Merging books with the same format deletes one copy?

revjoe · 07-22-2011, 04:18 PM

I have a number of books I am cleaning up, and I noticed an unexpected behavior. I have two entries for the same title/author, both with PDFs. The actual PDFs though are different, for example, one is a scan of the book ala CBR, the other is an ocr scanned version. I was merging them thinking I would get two PDFs in the file system, and was surprised to see only one.

Is this the expected behavior?

If it is, I would recommend an option to archive one copy, leaving it in the folder as another filename instead. Allowing the users to delete data without telling them is not normally a best practice.

In either case, I just wanted to validate that this is the expected behavior.

Thanks

Manichean · 07-22-2011, 04:41 PM

I remember from doing the translations some time ago that the merge options explain in some length what they are going to do, so, yes, that's expected behaviour.
In other words: Read the message you're (should be) seeing carefully. Also keep in mind that Calibre can only have one entry of each format per book, so, only one PDF per book etc.

speakingtohe · 07-22-2011, 05:47 PM

In my experience the first book (file set) you select is the one that calibre will keep. Any formats that are not in this file set will be copied to this file set.

It is well explained that calibre only keeps one file per format in any one given book record/file set.

Best practice is up to the user. Keep both book records or save one to disk or convert the file you want to keep as a dup to another format not found in the record you are merging into. Better yet archive anything yourself you want to be sure to keep.

Difficult for calibre to archive in same directory as both . rar and . zip are valid ebook entries. And as time went on there would probably be multiple files being archived. Not a pretty picture.

Helen

PeterT · 07-22-2011, 06:33 PM

Would another option be to have multiple Calibre Libraries, one reserved for (for instance) the CBR version, the other for all other versions?

DoctorOhh · 07-22-2011, 10:49 PM

This is expected behavior. If you want 2 different PDFs of the same book then do not merge them. Having two book entries is the only way to accommodate two pdf versions of the same book.

Starson17 · 07-25-2011, 11:54 AM

There are two "Merge" functions - one for normal merging (that's the one you used - with hotkey "M") and one called "Merge - keep others" (with hotkey "Alt-M") The second one will put as much data as it can in the first record (only one of each type of format), but when it's done, it will leave the originals rather than delete them as the normal Merge does. It's useful in various situations, including where you have multiple same formats you want to keep, as you do.

07-22-2011, 04:18 PM	#1
revjoe Junior Member Posts: 5 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2011 Device: none	Merging books with the same format deletes one copy? I have a number of books I am cleaning up, and I noticed an unexpected behavior. I have two entries for the same title/author, both with PDFs. The actual PDFs though are different, for example, one is a scan of the book ala CBR, the other is an ocr scanned version. I was merging them thinking I would get two PDFs in the file system, and was surprised to see only one. Is this the expected behavior? If it is, I would recommend an option to archive one copy, leaving it in the folder as another filename instead. Allowing the users to delete data without telling them is not normally a best practice. In either case, I just wanted to validate that this is the expected behavior. Thanks

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Merging books with same format	Doug-W	Library Management	4	02-17-2011 10:22 PM
Merging Books is Losing Data	john_es	Calibre	6	12-20-2010 10:55 AM
Add new format in Edit Meta deletes file contents in Calibre	tpkacer	Introduce Yourself	7	11-22-2010 12:43 PM
add books deletes source files ?	cybmole	Calibre	3	10-30-2010 10:54 AM
K2 self-deletes 2 books at once	BarryTX	Amazon Kindle	14	04-09-2010 03:30 PM

07-22-2011, 04:41 PM	#2
Manichean Wizard Posts: 3,130 Karma: 91256 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Germany Device: Cybook Gen3	I remember from doing the translations some time ago that the merge options explain in some length what they are going to do, so, yes, that's expected behaviour. In other words: Read the message you're (should be) seeing carefully. Also keep in mind that Calibre can only have one entry of each format per book, so, only one PDF per book etc.

07-22-2011, 05:47 PM	#3
speakingtohe Wizard Posts: 4,812 Karma: 26912940 Join Date: Apr 2010 Device: sony PRS-T1 and T3, Kobo Mini and Aura HD, Tablet	In my experience the first book (file set) you select is the one that calibre will keep. Any formats that are not in this file set will be copied to this file set. It is well explained that calibre only keeps one file per format in any one given book record/file set. Best practice is up to the user. Keep both book records or save one to disk or convert the file you want to keep as a dup to another format not found in the record you are merging into. Better yet archive anything yourself you want to be sure to keep. Difficult for calibre to archive in same directory as both . rar and . zip are valid ebook entries. And as time went on there would probably be multiple files being archived. Not a pretty picture. Helen

07-22-2011, 06:33 PM	#4
PeterT Grand Sorcerer Posts: 13,515 Karma: 78910202 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Toronto Device: Libra H2O, Libra Colour	Would another option be to have multiple Calibre Libraries, one reserved for (for instance) the CBR version, the other for all other versions?

07-22-2011, 10:49 PM	#5
DoctorOhh US Navy, Retired Posts: 9,896 Karma: 13806776 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: North Carolina Device: Icarus Illumina XL HD, Kindle PaperWhite SE 11th Gen	This is expected behavior. If you want 2 different PDFs of the same book then do not merge them. Having two book entries is the only way to accommodate two pdf versions of the same book.

07-25-2011, 11:54 AM	#6
Starson17 Wizard Posts: 4,004 Karma: 177841 Join Date: Dec 2009 Device: WinMo: IPAQ; Android: HTC HD2, Archos 7o; Java:Gravity T	There are two "Merge" functions - one for normal merging (that's the one you used - with hotkey "M") and one called "Merge - keep others" (with hotkey "Alt-M") The second one will put as much data as it can in the first record (only one of each type of format), but when it's done, it will leave the originals rather than delete them as the normal Merge does. It's useful in various situations, including where you have multiple same formats you want to keep, as you do.

Advert

Advert