Help with series_sort()

[razorsoup]

I am trying to create a custom column that combines the series info with the title info in Calibre. What I currently have that column define as is

{series}{series_index:0>2s| [|]: }{title_sort}

and that is working as expected. But I would rather have the series portion use the library sort form rather than keep the articles(a, an, the) at the beginning. I tried

{series:series_sort()}{series_index:0>2s| [|]: }{title_sort}

but I get the following message:

TEMPLATE ERROR evaluate() takes exactly 5 arguments (7 given)

What am I doing wrong?

Calibre version 0.8.46, Windows XP SP3

Edit: Also, is this the right board for this question or should I have posted somewhere else?

[chaley]

The series_sort function can be used only in template program mode or general program mode. You are using single function mode.

In TPM you would use

{:'series_sort()'}{series_index:0>2s| [|]: }{title_sort}

In GPM you would use:

program: strcat(series_sort(), finish_formatting(field('series_index'), '0>2s', ' [', ']: '), field('title'))

or possibly

program: strcat(series_sort(), finish_formatting(field('series_index'), '05.2f', ' [', ']: '), field('title'))

which better handles fractional series indices.

[razorsoup]

I used

program: strcat(series_sort(), finish_formatting(field('series_index'), '0>2s', ' [', ']: '), field('title_sort'))

and it works perfectly now. Is there any benefit or detriment to using TPM over GPM or vice versa?

Thank you chaley!

[chaley]

Originally Posted by razorsoup

Is there any benefit or detriment to using TPM over GPM or vice versa?

For many people, TPM templates are easier to write and read. GPM templates are much more expressive -- can be used to solve more complicated problems.

GPM templates will usually have much better performance when they are used in custom columns. Calibre compiles them to python and runs them as part of calibre itself, so the templates run between 20 and 50 times faster than the equivalent TPM template.

On the other hand, compilation takes some about of time, which for small libraries may exceed the template's total running time. But for small libraries template running time doesn't really matter, so this shouldn't be an issue.

[razorsoup]

So generally, GPM=More flexibilty and faster execution but more difficult to write while TPM=Slower execution but easier to write.

Awesome. Thanks for the help.