Custom column shows no contents

pstrg · 07-13-2020, 10:53 AM

Since most of us refer to an author by surname, I always add a sort name to books.
In order to have authors displayed as usual (in bibliographic order), I added a custom column as follows:
- Lookup name: author_sort
- Column heading: Author,
- Column type: Text

The added column does appear (on the right), but no contents are shown.
What did I do wrong?

theducks · 07-13-2020, 11:02 AM

You did not put anything INTO those cells. (you may be confused about the word 'Lookup'. In Calibre, that is how you reference a custom field. #foo, where you entered foo in the creation 'lookup'

You need to now, populate them: You could use a manual process (Low overhead, You run a Bulk Search and Replace on demand) or a Calculated field (recalculates every time Calibre runs)

BTW I would avoid using close to standard field (lookup) names. To easy to forget the # which is part of the name

DNSB · 07-13-2020, 01:09 PM

For my Author Sort column, see the attached image. The lookup name shows as author_sort but is referenced as #author_sort.

theducks · 07-13-2020, 01:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DNSB

For my Author Sort column, see the attached image. The lookup name shows as author_sort but is referenced as #author_sort.

I missed that option. I guess I never had issues with the way Calibre did things. I grew up with real card Catalogs, Library order, Ln, Fn sorts ( the way Phone books did it from times before dials. BOonton8-0187-W (yes, that was my Tel when I was 9yo )

pstrg · 07-13-2020, 02:52 PM

Thank you, @theducks and @DNSB.

I guess where the problem is - my Edit custom column dialog somehow has not all required fields (and, obviously, Lookup name is wrong):

ownedbycats · 07-13-2020, 03:04 PM

You need a "column built from other columns," not a text column. Delete the existing author_sort column, restart Calibre, and make a new one.

pstrg · 07-13-2020, 03:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

You need a "column built from other columns," not a text column. Delete the existing author_sort column, restart Calibre, and make a new one.

Done, thank you very much.

(Not very intuitive but done and that's what matters).

ownedbycats · 07-13-2020, 03:51 PM

I've made the same mistake myself a few times.

BetterRed · 07-13-2020, 06:10 PM

IMO giving a custom column the same Lookup name and/or Column heading as a standard column is worlds worst practice.

But, I must be missing something. Why would you need to overload the standard author_sort column with a custom column? If you sort the book list on the authors column it uses the author_sort value to do the sort

BR

07-13-2020, 10:53 AM	#1
pstrg Junior Member Posts: 6 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2020 Device: Kindle Paperwhite	Custom column shows no contents Since most of us refer to an author by surname, I always add a sort name to books. In order to have authors displayed as usual (in bibliographic order), I added a custom column as follows: - Lookup name: author_sort - Column heading: Author, - Column type: Text The added column does appear (on the right), but no contents are shown. What did I do wrong?

07-13-2020, 01:09 PM	#3
DNSB Bibliophagist Posts: 45,620 Karma: 168959522 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Vancouver Device: Kobo Sage, Libra Colour, Lenovo M8 FHD, Paperwhite 4, Tolino epos	For my Author Sort column, see the attached image. The lookup name shows as author_sort but is referenced as #author_sort. Attached Thumbnails Last edited by DNSB; 07-13-2020 at 01:10 PM. Reason: Added image

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07-13-2020, 11:02 AM	#2
theducks Well trained by Cats Posts: 30,979 Karma: 60358908 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: The Central Coast of California Device: Kobo Libra2,Kobo Aura2v1, K4NT(Fixed: New Bat.), Galaxy Tab A	You did not put anything INTO those cells. (you may be confused about the word 'Lookup'. In Calibre, that is how you reference a custom field. #foo, where you entered foo in the creation 'lookup' You need to now, populate them: You could use a manual process (Low overhead, You run a Bulk Search and Replace on demand) or a Calculated field (recalculates every time Calibre runs) BTW I would avoid using close to standard field (lookup) names. To easy to forget the # which is part of the name

07-13-2020, 02:52 PM	#5
pstrg Junior Member Posts: 6 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2020 Device: Kindle Paperwhite	Thank you, @theducks and @DNSB. I guess where the problem is - my Edit custom column dialog somehow has not all required fields (and, obviously, Lookup name is wrong):

07-13-2020, 03:04 PM	#6
ownedbycats Custom User Title Posts: 10,852 Karma: 74203799 Join Date: Oct 2018 Location: Canada Device: Kobo Libra H2O, formerly Aura HD	You need a "column built from other columns," not a text column. Delete the existing author_sort column, restart Calibre, and make a new one.

07-13-2020, 03:51 PM	#8
ownedbycats Custom User Title Posts: 10,852 Karma: 74203799 Join Date: Oct 2018 Location: Canada Device: Kobo Libra H2O, formerly Aura HD	I've made the same mistake myself a few times.

07-13-2020, 06:10 PM	#9
BetterRed null operator (he/him) Posts: 21,681 Karma: 29711016 Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Sydney Australia Device: none	IMO giving a custom column the same Lookup name and/or Column heading as a standard column is worlds worst practice. But, I must be missing something. Why would you need to overload the standard author_sort column with a custom column? If you sort the book list on the authors column it uses the author_sort value to do the sort BR

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