Simple question about search within books.

Itkin · 05-19-2020, 06:57 AM

Hi, I am new to Calibre and I have simple question: Is it possible to search within a ebook and see to which chapter the search results belong to? E.g. I search for "green" and I get 100 results. Now I want to see to which chapters the results belong to before I click on them. If there are 50 results of "green" in chapter 1, I would not check them because I am not interested in chapter 1.

Thank you.

kovidgoyal · 05-19-2020, 07:30 AM

No, I'm afraid not. ebooks dont have well structured chapter information. Some books might have a chapter per file, some might just cram them all into one file, etc. If you have the Table of Contens panel open you can simply click the search result and the chapter it is in will be made bold in the table of contents panel when the viewer jumps to it.

Itkin · 05-19-2020, 07:56 PM

Thank you for the answer!
I use a an old german software from 2009 called "Digitale Bibliothek". When I search through a book it shows me the searched term in the structure of the book. I can export the file to epub with the structure. The book in the image has 14.000 pages, to have a good overview is crucial. The library has over 400 volumes of books including images, you can search through all of them in seconds.

Itkin · 05-19-2020, 08:04 PM

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Oversized Image changed to Attachment. Please follow all forum guidelines (on image size).

kovidgoyal · 05-19-2020, 09:31 PM

Well in th enext release you will be able to see the file name of th efile inside the epub in which a particular match is found as a tooltip. Assuming the file sinside your epub are well named, that might be useful.

democrite · 05-19-2020, 09:38 PM

Such is also something I've wanted ever since search was added. All the reader apps I use, use the TOC entry, such that even if search results occur in a subsequent file, it is still grouped with the TOC entry as is the text. I think that is best and easiest to sort through hundreds or more results. If EPUB 3 page number support is later added, that would be nice too. Showing 2 lines of preview text, maybe 3 (configurable?) sort of like searching through a mail app, that'd too I think help clarify an individual result.

kovidgoyal · 05-19-2020, 09:43 PM

There are all sorts of issues with that, that I am pretty sure "all" your reading apps dont handle.

1) There can be multi-level ToCs and so multiple ToC entries for a given search result

2) If the ToC entries are not single entry per internal file, it means you have to somehow calculate which ToC entry a search result corresponds to which can only be done by a fairly slow procedure.

democrite · 05-19-2020, 10:01 PM

1. Trying the apps from major readers like macOS/iOS Books, Kindle, Google, Kobo, etc., they all use the lowest level TOC entry. Not all show it with each result, some only as a header grouping results within a section.

2. Indeed calculating it is necessary yet many apps do as such.

05-19-2020, 06:57 AM	#1
Itkin Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2020 Device: Calibre	Simple question about search within books. Hi, I am new to Calibre and I have simple question: Is it possible to search within a ebook and see to which chapter the search results belong to? E.g. I search for "green" and I get 100 results. Now I want to see to which chapters the results belong to before I click on them. If there are 50 results of "green" in chapter 1, I would not check them because I am not interested in chapter 1. Thank you.

05-19-2020, 08:04 PM	#4
Itkin Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2020 Device: Calibre	Moderator Notice Oversized Image changed to Attachment. Please follow all forum guidelines (on image size). Attached Thumbnails Last edited by theducks; 05-19-2020 at 08:49 PM. Reason: Changed to ATTACHMENT

05-19-2020, 09:38 PM	#6
democrite Evangelist Posts: 440 Karma: 77256 Join Date: Sep 2011 Device: none	Such is also something I've wanted ever since search was added. All the reader apps I use, use the TOC entry, such that even if search results occur in a subsequent file, it is still grouped with the TOC entry as is the text. I think that is best and easiest to sort through hundreds or more results. If EPUB 3 page number support is later added, that would be nice too. Showing 2 lines of preview text, maybe 3 (configurable?) sort of like searching through a mail app, that'd too I think help clarify an individual result. Attached Thumbnails

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05-19-2020, 07:30 AM	#2
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 45,251 Karma: 27110894 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	No, I'm afraid not. ebooks dont have well structured chapter information. Some books might have a chapter per file, some might just cram them all into one file, etc. If you have the Table of Contens panel open you can simply click the search result and the chapter it is in will be made bold in the table of contents panel when the viewer jumps to it.

05-19-2020, 07:56 PM	#3
Itkin Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2020 Device: Calibre	Thank you for the answer! I use a an old german software from 2009 called "Digitale Bibliothek". When I search through a book it shows me the searched term in the structure of the book. I can export the file to epub with the structure. The book in the image has 14.000 pages, to have a good overview is crucial. The library has over 400 volumes of books including images, you can search through all of them in seconds.

05-19-2020, 09:31 PM	#5
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 45,251 Karma: 27110894 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	Well in th enext release you will be able to see the file name of th efile inside the epub in which a particular match is found as a tooltip. Assuming the file sinside your epub are well named, that might be useful.

05-19-2020, 09:43 PM	#7
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 45,251 Karma: 27110894 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	There are all sorts of issues with that, that I am pretty sure "all" your reading apps dont handle. 1) There can be multi-level ToCs and so multiple ToC entries for a given search result 2) If the ToC entries are not single entry per internal file, it means you have to somehow calculate which ToC entry a search result corresponds to which can only be done by a fairly slow procedure.

05-19-2020, 10:01 PM	#8
democrite Evangelist Posts: 440 Karma: 77256 Join Date: Sep 2011 Device: none	1. Trying the apps from major readers like macOS/iOS Books, Kindle, Google, Kobo, etc., they all use the lowest level TOC entry. Not all show it with each result, some only as a header grouping results within a section. 2. Indeed calculating it is necessary yet many apps do as such.

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