through the various options and told the upload to ignore pretty much anything except the 4 "formats" that we make (we provide ePDF's and POD PDF's on occasion, so I'm including them for archival purposes, and we have made the odd LRF for clients on the African continent).

So, thanks, everyone, for making me see the obvious. I'm going to go back and shut up now. I just don't know what it is about me and Calibre; the stuff that seems obvious to everyone else isn't to me. I simply think slightly askew, I suppose, or am too OCD.

Thank you...I'm leaving now and going back to my formatting comfort zone.

Hitch

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by Hitch

Ahem.



OK, so, this is one of those "oh, I am so stupid I don't want to admit it" moments. I kept trying to select multiple individual folders, inside my archive folder. For some reason, I just didn't think to go up a level. (I know--please don't say it.)

Some of our folders do have the occasional odd thing in them, for one reason or another, so I went through the various options and told the upload to ignore pretty much anything except the 4 "formats" that we make (we provide ePDF's and POD PDF's on occasion, so I'm including them for archival purposes, and we have made the odd LRF for clients on the African continent).

So, thanks, everyone, for making me see the obvious. I'm going to go back and shut up now. I just don't know what it is about me and Calibre; the stuff that seems obvious to everyone else isn't to me. I simply think slightly askew, I suppose, or am too OCD.

Thank you...I'm leaving now and going back to my formatting comfort zone.

Hitch

@Hitch - Phew, and I was beginning to think it was me - don't worry I'm often afflicted with the 'bleedin' obvious' mind block syndrome.

Not only with calibre, smartphones, vcr's, washing machines, remote controls are all a mystery, or maybe it's a conspiracy.

Cheers BR

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

@Hitch - Phew, and I was beginning to think it was me - don't worry I'm often afflicted with the 'bleedin' obvious' mind block syndrome.

No, no--I copied about 20 dirs (books) over to a new directory I set up just for this purpose, and kablammo, it worked a bloody treat. I literally whanged my forehead on my desk (padded with yellow pads, of course--yup, high-tecchie who still has yellow pads. I can't just use Evernote or OneNote--my clients get upset if they hear me typing. Think I'm not paying attention, rather than "I'm taking notes." {sigh}).

Not only with calibre, smartphones, vcr's, washing machines, remote controls are all a mystery, or maybe it's a conspiracy.

Cheers BR

Ahem. I have a cellphone that I'm now seeing in "old" TV shows, like Frost or other BBC/ITC/Chorion UK police procedural/mystery series (thank you, Roku-Gods). When I bought it, "texting" was virtually (ha!) non-existent. We moved, and as we are surrounded, literally, by mountains, where our house sits, there's no cell reception, at all. (If I walk outside by about 200 feet, I can get a signal. Which is less than fun when it's 115ºF outside.) So, I've never replaced it with a "smartphone," as, what's the point? My staff thinks it's hysterical--I have more devices than digits, but my cellphone is practically classifiable as an antique.

Remotes are remotely a mystery. We have a boatload of devices that all have remotes...I'm wishing for a "One Ring To Rule Them All" kind of solution, but I think the only remote that might do that would be larger than my coffeetable. ;-)

Thanks again, Red.

Hitch

[Sabardeyn]

Hitch & BetterRed,
OMG if you two consider yourselves somewhat lacking in your mastery of calibre there is no help for the rest of us! I'm constantly amazed at things BR posts in here (when I can understand the "complex" words (anything >1 syllable)). While you, Hitch, are a tour de force in the Sigil section. I frequently read -- and re-read -- both of your posts and feel that I only grasp about half of there contents.


PS: Hitch: some smartphones and tablets can be used as remote controls after performing certain high-tech steps (not just installing an app). Just letting you know in case you want to get rid of a few remotes.

[theducks]

@Hitch
Logitec makes the Harmony series Configurable Remotes

While the lower end one does function reliably, you need a (assigned button) cheat sheet as the buttons all bear the common (TV,VCR) labels.

Spend the extra $$ for a fully (labelwise) configurable touch screen device.

'Peel' (remote app) on my TAB2 only works half-*ssed with my equipment (some is heading for 20 Years old).