feature request - switch templates

[kgn]

I have a couple of Save to Device templates that I use

1. for books that are not in a Series
2. for books that are in a Series

This is because I want to number the book filename with the Series number. This works well - except for books that are not in a Series - it puts a '00' at the front of the file name. So I have two templates that I can switch in the Preferences screen.

This works ok, except it would be nice if the program could do it. ie for any book that has an entry int he Series field, use Template X, otherwise use Template Y.

[jackie_w]

Hi kgn,

Another forum member posted this neat trick which will allow you to use the same template for both your cases above.

Set the save template to:
{series} {series_index:>2s} {title} - {authors}

If a book is not in a series then both {series} and {series_index:>2s} are blank. Then, because they are at the beginning of the filename they are trimmed as leading spaces.

(Many thanks to the original poster)

[kgn]

Originally Posted by jackie_w

Hi kgn,

Another forum member posted this neat trick which will allow you to use the same template for both your cases above.

Yeah - I tried that - but in my case it does not work. I also create a folder for each series.

{author_sort[0]}/{author_sort}/{series}/{series_index:0>2s} {title} - {authors}

or

{author_sort[0]}/{author_sort}/{title} - {authors}

I think the real problem is that I pad the series_index with a '0' not a space. This has to be done otherwise the series do not sort correctly for anything over 9.

[jackie_w]

Originally Posted by kgn

I think the real problem is that I pad the series_index with a '0' not a space. This has to be done otherwise the series do not sort correctly for anything over 9.

It works for me. Padding with space rather than zero with a 10-book series sorts correctly book1 is first and book10 is last when viewing 'show names as' Filenames rather than book titles.

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by jackie_w

It works for me. Padding with space rather than zero with a 10-book series sorts correctly book1 is first and book10 is last when viewing 'show names as' Filenames rather than book titles.

That is the problem, it is limited to 10 books before things stop sorting correctly.

[kgn]

Originally Posted by jackie_w

It works for me. Padding with space rather than zero with a 10-book series sorts correctly book1 is first and book10 is last when viewing 'show names as' Filenames rather than book titles.

Well, it might in your special case - but not generally ie

1 book
2 book
3 book
...
9 book
10 book
11 book

would be shown as
1 book
10 book
11 book
2 book
3 book
...
9 book

The way to fix this is to add the leading 0
01 book
02 book
03 book
...
09 book
10 book
11 book

And the real problem is not what is shown in Calibre - it is how the books come up in the eReader.

[jackie_w]

I'm not sure why you are so determined not to believe me so I have done a screencap from my very own PocketBook 360 displaying 14 books - Book 5 to Book 18 - of a test series sent from Calibre using the template I originally proposed.

Unless my eyes deceive me, they are all in the correct order are they not?

Edit: Then as a further test I renumbered Book 5 as Book 1 and resent to the PB360. It was still sorted correctly, at the top of the list, before Book 6.

[kgn]

Originally Posted by jackie_w

I'm not sure why you are so determined not to believe me so I have done a screencap from my very own PocketBook 360 displaying 14 books - Book 5 to Book 18 - of a test series sent from Calibre using the template I originally proposed.

I do believe you! As I said (in my earlier response) - in your special case you are correct. Try putting the series_index at the front though - it won't work. Calibre will strip off your leading space. This is why I pad with a '0', it will work in any position.

In my case, I do not want the series name in the file name - I put each series into a separate folder. So adding the series_index after any other text is not as neat. Interestingly though, while not as neat as I would like, it might get around my current problem, so I appreciate the hint.

[jackie_w]

Sorry if we were at cross purposes

I'll admit that including the series_name does make the filenames rather long, however, the versatility of the PocketBook firmware does mean you could tinker with the PB Theme to reduce font-size or change layout of book list views to improve their appearance. There's "hours of fun" to be had there!