how do I request option to convert from epub not original-epub ?

[cybmole]

as per the title. I'd liek to raise a request for the option to select between epub & original_epub as source format when converting to azw3

I've raised this in passing in previous discussion threads. I am coming back to it because if I'm tempted into getting a Kindle voyage, I'll need to be able to do epub ->azw conversions from my edited epub versions and NOT from my saved original_epub files which I keep in the same library

I did look at calibre help but did not find how to raise a feature request, as opposed to reporting a bug.

without this feature, I'd need a messy process of moving the original_epub files in to a separate calibre library, to prevent them being used as source files for conversions, & then move them back as needed

[kovidgoyal]

Not going to happen. Decide which epub you want, if its original_epub keep it and it will be used for conversion. If it is the edited on, delete original_epub, or move it into a separate book record.

[cybmole]

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

Not going to happen....

shame

is that because
a) it's complicated
b) I'm the only person in the world who wants the feature
c) other

multiple answers are permitted

I naively thought
a) that the only change needed was for drop down source format selection to offer all the available formats, and
b)that I'd not be the only one wanting to send their carefully edited epubs to a Kindle device, without having to discard their original archive format first.

looks like the kindle voyage will be coming off my wish list, for now anyway :-(

[theducks]

BR
I never quite wrapped my head around why Kovid did it this way either.
To me, an Original is the FIRST version placed to get modified. Once written, it never gets replaced (by the system). To me it would be a ready (for viewing) 'Archive' of the original.

Any Edits are refinements of the current version, which may take many iterations, to get it 'perfect'.
I do not usually ( ) start back at square one with the next iteration of the edit.

Traditional word processors make a BAK when they start. this is a walking, last known version. When I start on the file again, it opens the last saved file and makes a new BAK of it, not the 'Original'

I already keep the 'Original purchase' on another drive/system, so I frequently clean the Library of obsolete versions of my edit.

We work with what we got.

[cybmole]

perhaps someone could suggest a simple workflow if the desired enhancements is " not going to happen"

I want to continue to keep both modified epubs and untouched original_epub in my library, and I'd like a way of reading the modified/edited epubs on a Kindle device, which means converting them to azw, either in batch or on-the-fly as needed.

I don't want to have to hide or remove the original_epub files because they are my go-to fallback if I've messed up an epub edit & I don't want the hassle of having to operate 2 calibre libraries, just to accomodate being able to read in AZW format as well as in epub.

Neither do I want to do I lot of work twice, if I've spent time getting fonts, line spacings, justification, hyphenation.. etc layouts they way I like epubs to be for my own reading, I don't want to have to do those edits all over again in an AZW version, just because calibre insisted on converting only from original_epub source.

[kovidgoyal]

original_epub is not a backup mechanism. I suggest you stop treating it as one, or it will bite you in the ass. It exists for one purpose, and one purpose only -- to allow you to perform an epub to epub conversion (or book polishing) multiple times on the same book using the original source as input, every time, with no extra steps.

If you feel the need to backup original copies, either backup them up outside calibre, in a different library, in a different book record, or change the extension yourself from original_epub to my_epub_backup and add the file to the book record.

[cybmole]

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

original_epub is not a backup mechanism. I suggest you stop treating it as one, or it will bite you in the ass. It exists for one purpose, and one purpose only -- to allow you to perform an epub to epub conversion (or book polishing) multiple times on the same book using the original source as input, every time, with no extra steps.

.

ok but how is that relevant to asking for the option to convert from epub to azw, when there is an epub format file present and available ?
I am not asking for the epub to epub conversion option to be changed at all. I just want to be able to choose any available source format for an xxx to AZW conversion.

Surely you can appreciate the need for that, given that expecting amazon to support epub is even more of a stretch than wanting you to reconsider your position ?

[cybmole]

what could work here, maybe is something like the kobo extended device driver, which converts any epub that I send to my Kobo reader into a kepub.

that driver happily uses the (edited) epub file and not the original_epub file of the same book, when deciding what to use as a source for creating a kepub.

What would work for me is a similar driver or plug in that did that for send-to-kindle i.e. if there was not available mobi/AZW then it converted the epub but not the original-epub as it sent it to device. I not need to store the conversion result in calibre, I just need the conversion to be based on my latest edited epub file.

[kovidgoyal]

Originally Posted by cybmole

I am not asking for the epub to epub conversion option to be changed at all. I just want to be able to choose any available source format for an xxx to AZW conversion.

No you are asking for original_epub to epub treated like a normal format. It is not a normal format, and that is not going to change. Once again, stop using it as a backup, delete it, and use one of the many other mechanisms I posted in my previous post for backing up the original.

[cybmole]

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

No you are asking for original_epub to epub treated like a normal format..

sorry,

I am NOT asking for that at all. Please ignore/overlook/forgive any inadvertant mention of epub to epub on my part . The intent of this request is for a solution for epub to AZW i.e. epub to Kindle device. I apologise for the poor choice of thread title if that is what's bugging you, but the first post set out a rationale for the request. I originally thoughtr I should be requesting more control over source format selection but am only wanting that in order to get from edited epubs onto Kindle hardware.

I am asking to be able to select epub as a source format in that specific instance i.e. for epub to azw conversion, and for the program to not decide that when I select epub from the drop down options then I can only have whatever you call the "not a backup" original_epub format. ( which it refers to as epub and not as original_epub in that drop down btw. )

So please focus on critiquing what I actually asked for , preferably with reasoned arguments, and not on declining something off-topic.

In your own words.."....It [original_epub] exists for one purpose, and one purpose only -- to allow you to perform an epub to epub conversion" - great - I AGREE WITH THAT! - so let's have the code do that & only that.

So please make the program actually do only that one thing and not do what it currently does with a "...to AZW" request. I trust you will accept, or will check & confirm, that what the program actually does as at now contradicts what you wrote.

[kovidgoyal]

Sigh, let me join the dots and fill it up with nice pretty colors for you:

original_FMT is designed to always be used as a conversion source in preference to FMT, whenever it is present. This is regardless of the output format or the input format.

It is designed this way to ensure that FMT to FMT conversions can be repeated using the original file. It also has the same effect even when doing FMT to OTHER_FMT conversions, because not do so, would be a crazy, inconsistent mess.

So when you convert a book containing ORIGINAL_EPUB and EPUB to AZW3 it will use ORIGINAL_EPUB as the source. That is by design, and for the last time is not going to change.

So stop using ORIGINAL_EPUB as a backup mechanism.

[cybmole]

C...G/B........Am..F
no kindle no cry...