Can I modify how the books are saved in my existing library ?

marconique · 04-13-2016, 09:11 AM

Hi,

I've already post my thread in the french section but I'll try my best to explain my problem in english because I think there's probably more chance for me to get an answer faster in english as there's a lot more users who speaks english

.....

i would need your help and your tips please !!!

I've been using Calibre for a few years and I already have a ton of books in my Calibre library that are saved as the following format :

- each author as a folder wich is named this way : "authors' last Name, authors's first name" (Capital letter for both words separated by coma)

- in each of the authors folders there is a sub-folder for each books wich is named this way "book's title"

(**** When there are book series in my library, each book has a subfolder but ideally I would like that the series have a subfolder in wich each books in this serie would be founded in his own subfolder ... ex : if an author have written 2 book series of 3 book for each serie and 4 stand alone novels, I have actually one folder for the authors in wich I have 10 subfolders for the 10 books of this authors but I would rather have one folder for the author and 2 OR 3 subfolders : 2 for the 2 series and the 4 stand alone books would appear in the author's folder OR 2 for the 2 series and the other one in wich i would find the stand alone books ... *** Maybe somebody could give me an advice for what are the advantages AND / OR disadvantages of either one or the other way to have the series being saved ...???)

- and finally, in each book's sub-folder there are 3 elements : book's file (.epub or .pdf or .cbr or .cbz) + book cover + book metadata

This results in a ton of folders and I would like to create 26 sub-folders in order to at least be able to group authors by the first letter of their family name for two main reasons ...

First one is because when I search for books in windows explorer it's long to show all the authors ..

And the other one and this is the most important one, is because when I've tried to back up my library in a cloud everything seemed fine when I first make a test by copying my folders of the authors from A to F but after I've added G to Z it was not the same anymore and accessing to the cloud became harder as it was really too slow ....

I tought that there must be a way to change how the books are saved in the library and I hoped that I could find a way to make the change without having to start my library all over but I did not know how to do this ...

I tought maybe it could be done by creating a folder named "Old Calibre Library" and copy my entire library in this folder and then delete all the books in my actual Calibre library and after that upload in calibre all the "Old Calibre Library" folder and sub-folders ?

So I've searched for hours on the Internet and finally thought I've may have founded the way to solve my problem when I've founded this :

http://tutocalibre.free.fr/tuto_code....php#sDossiers

I've then tried to change the following model for the saivng mode in the disk (default one on Calibre)

{author_sort}/{title}/{title} - {authors}

by this one :

{author_sort[0]}/{author_sort}/{title}/{title} - {authors}

Then I've added a new book to my library to make a test and it did not make any change at all as it was saved exactly as usual in my library (the way I've explained before in this thread ...)

What I've i done wrong ?

Can somebody please help me and tell me how to do this without having to handle each and every book in my library one by one (because this would take forever ?

Thanks in advance for your comprehension and your collaboration ...

Have a nice day !

theducks · 04-13-2016, 09:50 AM

Simple Answer: No.
Inside the Library folder now belongs to the Librarian. The Librarian will deliver all formats, so there is no need to know the actual filing system used.

(Sorry, the link is to the English Help)
http://manual.calibre-ebook.com/faq....tory-structure

'Save' Templates are used for Devices
Here is an example of what I use on a device that only uses folders to show what is available (I only show the When not in a series template)

Code:

00noseries/{author_sort[0]}_authors/{author_sort}/{title}-{authors}

aleyx · 04-13-2016, 09:51 AM

Hi,

Quote:

Originally Posted by marconique

I've been using Calibre for a few years and I already have a ton of books in my Calibre library that are saved as the following format :

- each author as a folder wich is named this way : "authors' last Name, authors's first name" (Capital letter for both words separated by coma)

- in each of the authors folders there is a sub-folder for each books wich is named this way "book's title"

Short answer: You can't change the path format, nor should you try, nor should you care. The library folder is Calibre's domain, and you should treat it as a black box. You don't go in there, you don't change anything in there. If you do it anyway, you will break your library, which is not a good thing.

