[GUI Plugin] Action Chains

[capink]

After adding the tweak and restarting, do the following:

• Add the following custom action:
  

  from calibre import prints
  from calibre.constants import DEBUG
  
  from calibre_plugins.action_chains.actions.single_field import SingleFieldAction, get_possible_cols
  
  class SingleFieldActionModified(SingleFieldAction):
  
      name = 'Modified Single Field Edit'
      support_scopes = True
  
      def run(self, gui, settings, chain):
          db = gui.current_db
  
          col_name = chain.chain_vars.get('_variant_argument')
          if col_name in get_possible_cols(db):
              settings['value_type'] = 'prompt'
              settings['col_name'] = col_name
              SingleFieldAction.run(self, gui, settings, chain)
          else:
              prints(f'ERROR: column name ({col_name}) is not valid')
  
  
      def validate(self, settings):
          return True
  
      def config_widget(self):
          return None

  This action is a modification of the single edit that will let you edit at runtime a column. It reads the column name from a chain variable.
• Create a chain and add the action just added above (Modified Single Edit)
• In the Add/Modify Chain dialog, double click the chain > Chain Variations > add the following template
  

  program:
      columns = 'title,authors,tags,#genre';
      for col in columns:
          add_chain_variant('Edit ' & col, col, 'The name of the submenu')
      rof

  Change the columns variable to include the custom columns you want.

Now you should have a submenu with multiple chain variants, for each column you want.

[Terisa de morgan]

Originally Posted by capink

[*]In the Add/Modify Chain dialog, double click the chain > Chain Variations > add the following template

Problem is, I don't get the entry for "Chain variations" (see attached pictures), although I've added the tweak,

[correoparaappzz]

Originally Posted by Terisa de morgan

Problem is, I don't get the entry for "Chain variations" (see attached pictures), although I've added the tweak,

You have to right clic

[Terisa de morgan]

Originally Posted by correoparaappzz

You have to right clic

Thank you very much, I usually forget about it

[Terisa de morgan]

Originally Posted by capink

After adding the tweak and restarting, do the following:

Now you should have a submenu with multiple chain variants, for each column you want.

Thank you, it's working.

[capink]

Originally Posted by Terisa de morgan

Thank you, it's working.

My mistake, I said double click instead of right click. Haven't been sleeping enough the past month.

[correoparaappzz]

Hi, I don't know what to do with one of my chains. The end of the chain is supposed to count the ebook's pages using the 'Count Pages' plugin using the Goodreads metadata. Everything is fine. The problem is that sometimes Goodreads doesn't have the page count in its metadata, which leaves me with a blank space in the corresponding column.

I have to enter the value manually or press 'Estimate page/word count' in the 'Count Pages' plugin. I added it to the chain and added the condition that it would run if the column was empty, but it doesn't work.

I don't know what to do.

[capink]

I am not a user of the Count Page plugin, so I can't help much. But the common error people do, is that they assume that conditions check every book which is not the case. It only works on the single active book selection. And conditions are meant as a binary on/off switch on the action as the whole.

What you want to do here is, at the end of your chain, limit the selection using "Search Using Templates" action with the following template:

program:
    book_ids = '';
    for book_id in from_selection('id'):
        if book_field(book_id, '#page_count') == '' then
            book_ids = list_union(book_ids, book_id, ',')
        fi
    rof

Notes:

• Make sure to change the column name highlighted in red with the appropriate column name.
• Make sure the "Select books" Checkbox is ticked.
• Make sure the "Search is a list of book ids" radio button is selected.

After that apply the Count Pages plugin on the newly selected books.

Edit: To solve the solution in an easier way without needing to write templates, I am considering adding a new action called 'Restrict current selection', which will narrow down the selected books using a regular calibre search e.g. #page_count:false. Or maybe amend Selection Modifier to add this feature.

This can already be done using scopes, but "Calibre Actions" does not support scopes and relies instead on the "Selection Modifier"

[correoparaappzz]

Originally Posted by capink

I am not a user of the Count Page plugin, so I can't help much. But the common error people do, is that they assume that conditions check every book which is not the case. It only works on the single active book selection.

