Bulk editing titles w/ reg expressions

angryunicorn · 12-23-2019, 02:34 AM

Hi there! Because I have an eInk Kindle, I've spent years putting the series data in the title (along with the series field) so I would know the series order without having to double check. I recent realized I could set up a plugboard to do that instead and I've been removing series from titles slowly by hand, but since I have about 5,000 books in Calibre, it's taking forever!

I've been trying to figure out how to use a bulk edit + search & replace using regular expressions to remove the series from titles en masse, but I haven't been successful yet. Can anyone help me out? All of my series' titles are in the following format:

Title (Series #1)
Title (Series #2)

Example with real titles:

River of Teeth (River of Teeth #1)
Taste of Marrow (River of Teeth #2)

I don't need to transfer the series info to the series field because I already input that when adding the books; I just need to remove it from the series field and cleanup my library! :)

Thank you in advance for any help!

theducks · 12-23-2019, 08:51 AM

Here you go. Do HAVE A BACKUP

and validate the sample results ONLY grab what was desired
The clue you need to escape the ( and ) so they are treated as their literal forms

michelmno · 01-07-2020, 10:38 PM

You may try following search string in the bulk change

Code:

\(.* #[0-9]+\ *\)

01-07-2020, 10:38 PM	#3
michelmno Junior Member Posts: 1 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2018 Device: pocketbook inkpad 3	You may try following search string in the bulk change Code: \(.* #[0-9]+\ *\)

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12-23-2019, 02:34 AM	#1
angryunicorn Junior Member Posts: 1 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2019 Device: Kindle Paperwhite 3, iPad Pro 9.7"	Bulk editing titles w/ reg expressions Hi there! Because I have an eInk Kindle, I've spent years putting the series data in the title (along with the series field) so I would know the series order without having to double check. I recent realized I could set up a plugboard to do that instead and I've been removing series from titles slowly by hand, but since I have about 5,000 books in Calibre, it's taking forever! I've been trying to figure out how to use a bulk edit + search & replace using regular expressions to remove the series from titles en masse, but I haven't been successful yet. Can anyone help me out? All of my series' titles are in the following format: Title (Series #1) Title (Series #2) Example with real titles: River of Teeth (River of Teeth #1) Taste of Marrow (River of Teeth #2) I don't need to transfer the series info to the series field because I already input that when adding the books; I just need to remove it from the series field and cleanup my library! :) Thank you in advance for any help!

12-23-2019, 08:51 AM	#2
theducks Well trained by Cats Posts: 29,800 Karma: 54830978 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: The Central Coast of California Device: Kobo Libra2,Kobo Aura2v1, K4NT(Fixed: New Bat.), Galaxy Tab A	Here you go. Do HAVE A BACKUP and validate the sample results ONLY grab what was desired The clue you need to escape the ( and ) so they are treated as their literal forms Attached Thumbnails