Excluding part of a subsearch

ownedbycats · 07-09-2021, 04:41 PM

My "Cleanup" search is made up of a lot of smaller subsearches, like this:

Code:

marked:true 
OR (search:"=Cleanup.Fanfic Issues") 
OR (search:"=Cleanup.Formats") 
OR (search:"=Cleanup.Metadata Cleanup")

Cleanup.Metadata Cleanup:

Code:

(search:"=Cleanup.Metadata Cleanup.Convert ISBNs")
OR (search:"=Cleanup.Metadata Cleanup.Missing Kobo collection") 
OR (search:"=Cleanup.Metadata Cleanup.Missing Language") 
OR (search:"=Cleanup.Metadata Cleanup.Missing Page Count")
OR (search:"=Cleanup.Metadata Cleanup.Missing Chapter Count)

However, if I search search:"=Cleanup" AND NOT search:"=Cleanup.Metadata Cleanup.Missing Chapter Count" it turns red presumably from a recursive loop.

Currently I just select all the subsearches except the excluded one. But is there a quicker way?

chaley · 07-09-2021, 05:39 PM

This isn't really a recursion problem. Recursion means that X uses X, for example when the column evaluator must use the column evaluator to get a value.

What you describe is a case where the logical expression includes "A and not A", which as written is a contradiction. Your searches aren't so clear because the left-hand side includes other conditions not related to A, but it still could end up in the same place.

The answer: don't do that. You have found one way -- construct a search that doesn't use the same subsearch more than once. Another way that might work is to use restrictions, available in the virtual library tab, because they are fully evaluated before sub-searches are done.

07-09-2021, 04:41 PM	#1
ownedbycats Custom User Title Posts: 11,135 Karma: 77213683 Join Date: Oct 2018 Location: Canada Device: Kobo Libra H2O, formerly Aura HD	Excluding part of a subsearch My "Cleanup" search is made up of a lot of smaller subsearches, like this: Code: marked:true OR (search:"=Cleanup.Fanfic Issues") OR (search:"=Cleanup.Formats") OR (search:"=Cleanup.Metadata Cleanup") Cleanup.Metadata Cleanup: Code: (search:"=Cleanup.Metadata Cleanup.Convert ISBNs") OR (search:"=Cleanup.Metadata Cleanup.Missing Kobo collection") OR (search:"=Cleanup.Metadata Cleanup.Missing Language") OR (search:"=Cleanup.Metadata Cleanup.Missing Page Count") OR (search:"=Cleanup.Metadata Cleanup.Missing Chapter Count) However, if I search search:"=Cleanup" AND NOT search:"=Cleanup.Metadata Cleanup.Missing Chapter Count" it turns red presumably from a recursive loop. Currently I just select all the subsearches except the excluded one. But is there a quicker way?

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07-09-2021, 05:39 PM	#2
chaley Grand Sorcerer Posts: 12,488 Karma: 8065348 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Notts, England Device: Kobo Libra 2	This isn't really a recursion problem. Recursion means that X uses X, for example when the column evaluator must use the column evaluator to get a value. What you describe is a case where the logical expression includes "A and not A", which as written is a contradiction. Your searches aren't so clear because the left-hand side includes other conditions not related to A, but it still could end up in the same place. The answer: don't do that. You have found one way -- construct a search that doesn't use the same subsearch more than once. Another way that might work is to use restrictions, available in the virtual library tab, because they are fully evaluated before sub-searches are done.

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