different View - possible or feature request?

[Henning]

Hallo

I'm working with calibre for many years now and I believe its the best software to manage epub - Thank you!

I do have come to a point where I would like to curate "groups of books" in addition to only curate a single book. To rephrase: is it possible to work on [series] as it is possible to work on single books. Is it - somehow - possible to get a view where the series can have additional metadata like

• [series: rating] (a rating NOT for the single part but for the series)

• [series: description] (for crime - series for example the location and some addition information as "located in Berlin, 1920's")

• [virtual library: series] (having a view where it is possible to "drop" a complete series to a vl (including the feature that newly added books of the listed series will be added to the vl automatically)

• [virtual library: genre] (making it possible to generate a view in which vl can be defined by a list of genre)

I do believe part of the idea is possible already but I'm not sure.
For some idea I believe additional features are needed. I would like to focus on the feature "having a view different from the traditional view focussing on a single publication but focussing on a group" (like a series).

I would be happy if someone could enlighten me.

Thanks for your help.

[BetterRed]

@Henning - for the first two (series: rating and series: description) you could add two custom columns:- series_rating/Series Rating and series_description/Series Description, then add empty zeroeth books (i.e. Blah Series [0]) and put the series rating and description in that book, you could hide those columns in the Book List and only show them in Book Details.

For the other two, virtual libraries are based on search expressions which could be something like series:"=My Series", but you could end up with lots of VLs. A simpler solution might be to use the Similar books tool:- e.g. Alt+S will show all books in the same series as the selected book.

And, have a look at the View Manager optional plugin, see ==>> Index of plugins.

BR

[Henning]

@BetterRed: Thanks for helping.

I try to rephrase what I understood:
I create a "ghost book" for each series. The "ghost book" gets the Series Number "0".
I create custom [fields]. I use the "ghost book" within each series to asign series values like [series rating] or [series description].
I define the "book details" to show the fields like [series rating] and [series description].

I have four question:
(1) As the fields are empty for "regular books" of the series. As the view shows the content of the metadata associated with a book - if I have "book 2" of "seriesXYZ" selected, how is it possible, that the book details would show values of "book 0" of "seriesXYZ"?

(2) If I would like to sort my series based on a value like [series: rating] - how is it possible that the series actually get sorted? I would expect, that the books get sorted and not the series?
(If I have 2k books and 400 series I get 400 books with values of 1-5 and 1.6 k books with value "0". Let's say I want to generate a search with all books from all series with [series: rating]="4")

(3) If I would like to find series with a certain value in [series: description] - lets say I'm searching for the value "complete". I would expect to only get the "ghost books" of the [n] series which has the value "complete". But how to get the other books of the [n] series?!?
(Lets say the "main window shows the columns [author], [series], [series: rating] [series: description]. After the search for the value "complete" in the field [series: description] the main window would - lets say - show 100 series / rows / entries (as 100 of my 400 series are "complete").

(4) How do I get back to the actual books of a specific series. How do I get back to lets say "book 2" from "seriesXYZ"? ---- simply by using the value for [series] from the book details as link? Would that do the trick?

If I understand correctly - I can create "ghost books" to store "series related information". I can manage series by managing this "ghost books". It is not possible to show all books related to a specific "series related information" (like [series: rating]="4").


Did I understand you correct?

Henning

[BetterRed]

I suggest you create a test library by copying a representative subset of books and then experiment with the tools and features I previously suggested. If you are using Windows you could install the Portable version and use it as a testbed, then if something breaks you can start over.

Another couple of tools you may find useful are - Quickview and the CalibreSpy optional plugin.

Doing things in calibre is a bit like getting rid of a tree -- you could use an axe to chop it down, a chainsaw to cut it down, a dozer to push it over, or a heli-crane to pull it out

BR

PS: Or poison it with an injection of a powerful herbicide

[PeterT]

Why not dynamite?

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by PeterT

Why not dynamite?

This old promotional booklet actually suggests using dynamite for removing trees from farmland!

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by PeterT

Why not dynamite?

I've used gelly to blow stumps out, but not whole trees - back in the day when you could just go to the store and get a dozen sticks and detonators without any rigmarole. Gosh, I even had some blasting mats.

BR

[PeterT]

Just not on Dead Beached Whales

[BetterRed]

I guess you could call that dynamite fishing on steroids