add books to calibre without copying?

[rebeltaz]

Is it possible to add ebooks to the calibre database without copying the files to a calibre 'library"? I already have all of my ebooks organized on my harddrive. It seems silly - and redundant - to have all of those files copied to another location just for calibre to interact with them. Can the program not just use the files I already have in the location in which they are currently stored? I have looked at the online user manual (which was no help there) as well as all of the preference settings, but unless I am missing it, I can't see anyway to do this.

[PeterT]

Nope. calibre is designed to copy ALL content into it's own data-store.

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by rebeltaz

I have looked at the online user manual (which was no help there) ... I can't see anyway to do this.

Really, then obviously you missed this ==>> Why doesn’t calibre let me store books in my own directory structure?

And had you looked amongst the sticky posts at the top of this sub-forum you would have found this thread

BR

[rebeltaz]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

Really, then obviously you missed this ==>> Why doesn’t calibre let me store books in my own directory structure?

And had you looked amongst the sticky posts at the top of this sub-forum you would have found this thread

BR

Yeah... that's why I said "... but unless I am missing it... " Some of us do make mistakes and/or overlook things. Otherwise there wouldn't be a need for anyone to ever ask for help.

Thanks for the help.


By the way... as per the FAQ "... that is much more efficient than any possible directory scheme you could come up with for your collection." .... pretty darn presumptuous isn't it!

[Pablo]

Originally Posted by rebeltaz

By the way... as per the FAQ "... that is much more efficient than any possible directory scheme you could come up with for your collection." .... pretty darn presumptuous isn't it!

Probably, it's the reaction to the years-long, endless discussion of "why won't calibre add books from my location?", which has been answered time and again by Kovid. As Kovid has explained, doing away with the database would imply an important re-write of the program. He prefers to devote that time to more productive things.

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by rebeltaz

By the way... as per the FAQ "... that is much more efficient than any possible directory scheme you could come up with for your collection." .... pretty darn presumptuous isn't it!

Well, certainly calibre is designed to work in what the creator believes to be the most efficient way.
If Kovid thought there was some other, more efficient way, he would use that instead.


Is it "pretty darn presumptuous" to declare that your application works as designed and fulfills its mission parameters?

That isn't being presumptuous, that is having self-confidence.

[dwig]

Originally Posted by Pablo

... As Kovid has explained, doing away with the database would imply an important re-write of the program. ...

It would not be necessary to do away with the database in order to allow for a more user controlled directory structure, though it would still be a massive rewrite. Adobe Lightroom proves this with the way it handles use controlled folder trees scattered across as many volumes are desired while still using a database to manage library.

That said, while I prefer Lr's way of working for my massive digital photo library, I much prefer calibre's library method for my ebooks. My Lr library is not portable. Moving the files to a new larger HD (a periodic chore as HD's seem to become smaller with age) takes some manual library repair to reconnect the files at their new locations with their database records. Calibre's library is completely portable. I can copy it to another computer intact, something I do regularily, with no real effort.

[theducks]

The single most important advantage of the Calibre Library storage: Integrity

When media is spread willy-nilly, Auditing becomes a significant obstacle.
Those pesky users, move/rename/delete things all the time. Unlike MP3's, all user metadata is NOT kept inside the books (or even remotely standard on what THEY save)

[dwig]

Originally Posted by theducks

The single most important advantage of the Calibre Library storage: Integrity

When media is spread willy-nilly, Auditing becomes a significant obstacle.
Those pesky users, move/rename/delete things all the time. Unlike MP3's, all user metadata is NOT kept inside the books (or even remotely standard on what THEY save)

Quite correct. A chronic theme on Lr boards involves repairing things after a user moved, renamed, or otherwise disturbured a file outside of Lr's own controls. Lr looses track of such files and you must manually point Lr to the file's new location or name, and if not done correctly Lr will loose track of any metadata updates that weren't manually written to the file before the mistake and can loose track of the files editing instructions.

