WOW, so many questions, so little time.

[Disfrutalavida]

Hello all,
I'm a retired computing systems engineer living here in Mexico where the margarita's are cold and the women are. . . . OK, OK. . . lukewarm to me. https://www.mobileread.com/forums/ima...es/biggrin.gif

Clients ranged from large organizations to Fortune 100 companies and government using large scale computing systems and supercomputers.

Looks like Calibre might do what I want if I can get all my ebooks cataloged and converted the way I wish.
I could use a database program, but Calibre has so many other nice features I would like to use.

I've read the manual and FAQ, but either I missed what I need or the info is not there yet.

In a nutshell I wish to catalog 8000+ books, then convert, as needed, to another folder and read on my Palm and iPAQ, and in the future, convert all the originals to ePub, or whatever becomes the standard, when it matures a little more.

That's all. I'm not asking much am I?https://www.mobileread.com/forums/ima...dd1/y_rofl.gif

I don't expect answers to any of my questions yet, though I certainly will be glad to accept any offered.
I'll post separately later on. This is just a "wish list" so I don't forget.

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/ima...in_scratch.gif What needs to be answered before I start this project.

1) Where can I get the expressions to build the database from the file names as I have them setup?

2) Is there any way to import the author's name from the folder containing the files instead of from the file name?

3) Can the ebooks be cataloged without copying the files to a new location?
Please please please.

4) Can the SAVED folder structure be Lastname, Firstname instead of First Last? {author_sort[0]} or {authors} doesn't do what I want.
I suspect there is only one field for the author's name.
I'm curious? Kovid?

What I want to do.
Make a catalog of my 8000+ ebook library in various formats.
To get them in I'll need to be able to build the database from the file names, not the metadata, since it either does not exist, or is wrong.

I looked for "Regular Expressions"? for the various ways my books are named but there does not seem to be a main post for that and there are many, many threads to search through.
Is there a feature or post I am missing?

I will sort my books into separate folders with file names like
Author - Series Series # - Title.lit
Author - Title - Series Series 04.lrf
Last name, first name - Series Series 02 - Title.html
Last name, first name - Title - Series Series 05.txt
Same without the series info.
Some with only the title, but those I can easily group edit the author once in Calibre.
7 runs through and all my books should be in, though if I'm forced to save all the books as they are cataloged it will take a long, long time.

I have my ebooks stored on my drive in the format
Author'slastname, Firstname/Series/Title.ext which is the way books are organized in a library and at my age is logical to me.
It also makes it really easy to find any book I want if I want to give it to a friend. Sorry, but I was trained to use hierarchal structures for databases instead of metadata. I use Rockbox on my iPod instead of the stock Apple software for just that reason.

I've experimented, read the forum, and tried to change it but Calibre always makes a folder in the form first last name.
Anyone know how to save the files in the folder/file structure I want?

Is there any way to catalog without saving the files?
I set the fie types to save to "none" but that caused Calibre to hang.

I have my files in the Folder/file structure I want at present.

Convert them to HTML or ePub format to read on my Palm or iPAQ, and maybe an iPad eventually. I have a good reader for my PC, but I'll try out Calibre's to see how it is. It looks like CSS can be used to do what I want, but I don't know how easy that is to do.

[Katti's Cat]

Hi Disfrutalvida and welcome to MR. Hope someone comes along to answer your question/s. I am sure there is a simple way of doing what you want.

[ImogenRose]

Hi and welcome to MR!

[Disfrutalavida]

Thanks all for the greetings. I'm looking forward to discovering all the things Calibre can do.

[Lady Blue]

to the forum, Disfrutalavida.

[happy_terd]

hello and welcome to MR!!!

[neilmarr]

***the women are. . . . OK, OK. . . lukewarm to me***

If you're avatar is supposed to express 'lukewarm', Dis, I think I should book the first flight to Mexico. Good to have your company. Best wishes. Neil