[Request]: Customize the file name to include title and author

[banj]

Feature Request Checklist

• I have searched the existing issues to avoid duplicates

What feature would you like to request?

I want to start by thanking you for creating a great, fast plugin! I'm so glad I found it.

While testing out the template I'd like to use -- thank you for making it so customizable -- I realized that a change I'd like which isn't a current feature would be to update the file name created for each book. I happen to have a few books in my Apple Books library with the same name, and it occurred to me that if would be helpful to change the template for the file name to "title by author", for example.

Thanks for considering this enhancement request!

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[bandantonio]

Hi @banj Thank you for the feedback! 🩷 I'm happy that you found the plugin useful!

As for your request, there is a related issue #13 (FR: Naming of Highlight File). I suggested using Aliases but haven't received the final confirmation about it (probably, no answer may still be considered as confirmation). I'm wondering whether Aliases would be a suitable solution for you in this case.

[banj]

@bandantonio wow, I'm relatively new to obsidian and had no idea this function existed. I'll test it, but my concern would be for books with the same title in the library -- I was going to test this for myself, but if I do go and create highlights in two books with the same title, I'm not sure what behavior to expect. Maybe only one will export?

I'll also read the other issue you linked, I missed it!

[banj]

Okay, having read through #13 I can see that the use case described there could be addressed by e.g. alias or putting all highlights in a subfolder to make the link address unique.

In my case there are books in Apple Books with the same title, or two different versions of the same book. It's rare enough that I might be able to go into books and just change the information associated with the file, which I'm happy to experiment with. I'll also try out the alias functionality, though that doesn't address this particular concern.

[bandantonio]

@banj Thank you for the details. Aliases were suggested as the simplest possible workaround that could be "good enough" for your case.

I'm curious and would like to learn a bit more about your case.

1. How does iBooks allow you to have books with the same title? I'm asking because, in my journey, I've never had this situation: purchased books were always unique, and the import of an existing book was simply ignored.
   1.1) Are these purchased/downloaded books or imported epub files?
   1.3) Have you already tried to import those books using the plugin? If yes, what was the result?
2. What exactly do you mean by "versions"? Are these some manually modified editions?
   2.1) How are these versions stored/displayed in the iBooks?

Your request is a good extension point, so these questions will help me better plan possible implementation options.

[banj]

I combed through my library and in almost every case the duplicates I found were when I keep both a pdf and an ePub, and I clearly need to do some cleanup. In my case I kind of abuse Apple Books by keeping imported versions of epubs as the author works on completing the book -- I've seen the behavior you mentioned of refusing duplicates, my experience has been that books will reject duplicates but I don't know specifically how that's determined because I am able to have multiple epub files with the same title and author, if the contents is different.

That said, I didn't come up with any really valid examples because each one I found I was able to make corrections to the book and not have to worry about it.

To address your questions directly:

1.1 I use almost exclusively imported epub files in my library, I have a large library (about 3000 epub and 1000 pdf)
1.3 I haven't tried entering in highlights on expected collisions yet, if I experiment with that I'll report back
2.1 Generally several copies of in-progress novels as the author is writing them and changing them - they appear in books as if they are duplicates, which makes me wonder how Apple Books is doing duplicate detection

[bandantonio]

@banj Understood. I can only imagine your efforts to keep such a large library organized. I will check some of the cases you've mentioned to understand certain corner cases. And yes, having a customizable title should definitely make your life a bit easier. I will add this feature as a new setting in one of the upcoming releases. Thank you.