Can't edit Custom Columns in a library

[BetterRed]

Suddenly I can't edit custom columns in my Books Library, but I can edit custom columns in my Journals, Media, and Test libraries.

Can't edit them in the Book List, nor in metadata edit modal dialogue Custom Column tab panel, tried changing to All-in-one layout it made no difference

The data is there, I can see it in the book list etc. Tried it in 3.48, and 2.85 - same deal - which suggests it's something in my Books library database.

Must have been there for a while - I just hooked last weeks backup of that library and it has the same problem - my books library doesn't change much. Weird.

Any hints, before I try a database restore

---

When I changed the metadata edit layout I didn't get a restart request, but I had to do one, I tried resetting the conformation settings - still didn't get one. But I think that is a red herring to my main issue.

BR

[kovidgoyal]

what does cant edit mean?

[BetterRed]

F2 not working on custom columns in the Book list, and the custom column panel is blank





BR

[kovidgoyal]

are you getting some errors printed running calibre in debug mode?

[BetterRed]

No errors

FWIW this is what I get

Spoiler:

calibre Debug log
calibre 4.17 [64bit] embedded-python: True is64bit: True
Windows-10-10.0.18362-SP0 Windows ('64bit', 'WindowsPE')
('Windows', '10', '10.0.18362')
Python 2.7.16+
Windows: ('10', '10.0.18362', 'SP0', u'Multiprocessor Free')
Interface language: None
DEBUG: 0.0 GetFileName::__init__.py - loading translations
DEBUG: 0.0 GetFileName::__init__.py - loading translations
Successfully initialized third party plugins: Drop Search Results (1, 0, 10) && Extract ISBN (1, 4, 4) && View Manager (1, 3, 2) && CalibreSpy (1, 0, 79) && GetFileName (0, 0, 13) && Favourites Menu (1, 0, 5) && Job Spy (1, 0, 180) && Quality Check (1, 9, 11) && Count Pages (1, 9, 2) && Reading List (1, 6, 7) && Modify ePub (1, 4, 1) && Find Duplicates (1, 6, 3) && Resize Cover (1, 0, 3) && Goodreads (1, 4, 0) && EpubSplit (2, 9, 0)
calibre 4.17 [64bit] embedded-python: True is64bit: True
Windows-10-10.0.18362-SP0 Windows ('64bit', 'WindowsPE')
('Windows', '10', '10.0.18362')
Python 2.7.16+
Windows: ('10', '10.0.18362', 'SP0', u'Multiprocessor Free')
Interface language: None
Successfully initialized third party plugins: Drop Search Results (1, 0, 10) && Extract ISBN (1, 4, 4) && View Manager (1, 3, 2) && CalibreSpy (1, 0, 79) && GetFileName (0, 0, 13) && Favourites Menu (1, 0, 5) && Job Spy (1, 0, 180) && Quality Check (1, 9, 11) && Count Pages (1, 9, 2) && Reading List (1, 6, 7) && Modify ePub (1, 4, 1) && Find Duplicates (1, 6, 3) && Resize Cover (1, 0, 3) && Goodreads (1, 4, 0) && EpubSplit (2, 9, 0)
Turning on automatic hidpi scaling
devicePixelRatio: 1.0
logicalDpi: 120.0 x 120.0
physicalDpi: 123.385199241 x 123.567567568
Using calibre Qt style: True
[0.00] Starting up...
[0.00] Initializing db...
[0.12] db initialized
[0.12] Constructing main UI...
CalibreSpy: initialization_complete
Job Spy has begun initialization...
author_sort_copy_method >>> default tweaks.py method is: invert
current tweaks['title_series_sorting']: library_order
--->>>apply_title_series_sorting_by_library: libname IS tweaked; new value for: Books is: library_order
title_series_sorting changed FROM: library_order TO: library_order
Calibre, and hence Job Spy, was gracefully shut down last time? True
Last time daemon started: never
Last time daemon failed: never
Total daemon starts inception_to_date: 0
Total daemon failures inception-to-date: 0
Job Spy has finished initialization...
[3.24] main UI initialized...
[3.24] Started up in 3.24 seconds with 4 books

BR

[chaley]

Works fine for me. I have a library with every type of custom column and they all work.

Question: IIRC one of DaltonST's plugins, job spy I think, can set a column read-only. Any chance you did something like that?

[DaltonST]

The JS "Utilities" Menu has a tool named "Custom Columns Technical Listing" that shows what the Editable status is.

All Custom Columns are originally a 1 (editable), and can only be changed by two plugins that I know of: JS (via a tool for just that purpose) and ZMI (for #zotero_..... columns populated from Zotero's csv export file).


DaltonST

[BetterRed]

Thanks chaley, DaltonST

Just spent several hours, in bed, restoring the database -- to no avail

The attached zip contains a csv of the custom-columns table (from DBBrowser). It was one of the first things I looked at, but due to LPS (lockdown perversity syndrome), I interpreted 'editable' values thus: '0' is true and '1' is false'.

But, I've never installed the Zotero plugin, and this is what I have for JS's Protect/Unprotect settings, basically nothing.



If I use DB Browser to change the 'editable' field in the custom column table to '1', I can of course edit the columns, but how did they get set to '0', and why not the ICBM column

Weird.

BR

[DaltonST]

The ISBN custom column is a composite datatype, which the JS tool ignores since you cannot edit them anyway in Edit Metadata. That is why ISBN does not appear in your screen-print image.



DaltonST

[DaltonST]

this is what I have for JS's Protect/Unprotect settings, basically nothing.

Actually, the JS Tool "Editable" checkbox column in your image is drawn directly from table custom_columns, so having blanks there (checkbox is empty, meaning a 0) means that you have the editable flags turned off. "Nothing" means "protected/hidden".


DaltonST

[BetterRed]

@DaltonST - I am 99.999% certain I didn't use the Protect/Unprotect tool, its not the sort of thing one can stumble into inadvertently - took me a while to find it; besides which, I have the JS tools I do use in Favourites.

And having just used DB Browser to set the five 'editable' flags to '1', I am equally certain I didn't use it either -- as far as I know, that is the only other means I have to change them.

However, all's well, for now. Maybe something I did more than a week ago will occur to me.

BR

[dunhill]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

F2 not working on custom columns in the Book list, and the custom column panel is blank

Attachment 179457

Attachment 179458

BR

How do you change the layout of the metadata screen?

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by dunhill

How do you change the layout of the metadata screen?

BR