Quote:
Originally Posted by petzi
I just noticed another possible UI issue:
When calling the multi-format field via Job Spy (I have dedicated the shortcut CTRL-N for this action) the program always opens the field that comes alphabetically first. This is even then the case when I have selected a special field I want to open.
I have three fields: "fn", "ln", and "sn" for fleeting, literature and summary note. I position my cursor on the "sn" field and select it with one click. But using my shortcut or the Job Spy menu opens the "fn" field and not the "sn" field. After opening the (wrong) field, I have to change from "sn" to "fn".
I am uncertain if this behavior is intended, but I think it would be nice whenever the user has selected a correct field format to open this specified field.
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Petzi:
I suspect that there is a basic misunderstanding of the Note Viewer's usage paradigm. Let me return to first principles by starting at the beginning.
- NV "assumes" that any single, random Long-Text/Comments Custom Column may have many rows, each row with a different random text format of either Plain, Markdown, or HTML.
- NV further assumes that the user must be abler to randomly select a Calibre Library View (a.k.a. Library List) cell, being the intersection of a column and a row, for which the text format may randomly be Plain, MD, or HTML.
- NV must accurately "guess" at the text format of the 'randomly selected row' / 'randomly selected column' intersection, indicating its best guess by changing the text format radio button to coincide with NV's best guess.
- In other words, the User picks the row and column, and NV picks the text format of the User's selection. Never the other way around.
- If for some reason the "best guess" of NV is wrong, such as when its ability to discriminate between Markdown and HTML for a particular "cell" is not sharp enough, the User has the ability to "override" the guessed-at text format by manually clicking the appropriate text format radio button.
- Stated differently, the User never clicks a text format radio button prior to selecting the cell containing the Note that they wish to view.
Having said the above, and given some recommendations for new functionality that you made in another recent post, I am in the process of developing a "Notes Viewer Customization" feature that implements the new functionality requested by you and others.
Examples:
- Filtering the available Custom Columns in the drop-down list to those that you personally want to see;
- Setting a 'default' Custom Column for each Calibre Library that is the default "go to" column upon first execution of NV;
- Specifying an 'assumed' text format for each Custom Column so that those with marginal Markdown versus HTML discrimination may always show accurately in NV without User intervention. This of course would presuppose that the so-specified Custom Column did not truly have a mixture of rows with differing text formats within the same column (which NV was designed to support in the base case). That would be each User's choice, not NV's.
I hope the above is helpful.
DaltonST
p.s.: NV keeps track of the "last used Custom Column" at the time that NV was closed via the "save and exit" pushbutton, and reopens with that same Custom Column the next time. It does not always open at the alphabetical first Custom Column. If the User always exits via the "X" button in the top of the window, rather than through the exit pushbutton, it is possible that the "last used Custom Column" never got saved upon exit.