Multiple copies of same book after caliber reinstallation

[Cybermidas]

Hi .

I reinstalled calibre after changed. I added all the books of the earlier library to calibre (I'm stupid! that is why..before you ask). Now I realize that I have multiple folders and only one of the folders is showing in calibre.

Can anyone kindly help me to resolve this? I only want one folder of the book to be present.

Please see below how it looks in my system. Though calibre has only one copy of the book.

[theducks]

You never (normally) need to re-add books after a Uninstall as you found out.

You just point a New Install to the existing Library(/ies)


Find Duplicates PI will and a lot of work (you still need to pick which to delete. They will be Paired, that is why I suggest find duplicates)
or restore (full replace) the Library folder from a backup

[PeterT]

Shouldn't the first step be Library Maintenance to locate files / folders that differ between the database and the file system.

[theducks]

Originally Posted by PeterT

Shouldn't the first step be Library Maintenance to locate files / folders that differ between the database and the file system.

[Cybermidas]

@thedcks..thanks...

I tried create/swith library and pointing it towards the existing structure of folders. But an error message says "there is no existing library at the location".

what do I need to do to make calibre understand the new library?

[theducks]

Originally Posted by Cybermidas

@thedcks..thanks...

I tried create/swith library and pointing it towards the existing structure of folders. But an error message says "there is no existing library at the location".

what do I need to do to make calibre understand the new library?

a library is not a collection of books that was not made by Calibre

A Library has the structure you show WITH a metadata.db (and a metadata_prefs_ Backup) FILE in the Top layer (the one with author folders)

If those are not there, AND each title folder DOES have a metadata.opf
the Library should be repairable (as long as you did not mix other files in there)

[BetterRed]

@Cybermidas - if you have a backup of your library prior to making the 'blunder' restore it. If you don't, make a mental note to do something about that once your current problems are resolved.

Otherwise - First do what PeterT suggests

Run Library Maintenance->Check Library. It runs in two stages, the first checks the internal integrity of the database, errors from it are very rare - I've never seen one.

The second optional stage compares the content of the database against the existence and content of the library subfolders (author and book). It is not uncommon for this stage to report anomalies, e.g. a Book record exists in the database but there's no corresponding book folder, an author folder exists for which there is no corresponding Author record in the database.

These anomalies should be resolved. They are often caused users using their file managers to change the folder names or contents, they can also be caused by abrupt hardware failures - power, video card etc

Added : btw: there's nothing a file manager can do that calibre can't do, apart from wreak havoc with your library. Equivalent to breaking into a library and moving the books and shelves around

Second do what theducks first suggested.

Use the optional Find Duplicates plugin to find the duplicates, if you add the Date column to the book list you should be able to easily identify the most recently added instance of duplicates - that's the one you probably want to remove.

In Preferences->Add Books there are settings relating to how duplicates are to be handled, you might want to review what you have there.

Added : actually - you should do something about backup now, back it up before undertaking the above repairs. Then if you make things worse you'll be able to start over.

BR

[Cybermidas]

@BetterRed...sorry to sound like a noob...

I ran the Library Maintenance->Check Library... No errors...

Then the window shows errors found. And there it shows all the books as error. All the books are present in their folder, metadata.opf are also present in each folder too.

I click on done, and then nothing happens.

Please..help..

[theducks]

Originally Posted by Cybermidas

@BetterRed...sorry to sound like a noob...

I ran the Library Maintenance->Check Library... No errors...

Then the window shows errors found. And there it shows all the books as error. All the books are present in their folder, metadata.opf are also present in each folder too.

I click on done, and then nothing happens.

Please..help..

First phase checks the DB structure for corruption
The books don't match the DB (file path/name/index number) if they show in the second phase

Run the Restore Database (takes a bit of time)

[kovidgoyal]

Create a new empty library. Select all books in the current library, right click, copy to library (delete after copy)

that will move all books calibre is tracking into your new library. Now switch tot he new library. Then you can either discard the old library folder if it contains only duplicates, or add the books from it by right clicking the add books button and choosing "Add books from directories, one book per directory" and choosing the old library folder.

[Cybermidas]

Thanks KovidGoyal.......


Its resolving...


and it was a great honour to get direct suggestion from the "Creator" himself!!