Bulk Convert is ignoring Preferred Input Format Order

chyron8472 · 01-24-2011, 12:52 PM

Hi guys.

I have problems with Bulk Convert.

I have v0.7.42 and a Kindle 2. Calibre assumes, while Bulk Converting, that when I have an ebook with formats including .mobi, that I want to convert from .mobi to .mobi (which I do not want.)

...even when I move MOBI all the way to the very bottom of the Preferred Input Format Order box in the Behavior window in Preferences.

How do I fix this? Is it a bug?

kovidgoyal · 01-24-2011, 01:02 PM

I would suggest simply removing the destination format, click the arrow next to remove books to do that.

chyron8472 · 01-24-2011, 01:14 PM

hmm... yes I tried that, and it did work properly.

However, I used to notice this happening when I bulk converted ebooks of various formats (for example, if I wanted to convert a set of books where one had .prc, two had .epub, and any also had .mobi) This didn't bother me much, as I'd simply bulk convert books in groups that had the same formats.

But now, it's happening all the time, even if all the books in the set I'm bulk converting have .azw (which is my preferred input format) when any one of them also has .mobi.

So yes, killing the .mobi files does work, but still... is there anything more that can be done about it?

Manichean · 01-24-2011, 01:25 PM

Why do you assume that it uses the MOBI format in the case you provided screenshots for? I see a book entry containing AZW and MOBI, and I see a warning that the destination format (MOBI) already exists and will be replaced by the product of the conversion. I see that your most preferred input format is AZW, thus, I assume that Calibre will use that format as source. Is there anything indicating that Calibre wants to use MOBI as a source format?

user_none · 01-24-2011, 01:30 PM

I'm not asking to be snarky but does the book entry contain formats other than MOBI?

chyron8472 · 01-24-2011, 01:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Manichean

Why do you assume that it uses the MOBI format in the case you provided screenshots for? I see a book entry containing AZW and MOBI, and I see a warning that the destination format (MOBI) already exists and will be replaced by the product of the conversion. I see that your most preferred input format is AZW, thus, I assume that Calibre will use that format as source. Is there anything indicating that Calibre wants to use MOBI as a source format?

Because, if I convert an individual book and it has any format as well as already has MOBI, if I convert from something else to MOBI, that "Convert Existing" popup does not appear. If I tell same individual book to convert from MOBI to MOBI, it does.

Therefore, I assume that the "Convert Existing" popup exists to warn me that I am using an Input format to overwrite itself to the same Output format (which makes sense, because if that were the only format of the book available, then the changes become permanent.)

chyron8472 · 01-24-2011, 01:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by user_none

I'm not asking to be snarky but does the book entry contain formats other than MOBI?

Yes. I always ensure that each of my ebooks have more formats than MOBI, since converting a file to overwrite itself with no other available formats makes the changes permanent.

...Which is to say that when I put books from Amazon on Calibre, I add them as AZW. When I download books from fanfiction.net (using FLAG webservice) and add them to Calibre, I do so as EPUB.

So then all of my ebooks have either EPUB, AZW or some other format as well as all having MOBI (which is what I upload to my Kindle.) In this way, I always have the original version of the ebook from which to use in converting to the format I put on my Kindle.

kovidgoyal · 01-24-2011, 01:42 PM

convert existing appears only during bulk conversions and as it's text implies warns you that the result of the conversion will overwrite an existing format. For a single conversion, calibre assumes you are already aware of that.

Manichean · 01-24-2011, 01:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chyron8472

Because, if I convert an individual book and it has any format as well as already has MOBI, if I convert from something else to MOBI, that "Convert Existing" popup does not appear. If I tell same individual book to convert from MOBI to MOBI, it does.

Ah. Curiously enough, when converting an individual book, I don't get that warning. I may have disabled the dialog sometime in the past, though.

chyron8472 · 01-24-2011, 02:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

convert existing appears only during bulk conversions and as it's text implies warns you that the result of the conversion will overwrite an existing format. For a single conversion, calibre assumes you are already aware of that.

wait... okay, it used to say that on individual books when overwriting itself. I'm certain of it. Now it doesn't though. =S

What I'm getting at is, I don't want to convert from MOBI to MOBI. I want to convert from my original format to MOBI... And you're saying that the popup is no indication of whether or not it's doing this, but only that the output format already exists?

If so, then that makes me feel a lot better.

kovidgoyal · 01-24-2011, 02:03 PM

yes, that's what I'm saying.

chyron8472 · 01-24-2011, 02:10 PM

Good. lol

I'm just sure that, in the past, I've converted an individual book before that only had MOBI and got that popup, and that I've bulk converted from AZW to MOBI in the past with no popup.

