Error in creating author_sort

[rsbrux]

Having created a custom column "Author Sort" as described in this post, I can see that the author_sort fields have generally been populated as expected with <lastname>, <firstname>. However, "Mars Girl" by Jeff Garrity has "Jeff Garrity" in the author_sort field, even after attempting to force a recalculation as described here.
I am not sure the recalculation worked, because there was no visible sign of activity or response to the steps described in the FAQ. How can I figure out what is wrong?

[BetterRed]

My guess is that the space between 'Jeff' and 'Garrity' in the Authors field is not a regular space. Try re-entering it for the Mars Girl book in Metadata Edit, and then click the button to recalculate the Author Sort, hopefully you'll see Garrity, Jeff.

BR

[rsbrux]

Thanks for the tip. I tried editing the metadata as you suggested but see no effect. The metadata editor does show an error for the author sort field (see attachment), but I don't know what to make of it or how to correct it. Which "button to recalculate" are you referring to? I only know one way to recalculate, which is to call up the "Manage Authors" dialog by right-clicking on "Authors" in the left-hand pane and then click on the button labeled "Recalculate all author sort values". As previously noted, I am not convinced that this is having any effect. Shouldn't I see some visible indication? Is there another way to do this, perhaps for an individual author or title? I am using Calibre 7.7.0 running under Windows 10.

[rsbrux]

P.S. I just noticed a discrepancy between what the main window and the "Edit Metadata" dialog show and what the "Manage Authors" dialog shows. According to "Manage Authors", "Dante Alighieri" has been parsed into the author sort field as "Alighieri, Dante", yet the custom column in the main window, which corresponds to the field in the "Edit Metadata" dialog, shows "Dante Alighieri" in the author sort field.
If I look at "La Divina Commedia ..." in "Edit Metadata", it shows errors for both author and title sort fields. I suppose that would explain why the title sort isn't working as I expected it to in the other thread we are conversing in, but have no idea what I can do to correct it.

[theducks]

Manage allows Non Standard sorts (1 shot overrides) (It will stay Red in the MDE)
The Tweak sets the "standards" that clicking the set sort button in the MDE will use (and those will be green) and applies to all NEW uses of the set sort button

[rsbrux]

P.P.S The option "Automatically set author sort" in the bulk metadata dialog had the expected effect on both "Dante Alighieri" and "Jeff Garrity" and corrected the error messages in the individual "Edit Metadata" dialogs. I wonder why the "Recalculate" button in the "Manage Authors" dialog didn't work.
The only downside is that "Cervantes Saavedra, Miguel de" became "Saavedra, Miguel de Cervantes". I fixed that with the option "Edit sort ..." in the popup menu for authors in the left-hand pane. This fixed the author sort without provoking an error in the "Edit Metadata" dialog.

Checking the box "update title" as well also parsed the foreign articles (see this thread) correctly.

[BetterRed]

Where did your library come from?

Did you create & curate it or did you download it.

BR

[chaley]

An author can have books in multiple languages, so the only constant available to Manage authors is the interface language.

Edit metadata, bulk and single, operate on books so the book's language is available. However, if the author has books in multiple languages then the answers might be different depending on the book.

If using manage authors then you should enter the author sort value you want for *all* the author's books irrespective of language. The value may or may not be what the compute function produces. This process also allows you to fix problems such as the one you mentioned, Cervantes, others where the de/la/etc are not "particles" but are instead part of the surname, and east Asian names where the surname comes first without a comma.

[rsbrux]

@BetterRed, I put the library together myself, out of books downloaded from various sources. Thanks for your help!

@chaley, Thanks for the tips! I think I’ve got the hang of it now.