Question about multiple columns

Rellwood · 10-23-2020, 02:02 PM

Is it better to have more columns containing less info, or less columns containing more info?

Also, what things can I do to speed up my library? I have a lot of columns, a lot of tags, heirarchal tags, long text, and composite columns. I don't know how to weed out the tags - there are so many redundant tags that it would take forever to go through them all. I noticed that recently that updating metadata has taken a big hit in time, and I don't really know what to do to fix it. Also, copying to other libraries has drastically slowed down.

I am not running other programs at the same time, and I have a decent computer.

Any suggestions that indicate where Calibre can be "sped up" by the type of column or tag would be appreciated.

Finally, does "nulling out" columns make a difference? (Job Spy)

ownedbycats · 10-23-2020, 02:17 PM

Have you recently checked your hard drive health? When my Seagate drive started failing, one of the first signs of it was a massive slowdown when updating metadata in Calibre.

Rellwood · 10-23-2020, 02:21 PM

No, but I will check.

It shouldn't be bad because it's an SSD and about 1 1/2 years old.

ownedbycats · 10-23-2020, 02:29 PM

That's good. SSDs are less prone to failure—no mechanical parts to wear out or get bumped out of place. There is a limited number of writes for them but unless you're doing silly stuff like running defrags on it you should be good.

theducks · 10-23-2020, 05:02 PM

Windows Event viewer: logs: system: (look for red items).
A few years ago, I found on for the HD doing excessive retrys. Cloned that puppy and was good to go, without the hassle of a reinstall, because I caught it before it died for good.

ownedbycats · 10-23-2020, 05:07 PM

I was able to catch the Seagate through the logger too. The system had completely locked up for seemingly no reason. The event viewer showed that Windows had started doing a weekly scheduled defrag on that drive and never completed it. I took a guess that the defragger had come across some bad sectors, ran a disk test, and it came back as showing the drive was going bad.

BetterRed · 10-23-2020, 05:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rellwood

Also, what things can I do to speed up my library? I have a lot of columns, a lot of tags, heirarchal tags, long text, and composite columns.

<snip>

IIRC - composite columns that access file system attributes have a negative affect on calibre performance.

BR

chaley · 10-23-2020, 06:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BetterRed

IIRC - composite columns that access file system attributes have a negative affect on calibre performance.

BR

Yes they do because they must access the actual files to get the data and that can take a while.

Rellwood · 10-23-2020, 10:17 PM

The only composite columns I have are the identifiers, and I used the format set up when making the columns.

And the hard drive is working fine. I uninstalled a few programs (including Google Drive) which I recently added. I still have to reboot the computer to see if it makes a difference.

I have been working on a new "list" library.

Amazon was able to provide me with list of EVERY book I ever purchased, deleted, rented, Kindle Unlimited, and Library Borrowed, along with each instance of renting, borrowing.

I am trying to create the "perfect" library with all those correct dates and sources, then I will import a catalog into my current library to update those.

It's taken a minute.

ownedbycats · 10-23-2020, 10:29 PM

If you haven't recently run a Library -> Library Maintenance -> Check Library to vacuum the database, I recommend doing so.

Something else I also found helped once when my Calibre was being lagtastic:

Library -> Library Maintenance -> Restore Database. Do a backup first!

This'll essentially wipe your metadata.db and rebuild everything from the OPF files. I'm not sure why it helped - could be there was some problem in the database file that Check Library didn't catch.

Rellwood · 10-30-2020, 02:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

If you haven't recently run a Library -> Library Maintenance -> Check Library to vacuum the database, I recommend doing so.

Something else I also found helped once when my Calibre was being lagtastic:

Library -> Library Maintenance -> Restore Database. Do a backup first!

This'll essentially wipe your metadata.db and rebuild everything from the OPF files. I'm not sure why it helped - could be there was some problem in the database file that Check Library didn't catch.

I have to wait forever for the .opf files to update. I would try it, but I am afraid of ending up with a bunch of books with wonky metadata. However, I suppose I could create a .csv with all the current info and just import it in after.