Longer answer: See the sticky.

Quote:

Originally Posted by marconique

What I've i done wrong ?

You did nothing wrong. What you did was make a export (a copy) of your library, using a path model. The original library is untouched.

N.

marconique · 04-13-2016, 10:12 AM

@ theducks : thanks for taking the time to read my thread and answer me !

have a nice day

marconique · 04-13-2016, 10:38 AM

@Aleyx : thanks for your time and help

I've just been reading the link you left for me but I was not sure if it was because I'm french that I did not understood or if I should have drinked another coffee before reading it again

because when I've readed this part I still understood that the way I would like my books to be in subfolders can be done (espicially because when I went to the "preferences" menu and chose the "save to disk" options, the model I've applied is a slight modification of the second model that appeared when I clicked on the rolling menu ???)

If you want your books inside a folder structure, you can use Calibre to edit the metadata to your liking and then save them using the save to disk or send to device features.

but then I've readed it again and finally understood

I tought "save to disk" was how Calibre saves my boooks on my computer export it ...

So ... just to make sure I'm doing the right ...

can you tell me then if the modification I've made will export the library as it is in my cloud but create sub folders in the cloud to put all the authors folders and files in the appropriate first letter folder of their family name so I can backup my library in a virtual cloud in a way that it will be easy to use and faster to connect to my cloud when I need to use it ?

If not, I tought maybe I could just create these sub-folders in my cloud and manually move all the folders I've already uploaded in it the other day but my worry is that if I want to periodically back up my library it would mean a lot of manipulation each time ...

Your help has been really helpfull ... hope you can help me again with this ...

have a nice day !

eschwartz · 04-13-2016, 10:48 AM

Yes, the Save-to-disk template you mentioned in your first post will work as intended.

But only for books you manually export using the "Save-to-disk" toolbar option, since it doesn't affect the library itself.

marconique · 04-13-2016, 10:57 AM

@ eschwartz : THANK YOU SO MUCH !!!

You've made my day

eschwartz · 04-13-2016, 11:07 AM

Current:

Code:

{author_sort[0]}/{author_sort}/{title}/{title} - {authors}

If you want each authors folder to have a subfolder for series, use:

Code:

{author_sort[0]}/{author_sort}/{series:||/}{title}/{title} - {authors}

If you want a "Standalone" subfolder for the non-series books as well, use:

Code:

{author_sort[0]}/{author_sort}/{series:ifempty(Standalone)||/}{title}/{title} - {authors}

Personally, I would leave it as-is. I am happy with author/title/title - authors.epub

marconique · 04-13-2016, 11:28 AM

@eschwartz : thanks for those precisions

ve just made a try with one author and it work well as it created a "A" folder a sufolders for the author but there's a difference from the usual author's folder because in my calibre library I have only one folder for this author with subfolders in it for each books but when I've exported it it created 3 subfolders for this author because she has written a few books and 2 of them are with 2 other authors so there is one with her name only and the 2 others are with her name & author "X" / her name & author "Y" ...

can you tell me howcome it went that way ?

Can I have only 1 folder for the author as it was before ?

thanks again

theducks · 04-13-2016, 11:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marconique

@eschwartz : thanks for those precisions

ve just made a try with one author and it work well as it created a "A" folder a sufolders for the author but there's a difference from the usual author's folder because in my calibre library I have only one folder for this author with subfolders in it for each books but when I've exported it it created 3 subfolders for this author because she has written a few books and 2 of them are with 2 other authors so there is one with her name only and the 2 others are with her name & author "X" / her name & author "Y" ...

can you tell me howcome it went that way ?