Calibre is a strick taskmaster, but it protects the user from himself as a result. I like and can deal with Lr's "freedom", but prefer to let calibre handle my ebooks. At least calibre doesn't actually hide my ebooks in some archive like MacOSX Photos does. If calibre ever goes belly up, I can still get to my ebooks easily.

[eschwartz]

I could theoretically conceive of calibre being extended to allow a user-configured metadata template as an alternative to {author}/{title} ({id})/{title} - {authors}.{FMT} for the internal structure.

But the people who actually care (and insist they have the skills, even) are perfectly happy complaining bitterly rather than doing anything about it, and raising philosophical objections against doing the work themselves -- go figure...

...

The chances of calibre being changed to accommodate a willy-nilly mess are zero to none, of course.
One of Kovid's mission parameters I believe is to avoid the support mess that occurs when hapless users (of which there are many) are encouraged to touch the files in a database.

[kacir]

Originally Posted by rebeltaz

By the way... as per the FAQ "... that is much more efficient than any possible directory scheme you could come up with for your collection." .... pretty darn presumptuous isn't it!

Well, I certainly thought so, until I started to use Calibre and discovered all those wonderful features that come with a good database that can be modified and queried using advanced queries and regular expressions.

Any time you need a bunch of books in a set of directories built certain way, for putting on a reader, for example, you just program Calibre to build an elaborate system of directory and file-names based on any metadata you have put into database.

And you can populate the metadata in database in various ways - by reading existing filenames and directory structures of imported files, existing metadata, querying Internet in a semi-automatic manner ...

[fidvo]

One trick I like to do in my libraries is to use a custom hierarchical field to store a pseudo directory structure in Calibre. It requires a little work to populate the field, but once you do, you can use the tag browser as something like the Folders pane of Windows Explorer.

This addressed most of my complaints about not being able to look up the files the way I wanted when I first started using Calibre. You still do all your work within Calibre, but at least you have a nice, familiar hierarchical structure to work with. It also makes save-to-disk templates easier.

[atarimega]

For years now, I keep coming back to this app hoping this flaw has been fixed. I have a massive external hard drive for eBooks that I don't want to copy to my other hard drives. Kodi (for films and TV shows) has no problem using other folders without copying anything. I don't understand why Calibre can't do the same. While many users don't know how to keep track of their files under Windows, some of us would prefer to be in complete control of what goes where. Does anyone here have a recommendation for another app for PC that will do what we need it to?

[theducks]

Originally Posted by atarimega

For years now, I keep coming back to this app hoping this flaw has been fixed. I have a massive external hard drive for eBooks that I don't want to copy to my other hard drives. Kodi (for films and TV shows) has no problem using other folders without copying anything. I don't understand why Calibre can't do the same. While many users don't know how to keep track of their files under Windows, some of us would prefer to be in complete control of what goes where. Does anyone here have a recommendation for another app for PC that will do what we need it to?

It is NOT BROKEN.
That is the ADVERTISED way it works. (It is in the FAQ)
No one insists you use Calibre. Use it or Don't.

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by atarimega

For years now, I keep coming back to this app hoping this flaw has been fixed.

Your basic premise is in error, it is not a flaw. Thus there is no need for it to be fixed.

Originally Posted by atarimega

I don't understand why Calibre can't do the same.

This statement is a little disingenuous because I'm sure you do understand why it can't do the same, because it wasn't written to do the same. Calibre was designed with the book handling / database organization at its foundation. Since it is at its foundation to change it would require too much effort and man hours.

Calibre does this for quality control, the same reason after years itunes changed its default behavior to copy the added mp3s to its media area vice simply indexing them. This happened to reduce trouble reports from users. Now you do have the option in iTunes to do it the way you like, but that is because they started out with this system. Kovid is basically a one man team and already fields enough user error questions as it is. No need to open a giant can of potential user error questions.

Since the way calibre handles books isn't going to change, I suggest you stop coming back to this app with the hope that it has changed, because it won't happen.

Originally Posted by atarimega

Does anyone here have a recommendation for another app for PC that will do what we need it to?

Since this is a calibre forum my advice to you for a personal ebook library manager is calibre. Since that isn't an option for you try this instead.