Export: The Good, The Bad, and The Weird discussion
Annoying things in the export file
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ISBN: I don't have the quotes. It doesn't seem reasonable that this is a Mac/PC difference, but I know so little about the Mac that I can't make a suggestion.Bookshelves: I *think* the order is in the order in which I added them to the title. I know I don't do it the same way each time, even for books that are all on the same group of shelves. BUT - I never noticed the non-exclusive shelves are in alpha order on Goodreads. LOL
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Bookshelves: I *think* the order is in the order in which I added them to the title. I know I don't do it the same way each time"Aha. I think you're right. Like you (and probably most humans), I don't use the same exact order when selecting multiple shelves for my books. I feel like only a computer (or programmer) would care about this level of consistency.
Somehow, it seems so GR-esque to capture the order-in-which-you-added-it info and not show it on the website, but use it for the export file.
I'm filing this one under "Charming Quirks of the GR Export File." Because it makes me laugh.
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "ISBN: I don't have the quotes. It doesn't seem reasonable that this is a Mac/PC difference, but I know so little about the Mac that I can't make a suggestion."I think that one of the spreadsheet tools that I use (and I use so many: Mac Numbers, LibreOffice Calc, and Google Sheets) asked if I wanted to convert text to number values. When I did, the quoted equal signs and extra double quotes disappeared.
Perhaps most spreadsheet tools do this conversion automatically. I only noticed them when I viewed the raw .csv file in a text editor. There's probably a technical reason why the double-quotes are there in the raw CSV, but my guess is that they don't really matter, in the larger scheme of things. I shall stop fretting about this one, at least.
Mesembryanthemum wrote: "There's probably a technical reason why the double-quotes are there in the raw CSV, but my guess is that they don't really matter, in the larger scheme of things. I shall stop fretting about this one, at least..."A spreadsheet/database program will use something like double quotes to indicate that the following text is a string of numbers, rather than text. That's when the field is set as text, which is usually the default. If the field is set as numbers, you probably wouldn't see that. (I'm tossing in the "probably" because I'm not sure how the various ones work.)
Mes - if your columns are too narrow, you can widen them to see more of the contents. Place your mouse at the top of the column and on the right side of the line separating one column from its neighbor. You'll get a bold double upright and some small arrows. Click, hold down the mouse and drag right until the field is the size you'd like to see.
And pardon me if you already knew this.
And a short-cut way to widen the column is to place the mouse as Elizabeth explained, then double-left-click. That will expand the column to include the widest entry. You can then reduce (or expand) the size if you want.
Mesembryanthemum wrote: "I feel like only a computer (or programmer) would care about this level of consistency."It's probably how it is stored in the database. The database wouldn't have every shelf for every entry and then tick the boxes as you add them. It would make an entry whenever you make an entry. So the output in the export fle is exactly as the actual record in the GR database.
I find it interesting that the shelves are alphabetized on the screen here at Goodreads.
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Mes - if your columns are too narrow, you can widen them to see more of the contents. Place your mouse at the top of the column and on the right side of the line separating one column from its neighbor. You'll get a bold double upright and some small arrows. Click, hold down the mouse and drag right until the field is the size you'd like to see.And pardon me if you already knew this."
Thank you! I am a complete spreadsheet newbie, so I am grateful for any advice. This is very helpful. As is Dobby's tip to double-click on a column to set the width to the column contents. It's much easier to view my spreadsheet now. Thank you both!
I'm learning so much from this group; thanks for setting it up!
Dobby wrote: "I'm learning so much from this group; thanks for setting it up!"Me, too. Dobby.
Average Rating: This value can change -- and often does, for popular books. When I compare my export files, it looks like my data has changed, but it hasn't. (I'm embarrassed about how long it took me to notice this.) I've learned to delete this column before I compare my CSV files, but it makes me cranky.
ISBN and ISBN 13: Why do these fields have so many double quote characters? It starts with a quoted equal sign, then quotes around the ISBN number, followed by another pair of double quotes. (Like this: "=""1770460829"""). But WHY?
Bookshelves and Bookshelves with positions: The shelf order seems to be random. The GR website displays them in a consistent order: Exclusive shelves first (in alphabetical order), then non-exclusive shelves (also in alphabetical order). But NOT the export file. I can't see any logic to the order of the shelf names in this column. So it's useless to try to sort these columns; instead, I have to use fancy spreadsheet filter functions to find the shelves I want to examine.
Is it just me? Or are there things in the export file that you don't like? Do you have any tips or work-arounds for these or other annoyances?