Can I have only 1 folder for the author as it was before ?

thanks again

The slash (/) is a folder level, so no folder between Author and Title

Code:

{author_sort[0]}/{author_sort}/{title}

A/Adams, James/President.epub

marconique · 04-13-2016, 12:08 PM

@theducks : thanks again for your help

I've copied and paste what you've suggested

{author_sort[0]}/{author_sort}/{title}

and it stills create 3 folders for the author ???

I'm starting to wonder if I need another coffee to finally resolve my problem ??? :P

theducks · 04-13-2016, 12:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marconique

@theducks : thanks again for your help

I've copied and paste what you've suggested

{author_sort[0]}/{author_sort}/{title}

and it stills create 3 folders for the author ???

I'm starting to wonder if I need another coffee to finally resolve my problem ??? :P

There is only 1 Author?
the template creates 2 folders, one will be reused if another author starts with the same letter

A

Adams, James

President.epub

Anderson, Hans

Fairy Tales.mobi

eschwartz · 04-13-2016, 12:48 PM

I've now modified the below quote to include list_item(0,&) -- which makes sure to always select the first author ONLY (and trim off additional authors).

This is after all also the way calibre stores things in its own internal library.

I have always found that to be more neat -- I modified all the default templates to use that.

Quote:

Originally Posted by eschwartz

Current:

Code:

{author_sort[0]:list_item(0,&)}/{author_sort:list_item(0,&)}/{title}/{title} - {authors:list_item(0,&)}

If you want each authors folder to have a subfolder for series, use:

Code:

{author_sort[0]:list_item(0,&)}/{author_sort:list_item(0,&)}/{series:||/}{title}/{title} - {authors:list_item(0,&)}

If you want a "Standalone" subfolder for the non-series books as well, use:

Code:

{author_sort[0]:list_item(0,&)}/{author_sort:list_item(0,&)}/{series:ifempty(Standalone)||/}{title}/{title} - {authors:list_item(0,&)}

Personally, I would leave it as-is. I am happy with author/title/title - authors.epub

marconique · 04-13-2016, 01:24 PM

@theducks : you're really fast when it comes time to land a hand to needful newbies

I think i was not clear with my explanations ...

Here's the test I've made :

I took only 4 books to do the test for wich I've used the "save to disk" technique

book 1 was written by author "A"
book 2 was written by author "A"
book 3 was written by 2 authors : author "A" + author "X"
book 4 was written by 2 authors : author "A" + author "Y"

In my Calibre library those 4 books are saved in 1 folder that is named "author A" with 4 subfolders (one for each book ...)

When I've made the test it turned out to have created 1 folder for letter A (that is so wonderful !!! i'm really happy that this part worked !)

but in the "A" folder it created 3 subfolders for author A :

- first subfolder= author A
- second subfolder = author A + author X
- third subfolder = author A + author Y

.....

just before reading your reply I was trying to see if it made a difference if I would use a " ; " instead of a " & " to separate the name of the authors (as I've done it since i've been using Calibre) and I've realized that after I changed " & " for " ; " to separate author A from author X and author A from author Y in my existing library it had been creating 3 different folders in my calibre library for author A ... just as it did in my test ...

then I wonder why it acted differently in "saving on the disk" then in my Calibre library as I did the change for " ; " instead of " & " in my calibre library AFTER doing my test ???

is there a way to export it and be able to have only one folder for author "A" as it was before (still being contained in the "A" parent folder ???

and it makes me think about something else ...

When I will have backed up my library on my cloud ... will i be able to search in my Cloud by the 2 authors names ? I mean will it possible for me to search all the books of author A and being able to search for all all the books of author X (if author X have also written other stand alone books for example ... if it does not create a subfolder in the parent folder X for the book author X has written with author A, if I'm looking for all the books author X has written and i don't remember about the book he has co-written with author A, will it show it to me if I search for "author X" in the Cloud for example ?)

thanks again for your patience and your comprehension for my attempt to explain myself in english

marconique · 04-13-2016, 01:37 PM

@ eschwartz : you were almost answering my question while i was writing it (see my last post ...)

