Bulk Delete All But the Very First Format Added?

[enuddleyarbl]

Over the years, I've used various book formats in Calibre. In some cases, I've got five different formats saved: MOBI, ORIGINAL_AZW3, AZW3, ORIGINAL_EPUB, and now EPUB. Is there any way to bulk delete all but the original format added to Calibre?

My searches here aren't giving me a good feeling about being able to do that. I've found references to:

Edit Metadata > Edit Metadata in Bulk > Basic Metadata > Restore Pre Conversion Originals, If Available.

But, I'm not sure what the result will be. Assuming the five formats listed above, would the existing AZW3 and EPUB formats be deleted and the ORIGINAL_AZW3 and ORIGINAL_EPUB be renamed to AZW3 and EPUB? But, even so, is there any way to figure out in bulk which of the MOBI, AZW3 and EPUB formats are the version first added to Calibre?

I'd assume that just from the age of the format definitions and from my having just started using an ereader capable of reading EPUBS, if a MOBI existed, that would be the original. If not, and an AZW3 existed, then that would be the original, and if nothing else was there, then, of course, the EPUB would be the original. But, I can't guarantee that. Plus, I'd still be in the situation of having to bulk delete those assumed non-original formats. Is there any way to do that?

[kovidgoyal]

calibre doesnt track format add dates, so not really. Just restore pre convrsion originals to get rid of the ORIGINAL_ as for which of mobi/epub/etc are the original, you can do it in bulk, you might be able to using last modified dates on the actual format files, but those are not very reliable as they can get changed when eidting the tite/author of a book.

[enuddleyarbl]

OK. Thanks for the response. As a suggestion, could it be possible for Calibre to automatically set a metadata field on books as they're imported/added? Even just adding an asterisk to the format for those versions that were imported/added and not converted. Yes. I could have done that myself. But, back then I knew even less than I know now.

I guess I could figure out where all my books came from, re-download them (and save them someplace this time), remove all the old formats in my existing Calibre library (keeping just the metadata) and re-import all the books. And this time, I could set up a custom field showing the format/date imported.

Also, this brings up an interesting question. What format does Calibre use as its source for conversions? I'm guessing that it would choose the source format based on the order listed in Preferences > Interface > Behavior > Preferred Input Format Order and would use an ORIGINAL_ format if it existed and the regular flavor if it didn't.

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by DaveLessnau

OK. Thanks for the response. As a suggestion, could it be possible for Calibre to automatically set a metadata field on books as they're imported/added?

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=278559

[enuddleyarbl]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=278559

Thanks. That looks even better than what I was suggesting. I'll give it a look.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by DaveLessnau

Also, this brings up an interesting question. What format does Calibre use as its source for conversions? I'm guessing that it would choose the source format based on the order listed in Preferences > Interface > Behavior > Preferred Input Format Order and would use an ORIGINAL_ format if it existed and the regular flavor if it didn't.

That is what it does when you open the conversion dialog. You can change the input format, but, it will always use the ORIGINAL_ for the chosen input format.