Multiple Book Details Windows

[BetterRed]

Has anyone tried to use the new multiple Book Details panel feature in 'anger'. I wanted to see how it might be used when linking books. But I got bamboozled in it, firstly I managed to get multiple BD Windows for the same book, viz:



That doesn't seem right to me - why would anyone want multiple BD windows for the same book?

I also got thrown off kilter when I switched libraries from Books to Journals. After adding 'three' books I pressed 'I' on one of them and was surprised to see the "(will not change)" variant of the BD window… i.e. the one with no Next and Previous buttons. I worked out why (I think):

When I switched libraries from Books to Journals I had a "current book" BD Window active, but minimised; so the topmost 'book' in the Journals library inherited the "current book" BD Window from Books - which was minimised!, so the subsequent press of 'I' opened a "will not change" BD. That the 'current book' BD was minimised is irrelevant.

If multiple BD windows are to be allowed then I think there needs to be a way to 'manage ' them, or at least have visibility of them.

Apart from the lack of Next and Previous buttons, everything else seems to function normally in a "(will not change)" window, Link buttons, clicking on a Tag etc to do a search, clicking on HTTP links etc.

I admit to being a bit puzzled why the Next and Previous buttons are absent for BD Windows for the current library.

BR

[chaley]

They work the way I want them to work.

Each window is labeled and has its own geometry. Window 0 is the one slaved to the booklist and changes when you change books. Windows 1-N are locked on the book selected when they were opened, or in the case of book details links on the book in the other library. Windows locked on the current library are closed when you change libraries. Window 0 is not, instead becoming attached to the new library.

The title bar of the book details window tells you what sort of window it is.

Originally Posted by BetterRed

That doesn't seem right to me - why would anyone want multiple BD windows for the same book?

Because I want to compare the details of two books. I open a fixed window on the first one then select the second. I can now do a line-by-line comparison.

If multiple BD windows are to be allowed then I think there needs to be a way to 'manage ' them, or at least have visibility of them.

Are you asking that the windows refuse to minimize?

As they are non-model, you manage them like any other window using Alt-Tab and the whatever task bar your computer has. This is in fact what you were asking for with the Notes Viewer, multiple non-modal windows.

I admit to being a bit puzzled why the Next and Previous buttons are absent for BD Windows for the current library.

What would it mean? If I am looking at the book in line X while the book on line Y is selected, what does "Next" do? Go to X+1 or Y+1? I prefer consistent behavior, and if that associates me with hobgoblins, so be it.

I am willing to consider an option/tweak to disable multiple book details windows in the same library, eliminating the "will not change" window type. EDIT: I am also willing to consider closing all the windows for the current library when changed so the first book details window in the new library will also be the associated one. Or perhaps all BD windows including the ones opened by book details links.

[BetterRed]

BD Window 0 - Primary BD
BD Window 1-N - Secondary BDs

Originally Posted by chaley

They work the way I want them to work.

Each window is labeled and has its own geometry. Window 0 is the one slaved to the booklist and changes when you change books. Windows 1-N are locked on the book selected when they were opened, or in the case of book details links on the book in the other library. Windows locked on the current library are closed when you change libraries. Window 0 is not, instead becoming attached to the new library.

If the Primary BD is minimised or hidden (and I've forgotten about it) when I do the Quick Switch from Books to Journals, a subsequent press of 'I' on a Journal item will pop a Secondary BD, even though the item is in the out of sight Primary BD.

Originally Posted by chaley

Because I want to compare the details of two books. I open a fixed window on the first one then select the second. I can now do a line-by-line comparison.

I assume you mean two different books, the screenshot I posted shows Android for Dummies in the Primary BD, and two Secondary BDs - surely, they will all have the same metadata?

Originally Posted by chaley

As they are non-model, you manage them like any other window using Alt-Tab and the whatever task bar your computer has. This is in fact what you were asking for with the Notes Viewer, multiple non-modal windows.

There is only ever one NV window which stays on top of the book list and minimises to the desktop, whereas there can be multiple BD windows, which don't stay on top, and which minimise to the taskbar. From a usability perspective it's irrelevant that NV and BD utilise the same artefact (non-modal dialogue boxes) as a means to their respective ends.

Squarks - that's wrong, there can be multiple NVs - why would anyone one want that!

I am not for a moment suggesting BD windows should stay on top or minimise to the desktop… IMO that would be ghastly. Instead I'll suggest BD windows be in a pop-up list that can be accessed by a button in the Layout button group - maybe the button could show the number of active BD windows.