If I understood correctly, I think that it would solve my problem if i use the option you propose to have only the fist author as I would have only one folder for author A in it's parent folder "A" :

{author_sort[0]:list_item(0,&)}/{author_sort:list_item(0,&)}/{title}/{title} - {authors:list_item(0,&)}

But as I mentioned in my last post, a new question came to my mind ....

When I will have backed up my library on my cloud ... will i be able to search in my Cloud by the 2 authors names ? I mean will it possible for me to search all the books of author A and being able to search for all all the books of author X (if author X have also written other stand alone books for example ... if it does not create a subfolder in the parent folder X for the book author X has written with author A, if I'm looking for all the books author X has written and i don't remember about the book he has co-written with author A, will it show it to me if I search for "author X" in the Cloud for example ?)

What do you think about this ? Maybe my question is not appropriate or maybe it's a silly one but I've just discovered the whole "cloud" concept and I'm really not familiar with it's utilisation so I'm not quite sure if I'll be doing everything the right way ...

04-13-2016, 09:11 AM	#1
marconique Member Posts: 13 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2013 Device: kobo aura	Can I modify how the books are saved in my existing library ? Hi, I've already post my thread in the french section but I'll try my best to explain my problem in english because I think there's probably more chance for me to get an answer faster in english as there's a lot more users who speaks english ..... i would need your help and your tips please !!! I've been using Calibre for a few years and I already have a ton of books in my Calibre library that are saved as the following format : - each author as a folder wich is named this way : "authors' last Name, authors's first name" (Capital letter for both words separated by coma) - in each of the authors folders there is a sub-folder for each books wich is named this way "book's title" (** When there are book series in my library, each book has a subfolder but ideally I would like that the series have a subfolder in wich each books in this serie would be founded in his own subfolder ... ex : if an author have written 2 book series of 3 book for each serie and 4 stand alone novels, I have actually one folder for the authors in wich I have 10 subfolders for the 10 books of this authors but I would rather have one folder for the author and 2 OR 3 subfolders : 2 for the 2 series and the 4 stand alone books would appear in the author's folder OR 2 for the 2 series and the other one in wich i would find the stand alone books ... * Maybe somebody could give me an advice for what are the advantages AND / OR disadvantages of either one or the other way to have the series being saved ...???) - and finally, in each book's sub-folder there are 3 elements : book's file (.epub or .pdf or .cbr or .cbz) + book cover + book metadata This results in a ton of folders and I would like to create 26 sub-folders in order to at least be able to group authors by the first letter of their family name for two main reasons ... First one is because when I search for books in windows explorer it's long to show all the authors .. And the other one and this is the most important one, is because when I've tried to back up my library in a cloud everything seemed fine when I first make a test by copying my folders of the authors from A to F but after I've added G to Z it was not the same anymore and accessing to the cloud became harder as it was really too slow .... I tought that there must be a way to change how the books are saved in the library and I hoped that I could find a way to make the change without having to start my library all over but I did not know how to do this ... I tought maybe it could be done by creating a folder named "Old Calibre Library" and copy my entire library in this folder and then delete all the books in my actual Calibre library and after that upload in calibre all the "Old Calibre Library" folder and sub-folders ? So I've searched for hours on the Internet and finally thought I've may have founded the way to solve my problem when I've founded this : http://tutocalibre.free.fr/tuto_code....php#sDossiers I've then tried to change the following model for the saivng mode in the disk (default one on Calibre) {author_sort}/{title}/{title} - {authors} by this one : {author_sort[0]}/{author_sort}/{title}/{title} - {authors} Then I've added a new book to my library to make a test and it did not make any change at all as it was saved exactly as usual in my library (the way I've explained before in this thread ...) What I've i done wrong ? Can somebody please help me and tell me how to do this without having to handle each and every book in my library one by one (because this would take forever ? Thanks in advance for your comprehension and your collaboration ... Have a nice day !

