Creating Catalog

[Tanjamuse]

Hi.

I've been looking all over but can't find anything in regards to how I change the seperator between columns when I create a new catalog. I tried looking in the settings folder, but can't find anything there.

I don't know if it makes any difference, but I'm trying to create a catalog where I need to include a comments column where what's added has retained html-features like links and so on.

[BetterRed]

Use calibredb list with a --separator argument set to e.g. @.

BR

[Tanjamuse]

I tried figuring out what you suggested, but didn't understand much of it.

I've also discovered something very weird. It only happens with books from one site and not from another.

I've looked it over in the "HTML Source" section of the comments column in the normal metadata, but I can't see any differences in there.

Here's the 2 versions of what's there, complete in the HTML Source format:

The One that acts normal:

<div>
<p>The respite didn't last long. Soon Sydney would have to adjust to a new way of life, massive responsibility, a grueling campaign trail, and a major shock, all the while keeping the personal aspects of her life as private as possible.</p></div>

This one makes the catalog produce over 5.000 commas in a column:

<div>
<p>The respite didn't last long. In the months after the State of the Union, Sydney would have to adjust to a new way of life, massive responsibility, a grueling campaign trail, and an unexpected major shock. It's all worth it, but she still wants to keep the personal aspects of her new life as private as possible. </p></div>

When I remove the comments column from the columns selected in creating the catalog it acts normal.

I've attached both versions of the catalog in a zip.

[BetterRed]

How are you viewing the CSVs you posted?

When I look at the one with Comments in Excel (2019) I don't see lots of commas. Some are shown as a very long line. Other's have a lot of preceding white space and then the text, wrapped according to the Excel column width.

In my experience that is the way of downloaded "Comments". The HTML is inconsistent at best, but just as often it's a shambles. I've never found a 'foolproof' way to make them consistent other than:

• copy the HTML to clipboard,
• clear the Comments (Ctrl+A, Del),
• paste clipboard into Notepad++,
• fix the HTML to be consistent & simple (I start by removing most of the tags),
• test in a browser,
• copy and paste from Notepad++ back into Comments.

But that's probably not a viable option if one is dealing with zillions of books

BR

[Tanjamuse]

Well that's just plain weird. When I open it in LibreOfficeCalc it doesn't create all those commas.



They were there, the last time I opened it in LibreOfficeCalc.

Any suggestions for how to convert the CSV to a database like sqlite?

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by Tanjamuse

Well that's just plain weird. When I open it in LibreOfficeCalc it doesn't create all those commas.



They were there, the last time I opened it in LibreOfficeCalc.

Stuff happens - maybe LibreOffice installed a new version of itself - it's called AI.

Originally Posted by Tanjamuse

Any suggestions for how to convert the CSV to a database like sqlite?

Have you tried DB Browser.

File->New Database, then File->Import->CSV File

BR

[Tanjamuse]

Thanks so much, I'll have a look at DB Browser.