Export extra data

[dunhill]

Is there a way to extract extra data from some books, such as the author's biography, as in the creation of a catalogue?

[kovidgoyal]

No, there isnt

[dunhill]

Thanks for your answers, Kovid

[capink]

You can try the chain attached, and it shall produce a csv file containing author notes. (only for authors in selected books).

You can change the path for the csv file by editing the variable in the module.

Note: The chain merely repackages the code of the template function get_note written by chaley.

Edit 1: You can control whether the notes are plain text or html by editing the variable called plain_text in the module.

Edit 2: The chain should have been called "Export notes", but it is already past midnight here ...

[dunhill]

Originally Posted by capink

You can try the chain attached, and it shall produce a csv file containing author notes. (only for authors in selected books).

You can change the path for the csv file by editing the variable in the module.

Note: The chain merely repackages the code of the template function get_note written by chaley.

Thank you very much, trying...

[capink]

OK. I think I might have misunderstood what you wanted. If you want the author note as part of book catalog, rather than a separate catalog containing the notes only, your best bet is the following:

• Create a composite column called notes. And use the following template:
  

  program:
  program:
      res = '';
      for author in $authors separator '&':
          res = res & get_note('authors', author, '')  & character('newline')
      rof

• When creating the book catalog, choose the note composite column

[dunhill]

Originally Posted by capink

OK. I think I might have misunderstood what you wanted. If you want the author note as part of book catalog, rather than a separate catalog containing the notes only, your best bet is the following:

• Create a composite column called notes. And use the following template:
  

  program:
  program:
      res = '';
      for author in $authors separator '&':
          res = res & get_note('authors', author, '')  & character('newline')
      rof

• When creating the book catalog, choose the note composite column

Great and sorry for the time, The chain of actions worked better, thank you very much and good night

[chaley]

Changes are now in calibre source to allow composite columns using get_notes() to work in catalogs.

[capink]

If anyone is interested, the Category Tags plugin now have the ability to export/import both notes and links to/from csv files. The plugin main function is to export/import user categories for items like authors, tags ... etc. Now, it adds notes and links in addition to user categories.

So the net effect is that you can export the data to csv file that can be opened with any spreadsheet program like excel or libreoffice calc, and edit the the data, then re-import it back into calibre.

[Comfy.n]

Whee! That works. I had tried to make a catalog a while ago including my Author Bio column but this wasn't possible back then.

I've attached a split epub from a catalog I've generated running from latest source

[dunhill]

Thank you all for listening to users' questions and needs and making calibre deliver on all fronts.