04-13-2016, 09:50 AM	#2
theducks Well trained by Cats Posts: 30,121 Karma: 57500000 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: The Central Coast of California Device: Kobo Libra2,Kobo Aura2v1, K4NT(Fixed: New Bat.), Galaxy Tab A	Simple Answer: No. Inside the Library folder now belongs to the Librarian. The Librarian will deliver all formats, so there is no need to know the actual filing system used. (Sorry, the link is to the English Help) http://manual.calibre-ebook.com/faq....tory-structure 'Save' Templates are used for Devices Here is an example of what I use on a device that only uses folders to show what is available (I only show the When not in a series template) Code: 00noseries/{author_sort[0]}_authors/{author_sort}/{title}-{authors}

04-13-2016, 11:07 AM	#8
eschwartz Ex-Helpdesk Junkie Posts: 19,421 Karma: 85397180 Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: The Beaten Path, USA, Roundworld, This Side of Infinity Device: Kindle Touch fw5.3.7 (Wifi only)	Current: Code: {author_sort[0]}/{author_sort}/{title}/{title} - {authors} If you want each authors folder to have a subfolder for series, use: Code: {author_sort[0]}/{author_sort}/{series:\|\|/}{title}/{title} - {authors} If you want a "Standalone" subfolder for the non-series books as well, use: Code: {author_sort[0]}/{author_sort}/{series:ifempty(Standalone)\|\|/}{title}/{title} - {authors} Personally, I would leave it as-is. I am happy with author/title/title - authors.epub

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04-13-2016, 10:12 AM	#4
marconique Member Posts: 13 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2013 Device: kobo aura	@ theducks : thanks for taking the time to read my thread and answer me ! have a nice day

04-13-2016, 10:38 AM	#5
marconique Member Posts: 13 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2013 Device: kobo aura	@Aleyx : thanks for your time and help I've just been reading the link you left for me but I was not sure if it was because I'm french that I did not understood or if I should have drinked another coffee before reading it again because when I've readed this part I still understood that the way I would like my books to be in subfolders can be done (espicially because when I went to the "preferences" menu and chose the "save to disk" options, the model I've applied is a slight modification of the second model that appeared when I clicked on the rolling menu ???) *If you want your books inside a folder structure, you can use Calibre to edit the metadata to your liking and then save them using the save to disk or send to device features.* but then I've readed it again and finally understood I tought "save to disk" was how Calibre saves my boooks on my computer export it ... So ... just to make sure I'm doing the right ... can you tell me then if the modification I've made will export the library as it is in my cloud but create sub folders in the cloud to put all the authors folders and files in the appropriate first letter folder of their family name so I can backup my library in a virtual cloud in a way that it will be easy to use and faster to connect to my cloud when I need to use it ? If not, I tought maybe I could just create these sub-folders in my cloud and manually move all the folders I've already uploaded in it the other day but my worry is that if I want to periodically back up my library it would mean a lot of manipulation each time ... Your help has been really helpfull ... hope you can help me again with this ... have a nice day !

04-13-2016, 10:48 AM	#6
eschwartz Ex-Helpdesk Junkie Posts: 19,421 Karma: 85397180 Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: The Beaten Path, USA, Roundworld, This Side of Infinity Device: Kindle Touch fw5.3.7 (Wifi only)	Yes, the Save-to-disk template you mentioned in your first post will work as intended. But only for books you manually export using the "Save-to-disk" toolbar option, since it doesn't affect the library itself.

