How to output ebook "Description" field?

MontyJ · 09-29-2013, 04:05 PM

Perhaps I missed it somewhere within Calibre, but I do not see a way to export the "Description" field as a stand-alone text (or other?) file.

What I am trying to accomplish is to give anyone browsing my ebook collection a quick/easy way to pull up the 'description' part of the metadata w/o having to load the .OPF file or the book itself into a reader to see what it is all about. Yes, they could fire up google or amazon and look it up, but that is not as quick/easy as what I would like to provide.

I know it is possible to open the .OPF file with the browser, as it is essentially formatted as html. But you still see the ton of (to most people) gibberish that makes up the metadata above and beyond the description.

Ideally, I could simply have Calibre do it as part of the "Save to Disk" process, along with the normal .OPF file. But I did not see any plugin or other tweak that would do this.

I guess, since my readers are accessing the ebook repository with a browser and downloading the .MOBI and .EPUB files to their various ereading devices, that a .HTML file would work as the easiest way. But I would need to edit the file to remove all the other stuff except the description data to make it more 'user friendly'; and that is too much like work, LoL.

Any ideas on a way to go about this?

Thanks!

EowynCarter · 09-29-2013, 04:08 PM

Woudn't OPDS do the job there ? ( look for calibreToOPDS )

MontyJ · 09-29-2013, 05:28 PM

EowynCarter,

I had no clue such a thing existed! From a (very) quick look, it may do the trick, but will have to do some additional reading.

Thanks for that tip!!

unboggling · 09-29-2013, 06:44 PM

Deleted. Nevermind, sorry.

MontyJ · 09-29-2013, 06:53 PM

unboggling,

Yea, I tried that, as I do make a ebook "index" available for members in .XLS format. I have Author/Title as normal and experimented with the "Comments" addition.

It does work, but it really makes the spreadsheet hard to read since most "Comments" are lengthy enough to make the cell either extend to the right and off the screen, or if you wrap it, it messes with the flow of the Author/Title fields....just not a clean solution.

And, I also provide a TEXT format index. And it really has to be in a single line, single title type layout. So again, lengthy descriptions wind up way, way too long.

Thanks for the idea tho!

[edit] I saw you post before it was deleted...no problema!

09-29-2013, 04:05 PM	#1
MontyJ Addict Posts: 224 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2012 Device: Kindle	How to output ebook "Description" field? Perhaps I missed it somewhere within Calibre, but I do not see a way to export the "Description" field as a stand-alone text (or other?) file. What I am trying to accomplish is to give anyone browsing my ebook collection a quick/easy way to pull up the 'description' part of the metadata w/o having to load the .OPF file or the book itself into a reader to see what it is all about. Yes, they could fire up google or amazon and look it up, but that is not as quick/easy as what I would like to provide. I know it is possible to open the .OPF file with the browser, as it is essentially formatted as html. But you still see the ton of (to most people) gibberish that makes up the metadata above and beyond the description. Ideally, I could simply have Calibre do it as part of the "Save to Disk" process, along with the normal .OPF file. But I did not see any plugin or other tweak that would do this. I guess, since my readers are accessing the ebook repository with a browser and downloading the .MOBI and .EPUB files to their various ereading devices, that a .HTML file would work as the easiest way. But I would need to edit the file to remove all the other stuff except the description data to make it more 'user friendly'; and that is too much like work, LoL. Any ideas on a way to go about this? Thanks!

09-29-2013, 06:44 PM	#4
unboggling Wizard Posts: 1,065 Karma: 858115 Join Date: Jan 2011 Device: Kobo Clara, Kindle Paperwhite 10	Deleted. Nevermind, sorry. Last edited by unboggling; 09-29-2013 at 06:51 PM.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
ebook-meta setting the "Identifiers" field	mafrosis	Calibre	2	09-02-2013 04:11 AM
Kindle "Book Description"	FredLx	Amazon Kindle	2	03-15-2012 04:30 AM
Change "Last, First" to "First Last" in author field	EricLandes	Library Management	3	11-26-2011 11:23 AM
Is "language description" modified when uploading	PoP	Library Management	4	04-30-2011 06:10 AM

09-29-2013, 04:08 PM	#2
EowynCarter Wizard Posts: 4,337 Karma: 4000000 Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Paris Device: Cybooks; Sony PRS-T1	Woudn't OPDS do the job there ? ( look for calibreToOPDS )

09-29-2013, 05:28 PM	#3
MontyJ Addict Posts: 224 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2012 Device: Kindle	EowynCarter, I had no clue such a thing existed! From a (very) quick look, it may do the trick, but will have to do some additional reading. Thanks for that tip!!

09-29-2013, 06:53 PM	#5
MontyJ Addict Posts: 224 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2012 Device: Kindle	unboggling, Yea, I tried that, as I do make a ebook "index" available for members in .XLS format. I have Author/Title as normal and experimented with the "Comments" addition. It does work, but it really makes the spreadsheet hard to read since most "Comments" are lengthy enough to make the cell either extend to the right and off the screen, or if you wrap it, it messes with the flow of the Author/Title fields....just not a clean solution. And, I also provide a TEXT format index. And it really has to be in a single line, single title type layout. So again, lengthy descriptions wind up way, way too long. Thanks for the idea tho! [edit] I saw you post before it was deleted...no problema!

Advert

Advert