Author Sort

[Karellen]

I think there is a minor bug when clicking the Author Sort in the book details section.

When you click the Authors name, it links to GoodReads. I am aware that can be changed in the settings pages.

I also like to keep Author Sort so I can list the novels in my library by that author.

Unfortunately when there are two authors, search does not see it as two authors, rather as one, which returns no results. Even if there are other novels in my library by those exact two authors, there are still no results. See images.

[kovidgoyal]

author sort is the sort string used to sort books by authors. It is a single free form string not multiple authors.

[Karellen]

Ok, thanks @kovidgoyal


Follow up question...

We have a book metadata page.
Have you ever considered an Author metadata page?
It would be nice to add notes specific to authors.

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by Karellen

Ok, thanks @kovidgoyal


Follow up question...

We have a book metadata page.
Have you ever considered an Author metadata page?
It would be nice to add notes specific to authors.

FWIW: I have an Authors and a Books library, they are linked via calibre:// URLs in the the Author Link fields - sample libraries attached. The calibre :// URLs are obtained via right click on Author names in Book Details. See ==>> The calibre:// URL scheme

From the Books library, copy "Link to show books matching <author name> in calibre" and paste into the Author Link fields in the Author library. From the Authors library, copy "Link to show book in calibre" and paste into the Author Link fields in the Books library. This is only done once for each Author -- NOT for each book.

BR

[Karellen]

Thanks @BetterRed

I have had a quick look and this looks interesting. Would you mind posting an image of your Authors metadata page? I assume that is what metadata_db_prefs_backup.json is creating?

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by Karellen

Thanks @BetterRed

I have had a quick look and this looks interesting. Would you mind posting an image of your Authors metadata page? I assume that is what metadata_db_prefs_backup.json is creating?

That json file is irrelevant, there's one in every library folder. Some preferences… e.g. custom column definitions… are stored in the metadata.db preferences table. That json file is used, along with the metadata.opf files in the book folders, by the Library Maintenance->Restore database feature.

I've attached five screen shots:

1. the one you asked for (I think);
2. two Manage Author dialogues for the two libraries showing the content of the Link property in each, which are what links the two libraries together;
3. the Books and Author book lists, together with Book details showing which links are copied from each to be pasted into the other library's link property.

I added a picture of Shakespeare and a cover for A Midsummer Night's Dream - they are not in the zip I posted earlier.

BR

[Karellen]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

That json file is irrelevant, there's one in every library folder. Some preferences… e.g. custom column definitions… are stored in the metadata.db preferences table. That json file is used, along with the metadata.opf files in the book folders, by the Library Maintenance->Restore database feature.

Ok, understood.

Originally Posted by BetterRed

I've attached five screen shots:

1. the one you asked for (I think);
2. two Manage Author dialogues for the two libraries showing the content of the Link property in each, which are what links the two libraries together;
3. the Books and Author book lists, together with Book details showing which links are copied from each to be pasted into the other library's link property.

Thank you @BetterRed, that indeed is very helpful.

It's not ideal, but I think I can work with that. I say not ideal because it is an extra step to switch between libraries, and having to create all the custom columns (yep, once) instead of having some common defaults. It would be nice to simply click the Authors name in the left pane, but I say that without using your method yet.

I'll play with this over the next few days as I feel experimental.

Seems easy to create a new library. In this case, I am being asked...
Use the previously existing library at the new location
Create an empty library at the new location
Move the current library to new location.

To create the Authors library, am I using first or second option? I think I need to use the first option (which seems a waste) so I already have my list of Authors, but just want to confirm.

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by Karellen

. . . It would be nice to simply click the Authors name in the left pane, but I say that without using your method yet.

I don't use the left pane much, it's usually hidden, but it should be possible to add a "Go to link for xxxx" option to the Tag Browser->Authors context menu… under the "Edit link for xxxx" option. You could post an enhancement request here ==>> https://bugs.launchpad.net/calibre

I always have Book details under the 'book' list, so to go to the other library I just click on the Author name there.

Originally Posted by Karellen

Seems easy to create a new library. In this case, I am being asked...
Use the previously existing library at the new location
Create an empty library at the new location
Move the current library to new location.

To create the Authors library, am I using first or second option? I think I need to use the first option (which seems a waste) so I already have my list of Authors, but just want to confirm.

I would have used the second option - create an empty library.

For the initial load of the Authors library, I used the SQLite Browser tool to export the Authors table from the Books library database to a CSV, then I loaded that into the Authors library via Import List plugin.

And, I was coming from something I already had: An Evernote 'notebook' with a page for each Author.

So, over a couple of months I cut and paste what I had in the Evernote notebook pages into the custom columns the Authors library 'books'.

The downside of using Evernote was that whilst I could get to it from calibre easy enough… by pasting evernote:// URLs into the Author Link fields… the only way to get from an Evernote note to a Calibre library was via https:\\ URLs to a browser 'front-ending' the calibre server - which I found very cumbersome.

BR