Is it possible to exclude tags/titles in the default view?

[texasnightowl]

By that I mean, whenever you launch Calibre, have titles with certain tags be NOT listed by default instead of having everything listed.

I'm trying to decide about managing all titles in one library versus having a second library. Let's say I have some files that I don't necessarily want people I may share my library with to see. Maybe it's personal files, maybe fanfiction or whatever that I've tagged. Is there a way to have Calibre launch and not show this files by default?

[chaley]

You can do it in two clicks using a restriction. Click the restrictions combo box, select the saved search you want to use.

Unfortunately, it isn't currently possible to have a restriction automatically applied at start up.

[texasnightowl]

Yeah, I have several saved searches around but thought it would be cool to have those applied at start up. Thanks...I may have to play around with a 2nd library then.

[Starson17]

Originally Posted by texasnightowl

By that I mean, whenever you launch Calibre, have titles with certain tags be NOT listed by default instead of having everything listed.

I'm trying to decide about managing all titles in one library versus having a second library. Let's say I have some files that I don't necessarily want people I may share my library with to see. Maybe it's personal files, maybe fanfiction or whatever that I've tagged. Is there a way to have Calibre launch and not show this files by default?

Set up a virtual library restriction.

[texasnightowl]

Originally Posted by Starson17

Set up a virtual library restriction.

Isn't that what Chaley essentially recommended above? It still won't apply by default at startup, right?

[chaley]

I am adding a tweak that will specify the name of a saved search to apply at calibre startup and when libraries are changed.

In the process, I will fix problems with changing libraries when a restriction is in force (strange behavior of counts and displays). Adding the tweak while fixing these bugs is straightforward. Once I have it all coded (tomorrow), I will submit the change to Kovid for approval.

[Starson17]

Originally Posted by chaley

I will fix problems with changing libraries when a restriction is in force (strange behavior of counts and displays). Adding the tweak while fixing these bugs is straightforward.

Is there any chance that a restriction can be set to apply to the Content Server?

[texasnightowl]

Originally Posted by chaley

I am adding a tweak that will specify the name of a saved search to apply at calibre startup and when libraries are changed.

In the process, I will fix problems with changing libraries when a restriction is in force (strange behavior of counts and displays). Adding the tweak while fixing these bugs is straightforward. Once I have it all coded (tomorrow), I will submit the change to Kovid for approval.

Wow, that was fast! Look forward to it!

[chaley]

Originally Posted by Starson17

Is there any chance that a restriction can be set to apply to the Content Server?

I implemented a new command line argument for the content server.

calibre-server --restriction=some_saved_search

It does the obvious thing. Bad things happen if the saved search does not exist. The restriction works in all the server flavors: xml, mobile, and opds (stanza).

Restrictions are ignored if running from the GUI.

Code submitted to Kovid.

[chaley]

Originally Posted by texasnightowl

Wow, that was fast! Look forward to it!

The fixes and tweak code have been submitted to Kovid.

Assuming approval, the tweak is:

# Specify a restriction to apply when calibre starts or when change library is
# used. Provide the name of a saved search. It is ignored if the saved search
# does not exist in the library being opened. The value '' means no restriction.
restrict_at_startup = ''

[Starson17]

Originally Posted by chaley

I implemented a new command line argument for the content server.

Assume I've launched the CS (from the command line) with a restriction, and I now want to enter the GUI to add a book, change metadata, etc. What's the correct procedure?

[chaley]

Surprisingly enough, it just works, at least on Win7. I am surprised because I thought that the content server would have the DB open and locked.

My experiment:
0. Calibre and library both on C:. No dropbox or other synchronizer.
1. Start calibre. add 'abook' to a custom column. One book has that value
2. Quit calibre.
3. Start content server with restriction 'abook'. I see one book.
4. Start calibre. No lock errors.
5. Refresh content server page. No lock errors. Still one book.
6. Add 'abook' to a second book in calibre.
7. Refresh content server. Now I see two books.
8. Added a new book with the abook tag. Now I see three books in the content server.
9. Deleted the new book. Now I see two books in the content server.

I assume from the experiment that at least on Win7, SQLite does not set locks, which allows calibre and the content server to share the library. This is safe, because the content server does not change the DB.

[Starson17]

Originally Posted by chaley

Surprisingly enough, it just works

Great! That's what I need.

[chaley]

Originally Posted by Starson17

Great! That's what I need.

The fact that it worked bothered me. I know that calibre caches book data in memory. The cache should prevent the content server from seeing database changes, but it clearly does see them. After some poking around, I found that if the content server is running separately from the GUI, then it checks the modification time of the DB on each web request. If the DB has been changed, the content server refreshes its in-memory caches before processing the request.

Clearly Kovid anticipated running the content server on a DB that can change.

It is nice knowing that something works by design instead of by accident.

[kovidgoyal]

I didn't actually anticipate it, someone complained and so I added the check