*shrugs* Oh well.

BTW, great program. I use it all the time.

kovidgoyal · 01-24-2011, 02:17 PM

You can always check what format is actually being converted by looking at the conversion log for a give conversion.

Perkin · 01-24-2011, 03:09 PM

To prove it's working to yourself.

Create a dummy entry, have a couple of formats in the entry, (MOBI,ePub) - copies of a different book than you want converted, and have one format of AZW of the actual book you want converted.

Now when you do a convert, it should convert (the correct) AZW to MOBI.

If the end result is that the resultant MOBI file is a conversion of one of the 'dummy' formats, Then there's a bug.

01-24-2011, 12:52 PM	#1
chyron8472 Groupie Posts: 180 Karma: 558490 Join Date: Jan 2011 Device: Kindle 5, Amazon Fire 5th Gen, Moto Z Play Droid	Bulk Convert is ignoring Preferred Input Format Order Hi guys. I have problems with Bulk Convert. I have v0.7.42 and a Kindle 2. Calibre assumes, while Bulk Converting, that when I have an ebook with formats including .mobi, that I want to convert from .mobi to .mobi (which I do not want.) ...even when I move MOBI all the way to the very bottom of the Preferred Input Format Order box in the Behavior window in Preferences. How do I fix this? Is it a bug?

01-24-2011, 01:14 PM	#3
chyron8472 Groupie Posts: 180 Karma: 558490 Join Date: Jan 2011 Device: Kindle 5, Amazon Fire 5th Gen, Moto Z Play Droid	hmm... yes I tried that, and it did work properly. However, I used to notice this happening when I bulk converted ebooks of various formats (for example, if I wanted to convert a set of books where one had .prc, two had .epub, and any also had .mobi) This didn't bother me much, as I'd simply bulk convert books in groups that had the same formats. But now, it's happening all the time, even if all the books in the set I'm bulk converting have .azw (which is my preferred input format) when any one of them also has .mobi. So yes, killing the .mobi files does work, but still... is there anything more that can be done about it? Last edited by chyron8472; 01-24-2011 at 01:16 PM.

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01-24-2011, 01:02 PM	#2
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 44,572 Karma: 24495948 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	I would suggest simply removing the destination format, click the arrow next to remove books to do that.

01-24-2011, 01:25 PM	#4
Manichean Wizard Posts: 3,130 Karma: 91256 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Germany Device: Cybook Gen3	Why do you assume that it uses the MOBI format in the case you provided screenshots for? I see a book entry containing AZW and MOBI, and I see a warning that the destination format (MOBI) already exists and will be replaced by the product of the conversion. I see that your most preferred input format is AZW, thus, I assume that Calibre will use that format as source. Is there anything indicating that Calibre wants to use MOBI as a source format?

01-24-2011, 01:30 PM	#5
user_none Sigil & calibre developer Posts: 2,487 Karma: 1063785 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Florida, USA Device: Nook STR	I'm not asking to be snarky but does the book entry contain formats other than MOBI?

01-24-2011, 01:42 PM	#8
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 44,572 Karma: 24495948 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	convert existing appears only during bulk conversions and as it's text implies warns you that the result of the conversion will overwrite an existing format. For a single conversion, calibre assumes you are already aware of that.

01-24-2011, 02:03 PM	#11
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 44,572 Karma: 24495948 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	yes, that's what I'm saying.

01-24-2011, 02:10 PM	#12
chyron8472 Groupie Posts: 180 Karma: 558490 Join Date: Jan 2011 Device: Kindle 5, Amazon Fire 5th Gen, Moto Z Play Droid	Good. lol I'm just sure that, in the past, I've converted an individual book before that only had MOBI and got that popup, and that I've bulk converted from AZW to MOBI in the past with no popup. shrugs Oh well. BTW, great program. I use it all the time.

01-24-2011, 02:17 PM	#13
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 44,572 Karma: 24495948 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	You can always check what format is actually being converted by looking at the conversion log for a give conversion.

01-24-2011, 03:09 PM	#14
Perkin Guru Posts: 657 Karma: 64171 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Kent, England, Sol 3, ZZ9 plural Z Alpha Device: Sony PRS-300, Kobo Aura HD, iPad (Marvin)	To prove it's working to yourself. Create a dummy entry, have a couple of formats in the entry, (MOBI,ePub) - copies of a different book than you want converted, and have one format of AZW of the actual book you want converted. Now when you do a convert, it should convert (the correct) AZW to MOBI. If the end result is that the resultant MOBI file is a conversion of one of the 'dummy' formats, Then there's a bug.

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