Troubles with encoding (again)

[geronimo72]

Hallo,

I have an Amazon Kindle and would like to use Calibre to manage my e-book collection and to move the books to the Kindle. However my books are mainly in Slovak and Czech which means that they include "funny" characters (ž, š, č, ť, ř....) and are using mainly encoding cp1250. Most of the are .pdb files. When I import the book into the library, it doesn't show some of these characters (it just removes the character from the word, no special chars instead). Thanks to this forum I am able now to convert it to mobi so it shows also the corrects letters and in Kindle everything seems to be ok. But I still didn't find out, what do I need to do with the .pdb file so it shows also these missing letters. Are there any preferences for import which I missed? Can I convert it to another .pdb file which will be OK?

My second question is about keeping copies of the books. As far as I understood it, Calibre is not only keeping track of the files (like Amarok or another library programs), but it moves the files to a separate directory. Does this mean, that I can delete the source files and just use the Calibre folder from now on? If so, can I change the way how it creates the folders on the hard disk? If I change the metadata after importing, will it change also the folder and files names? My problem is, that the source file names are not allways complete and they cannot be used to get metadata while importing.

Thank you very much for your help

[user_none]

Originally Posted by geronimo72

Most of the are .pdb files. When I import the book into the library, it doesn't show some of these characters (it just removes the character from the word, no special chars instead).

I'm assuming you're opening the PDB files using the calibre viewer? The issue is PDB does not specify a character encoding. So the viewer has to guess the encoding. This process is not 100% and often the viewer gets it wrong. Converting to a format like MOBI or EPUB and viewing those files, they will show correctly in the viewer because both of those formats specify the encoding of the document in the file.

Originally Posted by geronimo72

Does this mean, that I can delete the source files and just use the Calibre folder from now on?

Yes. Though many people keep the originals for backup purposes.

Originally Posted by geronimo72

If so, can I change the way how it creates the folders on the hard disk?

No. Read this https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=119175.

[geronimo72]

Thank you very much for your answer. This helps me a lot .

So basicaly, if I import .pdb files, it is better to convert them to another format an open the new one (for example mobi). And the only way how to back up the books in correct folders and with correct filenames based on the metadata is to use the save to disk function of Calibre? If I backup the Calibre library folder, I will still have the wrong names which were created while importing books...

Thanks again, now I can start with importing and moving books to Kindle

[theducks]

Originally Posted by geronimo72

Thank you very much for your answer. This helps me a lot .

So basicaly, if I import .pdb files, it is better to convert them to another format an open the new one (for example mobi). And the only way how to back up the books in correct folders and with correct filenames based on the metadata is to use the save to disk function of Calibre? If I backup the Calibre library folder, I will still have the wrong names which were created while importing books...

Thanks again, now I can start with importing and moving books to Kindle

If you change (correct) the Author or Title in the Metadata-Editor, Calibre will move the book internally to the new name.
That said, Why worry? The book file could be 12345.epub, Calibre manages the retrieval for you without you needing the filename or location.

[geronimo72]

internaly means that the folder name and file name in the Calibre library folder will be changed also? The point is, that if I will have to backup the books and reinstal the system or use them in another computer etc. I woul like to have files with at least author and book title in the filename. If calibre changes this automaticaly according to the metadata info then everything is OK and I am one happy person and can just back up the Calibre library folder. If not, is the best way how to back up the books with correct filenames using the save to disk option?

[theducks]

Originally Posted by geronimo72

internaly means that the folder name and file name in the Calibre library folder will be changed also? The point is, that if I will have to backup the books and reinstal the system or use them in another computer etc. I woul like to have files with at least author and book title in the filename. If calibre changes this automaticaly according to the metadata info then everything is OK and I am one happy person and can just back up the Calibre library folder. If not, is the best way how to back up the books with correct filenames using the save to disk option?

Yes. The folder name changes with Author. The book folder changes with Title+ID(the DB record#). If you see 2 of the same title, the ID will be different because you have 2 Title entries in the Library LIST.

Beware of case only changes if switching OS. It is possible to muddle things up. and have a (almost)'duplicate' folder that Windows can not see.

[geronimo72]

that is great, thank you very much for your help and patience