04-13-2016, 10:57 AM	#7
marconique Member Posts: 13 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2013 Device: kobo aura	@ eschwartz : THANK YOU SO MUCH !!! You've made my day

04-13-2016, 11:28 AM	#9
marconique Member Posts: 13 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2013 Device: kobo aura	@eschwartz : thanks for those precisions ve just made a try with one author and it work well as it created a "A" folder a sufolders for the author but there's a difference from the usual author's folder because in my calibre library I have only one folder for this author with subfolders in it for each books but when I've exported it it created 3 subfolders for this author because she has written a few books and 2 of them are with 2 other authors so there is one with her name only and the 2 others are with her name & author "X" / her name & author "Y" ... can you tell me howcome it went that way ? Can I have only 1 folder for the author as it was before ? thanks again

04-13-2016, 12:08 PM	#11
marconique Member Posts: 13 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2013 Device: kobo aura	@theducks : thanks again for your help I've copied and paste what you've suggested {author_sort[0]}/{author_sort}/{title} and it stills create 3 folders for the author ??? I'm starting to wonder if I need another coffee to finally resolve my problem ??? :P

04-13-2016, 01:24 PM	#14
marconique Member Posts: 13 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2013 Device: kobo aura	@theducks : you're really fast when it comes time to land a hand to needful newbies I think i was not clear with my explanations ... Here's the test I've made : I took only 4 books to do the test for wich I've used the "save to disk" technique book 1 was written by author "A" book 2 was written by author "A" book 3 was written by 2 authors : author "A" + author "X" book 4 was written by 2 authors : author "A" + author "Y" In my Calibre library those 4 books are saved in 1 folder that is named "author A" with 4 subfolders (one for each book ...) When I've made the test it turned out to have created 1 folder for letter A (that is so wonderful !!! i'm really happy that this part worked !) but in the "A" folder it created 3 subfolders for author A : - first subfolder= author A - second subfolder = author A + author X - third subfolder = author A + author Y ..... just before reading your reply I was trying to see if it made a difference if I would use a " ; " instead of a " & " to separate the name of the authors (as I've done it since i've been using Calibre) and I've realized that after I changed " & " for " ; " to separate author A from author X and author A from author Y in my existing library it had been creating 3 different folders in my calibre library for author A ... just as it did in my test ... then I wonder why it acted differently in "saving on the disk" then in my Calibre library as I did the change for " ; " instead of " & " in my calibre library AFTER doing my test ??? is there a way to export it and be able to have only one folder for author "A" as it was before (still being contained in the "A" parent folder ??? and it makes me think about something else ... When I will have backed up my library on my cloud ... will i be able to search in my Cloud by the 2 authors names ? I mean will it possible for me to search all the books of author A and being able to search for all all the books of author X (if author X have also written other stand alone books for example ... if it does not create a subfolder in the parent folder X for the book author X has written with author A, if I'm looking for all the books author X has written and i don't remember about the book he has co-written with author A, will it show it to me if I search for "author X" in the Cloud for example ?) thanks again for your patience and your comprehension for my attempt to explain myself in english

04-13-2016, 01:37 PM	#15
marconique Member Posts: 13 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2013 Device: kobo aura	@ eschwartz : you were almost answering my question while i was writing it (see my last post ...) If I understood correctly, I think that it would solve my problem if i use the option you propose to have only the fist author as I would have only one folder for author A in it's parent folder "A" : {author_sort[0]:list_item(0,&)}/{author_sort:list_item(0,&)}/{title}/{title} - {authors:list_item(0,&)} But as I mentioned in my last post, a new question came to my mind .... When I will have backed up my library on my cloud ... will i be able to search in my Cloud by the 2 authors names ? I mean will it possible for me to search all the books of author A and being able to search for all all the books of author X (if author X have also written other stand alone books for example ... if it does not create a subfolder in the parent folder X for the book author X has written with author A, if I'm looking for all the books author X has written and i don't remember about the book he has co-written with author A, will it show it to me if I search for "author X" in the Cloud for example ?) What do you think about this ? Maybe my question is not appropriate or maybe it's a silly one but I've just discovered the whole "cloud" concept and I'm really not familiar with it's utilisation so I'm not quite sure if I'll be doing everything the right way ...

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