10-23-2020, 02:02 PM	#1
Rellwood Library Breeder (She/Her) Posts: 1,255 Karma: 1937891 Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: Fullerton, California Device: Paperwhite 2015 (2), PW 2024 (12 GEN), PW 2023 (11 GEN), Scribe (1st)	Question about multiple columns Is it better to have more columns containing less info, or less columns containing more info? Also, what things can I do to speed up my library? I have a lot of columns, a lot of tags, heirarchal tags, long text, and composite columns. I don't know how to weed out the tags - there are so many redundant tags that it would take forever to go through them all. I noticed that recently that updating metadata has taken a big hit in time, and I don't really know what to do to fix it. Also, copying to other libraries has drastically slowed down. I am not running other programs at the same time, and I have a decent computer. Any suggestions that indicate where Calibre can be "sped up" by the type of column or tag would be appreciated. Finally, does "nulling out" columns make a difference? (Job Spy)

10-23-2020, 05:07 PM	#6
ownedbycats Custom User Title Posts: 10,919 Karma: 74203799 Join Date: Oct 2018 Location: Canada Device: Kobo Libra H2O, formerly Aura HD	I was able to catch the Seagate through the logger too. The system had completely locked up for seemingly no reason. The event viewer showed that Windows had started doing a weekly scheduled defrag on that drive and never completed it. I took a guess that the defragger had come across some bad sectors, ran a disk test, and it came back as showing the drive was going bad. Last edited by ownedbycats; 10-23-2020 at 05:11 PM.

10-23-2020, 10:17 PM	#9
Rellwood Library Breeder (She/Her) Posts: 1,255 Karma: 1937891 Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: Fullerton, California Device: Paperwhite 2015 (2), PW 2024 (12 GEN), PW 2023 (11 GEN), Scribe (1st)	The only composite columns I have are the identifiers, and I used the format set up when making the columns. And the hard drive is working fine. I uninstalled a few programs (including Google Drive) which I recently added. I still have to reboot the computer to see if it makes a difference. I have been working on a new "list" library. Amazon was able to provide me with list of EVERY book I ever purchased, deleted, rented, Kindle Unlimited, and Library Borrowed, along with each instance of renting, borrowing. I am trying to create the "perfect" library with all those correct dates and sources, then I will import a catalog into my current library to update those. It's taken a minute. Last edited by Rellwood; 10-23-2020 at 10:20 PM.

10-23-2020, 10:29 PM	#10
ownedbycats Custom User Title Posts: 10,919 Karma: 74203799 Join Date: Oct 2018 Location: Canada Device: Kobo Libra H2O, formerly Aura HD	If you haven't recently run a Library -> Library Maintenance -> Check Library to vacuum the database, I recommend doing so. Something else I also found helped once when my Calibre was being lagtastic: Library -> Library Maintenance -> Restore Database. Do a backup first! This'll essentially wipe your metadata.db and rebuild everything from the OPF files. I'm not sure why it helped - could be there was some problem in the database file that Check Library didn't catch. Last edited by ownedbycats; 10-23-2020 at 10:32 PM.

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10-23-2020, 02:17 PM	#2
ownedbycats Custom User Title Posts: 10,919 Karma: 74203799 Join Date: Oct 2018 Location: Canada Device: Kobo Libra H2O, formerly Aura HD	Have you recently checked your hard drive health? When my Seagate drive started failing, one of the first signs of it was a massive slowdown when updating metadata in Calibre.

10-23-2020, 02:21 PM	#3
Rellwood Library Breeder (She/Her) Posts: 1,255 Karma: 1937891 Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: Fullerton, California Device: Paperwhite 2015 (2), PW 2024 (12 GEN), PW 2023 (11 GEN), Scribe (1st)	No, but I will check. It shouldn't be bad because it's an SSD and about 1 1/2 years old.

10-23-2020, 02:29 PM	#4
ownedbycats Custom User Title Posts: 10,919 Karma: 74203799 Join Date: Oct 2018 Location: Canada Device: Kobo Libra H2O, formerly Aura HD	That's good. SSDs are less prone to failure—no mechanical parts to wear out or get bumped out of place. There is a limited number of writes for them but unless you're doing silly stuff like running defrags on it you should be good.

10-23-2020, 05:02 PM	#5
theducks Well trained by Cats Posts: 31,019 Karma: 60358908 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: The Central Coast of California Device: Kobo Libra2,Kobo Aura2v1, K4NT(Fixed: New Bat.), Galaxy Tab A	Windows Event viewer: logs: system: (look for red items). A few years ago, I found on for the HD doing excessive retrys. Cloned that puppy and was good to go, without the hassle of a reinstall, because I caught it before it died for good.

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