Register Guidelines E-Books Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read

Go Back   MobileRead Forums > E-Book Software > Calibre

Notices

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old 09-10-2010, 10:42 PM   #1
gdaydigger
Member
gdaydigger began at the beginning.
 
Posts: 22
Karma: 10
Join Date: Aug 2010
Device: Sony PRS 600
Kindle, Calibre, Author sort

Help! For some reason I cannot sort/display my books by surname on my Kindle 3 -- instead they are sorted by first name.

In Calibre, I have checked the 'Use Author Sort for Author' box as instructed by others on this forum, reconverted all my books to Mobi, reloaded them all to the Kindle, but still the books are sorted by first name first. It is driving me nuts. Someone somewhere please help
gdaydigger is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-10-2010, 11:02 PM   #2
gdaydigger
Member
gdaydigger began at the beginning.
 
Posts: 22
Karma: 10
Join Date: Aug 2010
Device: Sony PRS 600
I've just found this earlier post below but -- and forgive me for being a dunce -- where do I make the amendment? Do I have to cut and paste "ln, fn" somewhere?

-----------

If you want to use "Lastname, Firstname" for authors, then you probably also want to change how calibre copies the author names to the author_sort field. If you don't, then you must manually edit author_sort every time you import a new book or change an author's name to avoid sorting by author displaying the list in a very strange order.

You can control how the copy using a calibre 'tweak' that changes how author_sort is generated from author. In the file tweaks.py, change author_sort_copy_method to either copy or comma (see below for more detail). Tweaks.py is found in your settings directory, which for me on windows 7 is C:\Users\charles\AppData\Roaming\calibre.

From tweaks.py:
Code:
# The algorithm used to copy author to author_sort
# Possible values are:
# invert: use "fn ln" -> "ln, fn" (the original algorithm)
# copy : copy author to author_sort without modification
# comma : use 'copy' if there is a ',' in the name, otherwise use 'invert'
author_sort_copy_method = 'invert'
I use 'copy'.

If the current author_sort fields are not correct, then once you set the tweak you can reset all the author_sort fields in one swoop. First, verify that the author names are all as you want them. Then select the books you want to change, press E to get the bulk metadata editor, check the box "automatically set author sort", and push OK. The author_sort field for all the selected books will be recomputed from the author field according to the value of the tweak.
gdaydigger is offline   Reply With Quote
Advert
Old 09-11-2010, 02:55 AM   #3
chaley
Grand Sorcerer
chaley ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.chaley ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.chaley ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.chaley ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.chaley ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.chaley ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.chaley ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.chaley ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.chaley ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.chaley ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.chaley ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Posts: 11,703
Karma: 6658935
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Notts, England
Device: Kobo Libra 2
Quote:
Originally Posted by gdaydigger View Post
I've just found this earlier post below but -- and forgive me for being a dunce -- where do I make the amendment? Do I have to cut and paste "ln, fn" somewhere?
Are you trying to change calibre so you can conveniently enter author names in "lastname, firstname" order instead of its normal "firstname lastname" order?

If so, then start calibre, and:
1) Go to Preferences -> Advanced -> Tweaks.
2) Scroll the top box "All available tweaks" down until you see a group of lines ending with
author_sort_copy_method = 'invert'
3) Read the group of lines and decide what you want. It won't be 'invert'
4) Copy the line author_sort_copy_method = 'invert' and paste it into the lower box (current tweaks). It would be good to check if it is already there.
5) In the line in the lower box, change 'invert' to your chosen method.
6) Click apply, etc until the preference dialog closes.
7) Restart calibre.

Now the work begins. I hope you don't have a lot of authors.

8) In the tags view on the left, right-click on an author. Choose 'manage authors'.
9) Change every author to be in lastname firstname order. Often you can copy the existing author_sort value. As you change the authors, the author_sort value will change.
10) Correct any of the author_sort values that are wrong in your mind. Calibre will sort by the value in that box, so it must make sense to you.
11) When happy (or when paranoid enough), press OK. The authors displayed in the tag view and in the library pane should all change.
12) Repeat 8-11 until all authors are changed and all author_sort values are correct.
13) Select all your books in your library.
14) Press 'e' to open the bulk metadata edit dialog.
15) Check the box 'automatically set author sort'. DO NOT check/change any other box.
16) Press OK. Wait until done (or dark, perhaps).

At this point author names in your library are in lastname, firstname order. These author names will be reflected on your kindle as you send them.

NB: If the books in your library are DRM-encumbered, then (I think) calibre cannot update the author metadata when it sends the book to your kindle. This ^%* side effect of DRM could make all of the above futile.
chaley is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-11-2010, 03:41 AM   #4
DoctorOhh
US Navy, Retired
DoctorOhh ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DoctorOhh ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DoctorOhh ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DoctorOhh ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DoctorOhh ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DoctorOhh ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DoctorOhh ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DoctorOhh ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DoctorOhh ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DoctorOhh ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.DoctorOhh ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
DoctorOhh's Avatar
 
Posts: 9,864
Karma: 13806776
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: North Carolina
Device: Icarus Illumina XL HD, Nexus 7
Quote:
Originally Posted by gdaydigger View Post
Help! For some reason I cannot sort/display my books by surname on my Kindle 3 -- instead they are sorted by first name.
Using author_sort is the default in the device interface plugin. Since your books are listed by first name on your device I'm guessing you have been filling in the author field with Last Name, First Name in the calibre library? This means by default your author sort is exactly backwards from what you expect.

Go to the tag browser, right click on authors and select manage authors to see what is actually in your author_sort field.

By default calibre expects First Name Last Name in the author field and reverses this in the author_sort field.

Chaley has explained the fine points if, like him, you want the author and author sort fields the same.
DoctorOhh is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-11-2014, 07:46 PM   #5
EvM1
Enthusiast
EvM1 began at the beginning.
 
Posts: 34
Karma: 10
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Australia
Device: Kindle Fire HD 10
Hi, I'm using a temporary laptop while mine is being fixed. I used the author_sort_copy_method tweak 'copy' on my own laptop and it worked perfectly to sort the author names the way I want them.
I also used the 'strictly_alphabetic' tweak for my titles. This also worked perfectly on my own laptop but neither tweak is working on this laptop. Any ideas anyone?
EvM1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Advert
Old 03-11-2014, 08:21 PM   #6
EvM1
Enthusiast
EvM1 began at the beginning.
 
Posts: 34
Karma: 10
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Australia
Device: Kindle Fire HD 10
Ignore my post above. I solved the issue myself.
EvM1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
How to fix author sort for Kindle Isherwood Calibre 43 10-15-2014 03:56 PM
Calibre newbie needs help with author sort. dkritso109 Calibre 12 10-02-2010 12:03 PM
Kindle, Calibre and Author Sort gdaydigger Amazon Kindle 7 09-10-2010 11:49 PM
Author Sort & Kindle seagull Calibre 0 12-25-2009 12:42 PM
Can I change author sort with Calibre? Sydney's Mom Calibre 4 12-09-2009 09:33 PM


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 05:46 AM.


MobileRead.com is a privately owned, operated and funded community.