[MacOS] Library confusion

RustyHelen · 07-18-2021, 01:12 AM

Hi. I am in trouble with my Library. For many years I have been using a Library on a removable disc (just because that is the way it was set up) but decided that was risky in the event that the disc failed.
So I copied the Library (named eB) on the disc to my desktop but a number of errors occurred so I decided to revert to the disc Library.
However now I cannot get Calibre to look at the disc for the Library.
I should add that the Library has a number of Folders, sorted by book type, eg Fiction, Autobiography etc, about 35 in total.
Should also add that I am a Mac user.
So what I would ideally like to do is to take the existing 35 Folders in my Library, transfer it to hard drive on the Macbook and have Calibre recognise and work with it.
Any advice please.
TIA Rusty

BetterRed · 07-18-2021, 03:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RustyHelen

<snip>

I should add that the Library has a number of Folders, sorted by book type, eg Fiction, Autobiography etc, about 35 in total.

<snip>

Are you sure it was a calibre library?

A calibre library has a very strict structure of Author sub-folders, and within those Book Title sub-sub-folders eg.

My Library

Author One

Book A
Book B
Book C

Author Two

Book D
Book E
Book F

Author Three

Book G
Book H

This: "…sorted by book type, eg Fiction, Autobiography etc…" would appear to be more like "Tags" which is a calibre category, which are stored as columns in a library database.

BR

RustyHelen · 07-18-2021, 05:54 AM

Thanks. Well all I know is that Calibre has been reading the "Library" for years, maybe 8 or 9 now. And yes you are correct in the Tag column there is the word Fiction (for eg) but in my set up all books with the same tag are grouped into what I have called Folders. So that when using Calibre and I want to change the grouping that I am working in from (say) Fiction to Non Fiction I Quickswitch to change the books I see.
I should add that I did not set this up. A Calibre long time user did it for me so I don't really understand.
Cheers
R

BetterRed · 07-18-2021, 06:44 PM

I altered the thread title to indicate you're an Apple Macintosh user.

If you can post the version numbers for MacOS and calibre it will help the Mac experts.

BR

RustyHelen · 07-18-2021, 11:49 PM

Hi BR. Thanks macOS Big Sur V11.5 and Calibre 5.23.0

BetterRed · 07-21-2021, 06:15 PM

Bump - are there any Mac users able to help?

theducks · 07-21-2021, 09:25 PM

Quick switch is a VL (virtual Library) term. That says you have 1 REAL Library.
You simply need to determine what each VL expects (OS independent) as its 'filter' values.

right click the VL's tab: Edit... (remember to CANCEL if you make no changes)

OTOH you imply a different structure OF FILES. This IS NOT changeable for a CALIBRE Library. You could have a template for a DEVICE (send to...), but that does not change the real Library layout

kovidgoyal · 07-21-2021, 09:44 PM

If you want calibre to use a library in a marticular folder you click the calibre icon in the main calibre toolbar and choose switch/create library and select that folder.

What is going wrong when you do that procedure?

RustyHelen · 07-23-2021, 01:00 AM

Thanks all for help/suggestions. By trial and error I have got Calibre reading the library on the disc again. So I will just stick with that I think. I think that the "errors" I was getting are due to my ignorance. Thinking that each of the categories was a "Library" whereas in fact I think that I have 1 Library with a number of Virtual Libraries, as theducks pointed out above. Thanks again for the great assistance here. Rusty

07-18-2021, 01:12 AM	#1
RustyHelen RustyHelen Posts: 7 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2014 Location: Melbourne Device: Kindle	[MacOS] Library confusion Hi. I am in trouble with my Library. For many years I have been using a Library on a removable disc (just because that is the way it was set up) but decided that was risky in the event that the disc failed. So I copied the Library (named eB) on the disc to my desktop but a number of errors occurred so I decided to revert to the disc Library. However now I cannot get Calibre to look at the disc for the Library. I should add that the Library has a number of Folders, sorted by book type, eg Fiction, Autobiography etc, about 35 in total. Should also add that I am a Mac user. So what I would ideally like to do is to take the existing 35 Folders in my Library, transfer it to hard drive on the Macbook and have Calibre recognise and work with it. Any advice please. TIA Rusty

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07-18-2021, 05:54 AM	#3
RustyHelen RustyHelen Posts: 7 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2014 Location: Melbourne Device: Kindle	Thanks. Well all I know is that Calibre has been reading the "Library" for years, maybe 8 or 9 now. And yes you are correct in the Tag column there is the word Fiction (for eg) but in my set up all books with the same tag are grouped into what I have called Folders. So that when using Calibre and I want to change the grouping that I am working in from (say) Fiction to Non Fiction I Quickswitch to change the books I see. I should add that I did not set this up. A Calibre long time user did it for me so I don't really understand. Cheers R

07-18-2021, 06:44 PM	#4
BetterRed null operator (he/him) Posts: 21,721 Karma: 29711016 Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Sydney Australia Device: none	I altered the thread title to indicate you're an Apple Macintosh user. If you can post the version numbers for MacOS and calibre it will help the Mac experts. BR

07-18-2021, 11:49 PM	#5
RustyHelen RustyHelen Posts: 7 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2014 Location: Melbourne Device: Kindle	Hi BR. Thanks macOS Big Sur V11.5 and Calibre 5.23.0

07-21-2021, 06:15 PM	#6
BetterRed null operator (he/him) Posts: 21,721 Karma: 29711016 Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Sydney Australia Device: none	Bump - are there any Mac users able to help?

07-21-2021, 09:25 PM	#7
theducks Well trained by Cats Posts: 31,047 Karma: 60358908 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: The Central Coast of California Device: Kobo Libra2,Kobo Aura2v1, K4NT(Fixed: New Bat.), Galaxy Tab A	Quick switch is a VL (virtual Library) term. That says you have 1 REAL Library. You simply need to determine what each VL expects (OS independent) as its 'filter' values. right click the VL's tab: Edit... (remember to CANCEL if you make no changes) OTOH you imply a different structure OF FILES. This IS NOT changeable for a CALIBRE Library. You could have a template for a DEVICE (send to...), but that does not change the real Library layout

07-21-2021, 09:44 PM	#8
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 45,345 Karma: 27182818 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	If you want calibre to use a library in a marticular folder you click the calibre icon in the main calibre toolbar and choose switch/create library and select that folder. What is going wrong when you do that procedure?

07-23-2021, 01:00 AM	#9
RustyHelen RustyHelen Posts: 7 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2014 Location: Melbourne Device: Kindle	Thanks all for help/suggestions. By trial and error I have got Calibre reading the library on the disc again. So I will just stick with that I think. I think that the "errors" I was getting are due to my ignorance. Thinking that each of the categories was a "Library" whereas in fact I think that I have 1 Library with a number of Virtual Libraries, as theducks pointed out above. Thanks again for the great assistance here. Rusty

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