BR

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

Squarks - that's wrong, there can be multiple NVs - why would anyone one want that!

Fixed ==>> https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...postcount=1016

BR

[chaley]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

I assume you mean two different books, the screenshot I posted shows Android for Dummies in the Primary BD, and two Secondary BDs - surely, they will all have the same metadata?

Until you move the primary to a different book

Squarks - that's wrong, there can be multiple NVs - why would anyone one want that!

I would want it so I can view multiple notes at the same time.

This feels like it will become a game of whack-a-mole.

I think I will put it back the way it was (mostly). One can open a single window on the current library, slaved to the book list. Opening Book Details with clicks or shortcuts will open or raise this window as appropriate. It will preserve its geometry.

Book Details links (and only book details links) will open a second window no matter what library the details come from. If one is already open it will be replaced. It too will preserve its geometry.

Changing libraries will close any open book details windows (of which there can be at most 2), minimized or not.

I am away from my development environment so I won't do this work until next week.

[chaley]

I have time to think about this again.

I think I was throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Instead of eliminating locked book details windows I am considering using an explicit action to open at most one of them.

If I do this then you can:

• Open one slaved book details window as before, using the existing menu item, the shortcut, or double clicking on book details. This will behave as it did before, an always-on-top non-modal dialog. It has its own geometry.
• Open one locked details window using a different menu item/shortcut. You can't open one of these by double clicking in the book details pane. It is a separately controlled window, not always on top. It has its own geometry.
• Open a book details link window, which will open one book-details window. Clicking another link will replace an open link window. Like the locked window, it is a separately controlled window. It has its own geometry.

There can be at most 3 details windows open. The locked details window and the book details window cannot replace each other. Closing one doesn't close the other. They will both be closed if the library changes.

Closing the slaved book details window has no effect on the other two. The slaved window is not closed if the library changes, but instead becomes slaved to that library.

I wonder if it would be better to make all 3 window "types" always-on-top non-modal. The advantage is they can't get lost, and raise and lower with calibre. The disadvantage is that they can cover each other or the calibre window. Tiling them would be entirely manual.

I will post some screen shots if and when I have some.

[chaley]

I am almost ready to submit this.

Book details tool button. Note the addition of the menu triangle.


Book list context menu. It is now a sub-menu instead of an action.


Right click in the book details pane. It is now a submenu instead of an action.


Screen capture showing all three windows open (across two monitors). I tiled them.


The windows are non-modal always on top. Minimizing calibre will also minimize the book details windows. The windows are on top of calibre, but aren't forced to be on top of each other.

All the menu items can be assigned a shortcut.

Clicking on the toolbar button opens book details (same as old behavior)

Double clicking in the book details pane opens the book details windows (same as old behavior)

[chaley]

The changes are in calibre source and will be in the next calibre release.

[BetterRed]

@chaley re: Several changes:

1) Remove the ability to open book-details link windows using a query. It was never documented and ui.py didn't support it.

What does this mean from a user perspective.

BR

[chaley]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

@chaley re: Several changes:



What does this mean from a user perspective.

BR

Back-end support for something you couldn't express in a book-details link was removed, so from a user perspective nothing changed.

A bit deeper: I had originally thought it might be useful for a book details link to specify the book using a search query instead of a book id. This ended up going nowhere. Book-details links ended up only allowing specifying the target using book ids, so there was no need to keep the possibility of doing a query in downstream code.

[ownedbycats]

That... doesn't make too much sense to me, as I thought the point of a search was to return multiple books. Would it pop up multiple windows?

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by chaley

Back-end support for something you couldn't express in a book-details link was removed, so from a user perspective nothing changed.

A bit deeper: I had originally thought it might be useful for a book details link to specify the book using a search query instead of a book id. This ended up going nowhere. Book-details links ended up only allowing specifying the target using book ids, so there was no need to keep the possibility of doing a query in downstream code.

Ah-ha - yes, I recall that coming up in discussion.

Thanks

BR

PS: I didn't even know there was a Show Book Details menu tool

[chaley]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

That... doesn't make too much sense to me, as I thought the point of a search was to return multiple books. Would it pop up multiple windows?

The idea was to make links book_id independent, thus to some extent library independent. This didn't work out well. One reason was the problem you mention, where calibre had to pick one (the first).

Early on I took support out of the link processing, but didn't take out the support code, which was an oversight.

[chaley]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

PS: I didn't even know there was a Show Book Details menu tool

There wasn't, because there was only one choice -- show the details window. I made it a menu when I added the second and third options.

I confess that the third option, close all the book details windows, was added because I wanted more than 2 items in the menu.