Another calibre question

[valiha]

HI, I have a calibre conversion question fandom people might understand better than MobileRead forumers.

I had the fanfiction downloader program called Graffer installed on my comp. I was happy with it because it would download fics from multiple sources and produced clean html files. Unfortunately it's creator gave up on the program and it is no longer updated, and it has stopped working for several major archives.

My work on converting my fics via calibre is slow, ad I often want to chuck my comp out the window, that's how frustrated calibre makes me feel. I was expecting import and conversion to be fairly straightforward, but calibre kept messing up the authors. I finally loked at the html coding and discovered that Graffer added a line in the metadata section which calibre would read as author name, but was actually the name of the programmer: <meta name='author' content='Grzegorz Hordynski' />

I wet to MobileRead to see if I can find a way to change this line in the html file automatically through bulk convert, but couldn't figure out the instructions or the regexes. I've been having a back and forth conversation with a member who doesn't understand what I'm after, so does anyone here know how to set up calibre so that it changes the programmer's name into the correct author name for selected ebooks in the actual html file, not just in the metadata?

Comments

[valiha]

No, I'm switching to Fanfiction Downloader, FLAG ans squeeBook depending on what my source is.

OK, here are the answers:

1) I name my files differently depending on whether it's just a single story from an author I liked and saved, in which case I put the name of the author in the file name (Author - Name of fic.html). If I have several fics from the same author, I create a folder for that author and keep all their fics there. In that case, I don't include their name in the file (Name of fic.html, or if it's a series, Series Name 01 Name of fic.html etc). There's usually boththe author name and fic title in the file itself, before the text. i.e. Fic name by Author, often followed by additional information about the fic itself (disclaimers, warning and such - the usual descriptions authors post with their stories).

2) I mostly use the Author name - Fic title format in naming my files, especialy those I saved as html, web page, or copy/pasted from LJ or whatever other source, though there were several that were named Fic name by Author before I changed the configuration of Fanfic Downloader. I still need to rename the rest of those.

3) I'm unclear on what you mean by this? Marked, as in marked in the html coding, or marked as in, Author: So and so, Title: Such and such? in the fic header?

I was hoping all this renaming and correcting would be something I would be able to do automatically and in bulk via calibre because I really don't have the time to do it manually. I wanted to convert files of various formats to a single format, and have them contain metadata about the files, maybe even a cover for each fandom that would show up on my reader. But the more I use calibre, the more I hate it. I dislike it's duplication of imported files, its several levels deep subfolders. Now it seems that files have to be perfect before they can be imported and converted.

Let me know if there are other things I need to clarify.

[aithine]

Just trying to clarify what you're trying to do. There are usually better tools that do just one job than expecting one program to do them. :) (I don't use calibre, so can't really comment on what it will or won't do well.)

To remove the programmer's name from the Graffer-grabbed files: grab a good text editor (like NoteTab) and use it to do a multi-file search and replace on the meta tag. That'll clear that out so you don't have to deal with it when you find a library program you do like to use and want to import your files.

To mass rename batch files without having to figure out the regexes, use AF5 Rename your files. It's a fairly logical interface for doing just one thing: renaming files using patterns. :)

[valiha]

(Oh hi Keen Eddie! <3) Yes, I'm realizing that. :( There have been some breakthroughs on the MobileRead forum, so hopefully I'll solve the calibre related issues there.

I just recently discovered that I can open several files in Notepad++ ad do a search and replace. I was hoping search&replace would be something I could do on a larger number of files without actually having to open them (hence thinking I could use calibre for that), but it seems I won't be able to do that (not with my level of technical knowledge).

I've got two free renaming programs I installed (um, Ant Renamer I think, and Bulk Rename Utility), and so far I've figured out how to prefix the name of the author folder in which I keep my fics written by that one author; what I can't figure out is how to rename a files like

Author - 01 Title.html
Author - 02 Title.html
Author - 03 Title.html

to

Author - 01 - Title.html
Author - 02 - Title.html
Author - 03 - Title.html

Do you see what I mean? How do I tell the renamer to add a dash and a space without touching the number?

[aithine]

I ♥ Keen Eddie (Obviously, since Eddie's been my default icon for eight years. *g*)

It's pretty easy to open multiple files at once in NoteTab and do the search and replace. Depending on how old or new your machine is, you can open files in bunches so it doesn't overwhelm computer's memory, but really, that's the fastest way to do that sort of thing without having to learn or deal with any of the scripting languages that would do what you need. And honestly, even though you have to open all the files, it doesn't take any longer. :) Plus, it sounds like it's much more your speed, and would cause the least amount of headache for you. :)

With the file renaming, sure, I know exactly what you mean. Download the program I gave you the link to (AF5 Rename your files) and read the help files--it easily does that sort of thing without making it complicated. (I've used that program for years--it's a very straightforward tool.)

[valiha]

My system lacks the necessary files to open its help. Stupid Windows. Is there web based help anywhere, with examples? I basically need to see how people rename files, what strings and expressions they use - I am very much a "follow the example" type of learner.