Custom column - file formats

rhubarb93 · 02-02-2025, 11:47 AM

Hello there.

Thanks for allowing me to join for forum.

I've been using Calibre for a while, but it's only now that I've sat down to organise all my books and audio books.

I've got about 680 books so far, with about 35 or so that have an audiobook version. I've added the audiobooks into Calibre - they have file formats of .m4a, .m4b, and .mp3.

I'm trying to create a custom column that uses the Formats column to check for those file formats and then populate an 'Audiobook' column with the text 'Audiobook available' or something similar.

I can get it to work with this code for one format,

Code:

program: contains(field('format'),'m4a','Audiobook available','')

so if a title has a format of .m4a, the 'Audiobook' column will show 'Audiobook available', but I can't figure out how to modify this so it will pick up .m4b and .mp3 files. I assume it will need some sort of nested statement or something - my programming knowledge stops at VB.net!!

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance

capink · 02-02-2025, 12:11 PM

Code:

program:
    contains(field('format'), '(mp3|m4a|m4b)', 'Audiobook available', '')

Edit: The pattern highlighted in blue, is a regular expression that can match multiple formats.

chaley · 02-02-2025, 12:16 PM

Something like

Code:

program:
    If 'm4a|m4b|mp3' inlist $formats then 'Audiobook available' fi

rhubarb93 · 02-02-2025, 01:17 PM

Thank you! This worked perfectly!

Quote:

Originally Posted by capink

Code:

program:
    contains(field('format'), '(mp3|m4a|m4b)', 'Audiobook available', '')

Edit: The pattern highlighted in blue, is a regular expression that can match multiple formats.

dunhill · 02-02-2025, 01:19 PM

I have something like this to tell me if it is an audio format.
This will say yes or no according to the format

Code:

program:cmp(count(template('[[format]]'), ','), 1, 'no', in_list(template('[[format]]'), ',', 'Ogg', 'Yes', 'no', ',', 'M3u', 'Yes', 'no', ',', 'M4a', 'Yes', 'no', ',', 'Mp3', 'Yes', 'no'), 'no')

BetterRed · 02-02-2025, 02:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by capink

Code:

program:
    contains(field('format'), '(mp3|m4a|m4b)', 'Audiobook available', '')

Edit: The pattern highlighted in blue, is a regular expression that can match multiple formats.

I use similar templates to attach audio and/or video icons to 'books' that have audio and/or video format files.

BR

theducks · 02-02-2025, 08:03 PM

You could just use the basic search, then Tag all the results. No need for a custom column.

Code:

format:mp3 or format:m4a or format:m4b

Then select all (results)
The use the MDE (in bulk mode) to Add a Tag "has audiobook"

02-02-2025, 11:47 AM	#1
rhubarb93 Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2025 Device: Kindle Scribe, Kobo Colour	Custom column - file formats Hello there. Thanks for allowing me to join for forum. I've been using Calibre for a while, but it's only now that I've sat down to organise all my books and audio books. I've got about 680 books so far, with about 35 or so that have an audiobook version. I've added the audiobooks into Calibre - they have file formats of .m4a, .m4b, and .mp3. I'm trying to create a custom column that uses the Formats column to check for those file formats and then populate an 'Audiobook' column with the text 'Audiobook available' or something similar. I can get it to work with this code for one format, Code: program: contains(field('format'),'m4a','Audiobook available','') so if a title has a format of .m4a, the 'Audiobook' column will show 'Audiobook available', but I can't figure out how to modify this so it will pick up .m4b and .mp3 files. I assume it will need some sort of nested statement or something - my programming knowledge stops at VB.net!! Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance

02-02-2025, 12:11 PM	#2
capink Wizard Posts: 1,174 Karma: 1988646 Join Date: Aug 2015 Device: Kindle	Code: program: contains(field('format'), '(mp3\|m4a\|m4b)', 'Audiobook available', '') Edit: The pattern highlighted in blue, is a regular expression that can match multiple formats. Last edited by capink; 02-02-2025 at 12:20 PM.

02-02-2025, 12:16 PM	#3
chaley Grand Sorcerer Posts: 12,269 Karma: 7955525 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Notts, England Device: Kobo Libra 2	Something like Code: program: If 'm4a\|m4b\|mp3' inlist $formats then 'Audiobook available' fi

02-02-2025, 01:19 PM	#5
dunhill Guru Posts: 822 Karma: 409968 Join Date: Sep 2017 Location: Argentina Device: moon+ reader, kindle paperwhite	I have something like this to tell me if it is an audio format. This will say yes or no according to the format Code: program:cmp(count(template('[[format]]'), ','), 1, 'no', in_list(template('[[format]]'), ',', 'Ogg', 'Yes', 'no', ',', 'M3u', 'Yes', 'no', ',', 'M4a', 'Yes', 'no', ',', 'Mp3', 'Yes', 'no'), 'no') Last edited by dunhill; 02-02-2025 at 01:38 PM.

02-02-2025, 08:03 PM	#7
theducks Well trained by Cats Posts: 30,780 Karma: 59840450 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: The Central Coast of California Device: Kobo Libra2,Kobo Aura2v1, K4NT(Fixed: New Bat.), Galaxy Tab A	You could just use the basic search, then Tag all the results. No need for a custom column. Code: format:mp3 or format:m4a or format:m4b Then select all (results) The use the MDE (in bulk mode) to Add a Tag "has audiobook"

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