My problem isn't that the column is blank. My problem is that when the Chain run 'Count Pages' (Goodreads) and the column is blank, 'Estimate Page/Word Count' is supposed to be activated. This is the condition I set:

program:

	if 'goodreads:' inlist $identifiers && $#book_pages == ''
		then 'yes'
		else 'x'
	fi

The conclusion I came to is that since 'Count Pages' runs these options as Jobs, the chain skips them for the next part of the chain, even when it hasn't finished extracting the metadata from Goodreads yet.

[capink]

Originally Posted by correoparaappzz

My problem isn't that the column is blank. My problem is that when the Chain run 'Count Pages' (Goodreads) and the column is blank, 'Estimate Page/Word Count' is supposed to be activated. This is the condition I set:

program:

	if 'goodreads:' inlist $identifiers && $#book_pages == ''
		then 'yes'
		else 'x'
	fi

The conclusion I came to is that since 'Count Pages' runs these options as Jobs, the chain skips them for the next part of the chain, even when it hasn't finished extracting the metadata from Goodreads yet.

The problem is not the jobs part, because "Calibre Actions" has an option to wait out for jobs to finish before proceeding to the next action. But as far as I remember, Count Pages pops up proceed question dialog after the jobs are finished, and before applying the values to columns that thwarts this whole option. I made it clear before that I don't have the interest nor the ability to work around problems pertaining to individual plugins.

I have my own primitive "Count Pages" chain, that uses a python action to count pages based on the number of characters in a book. Here is the python action if you are interested:

import os
import traceback
from calibre.ebooks.oeb.polish.container import get_container
from calibre_plugins.editor_chains.etree import get_text, etree

chars_per_page = 2100
col = '#pages'
book_format = 'epub'

def create_container(book_path):
    if not book_path:
        raise FileNotFoundError
    if not os.access(book_path, os.W_OK):
        raise PermissionError
    container = get_container(book_path)
    return container

def run(gui, settings, chain):
    db = gui.current_db
    book_ids = chain.scope().get_book_ids()
    book_id_page_map = {}
    for book_id in book_ids:
        book_title = db.title(book_id, index_is_id=True)
        print(f'Processing book: {book_title}')
        try:
            fmts_string = db.formats(book_id, index_is_id=True)
            if fmts_string:
                available_fmts = [ fmt.strip() for fmt in fmts_string.split(',') ]
                if book_format.upper() in available_fmts and ( book_format.upper() in ['EPUB', 'AZW3'] ):
                    book_path = db.format_abspath(book_id, book_format, index_is_id=True)

                    container =  create_container(book_path)
                    spine_names = [name for name, is_linear in container.spine_names]
                    ch_count = 0
                    for name in spine_names:
                        root = container.parsed(name)
                        #text = get_text(root)
                        text = etree.tostring(root, encoding='unicode', method='text')
                        ch_count += len(text)
                    book_id_page_map[book_id] = ch_count / chars_per_page
                    print('    Done.')
                else:
                    print(f'    Format ({book_format}) not found for book.')
        except:
            print(f'FAILURE: {book_title} ({book_id})')
            traceback.print_exc()
    db.new_api.set_field(col, book_id_page_map)

Change the variables highlighted in red to suit your need.

[Alinara]

Thanks for your help last time! I made now some Phyton scripts that help with my condition problem that I had before! I use them together with integrated options like search and replace.

It saved me a lot of manual work

---

I wanted to download specific Metadata from one site. I found a script in the Action Chain Resource Thread. (https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...9&postcount=28) But I do not understand how to use it.
If I try to use it in a Chain it tells me "run" is missing.

It would be nice if you have some advice how that script is meant to be used.

[ownedbycats]

Chain: Add Purchase Information, has single-field edit for #purchasesource (enum) and also other fields.

Other chain sets #purchasesource to specific value then calls the Add Purchase Information. Can skip the redundant SFE with condition?

[capink]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

Chain: Add Purchase Information, has single-field edit for #purchasesource (enum) and also other fields.

Other chain sets #purchasesource to specific value then calls the Add Purchase Information. Can skip the redundant SFE with condition?

One way to do it would be a condition like this on the SFE action(s):

program:
    if globals(_caller) inlist 'my first chain,my second chain, ....' then
        'skip'
    fi

value type > text
comparison operator > !=
Condition value > skip

You can also use a condition to check the value of the said field, presuming the default value in nil.

[capink]

Originally Posted by Alinara

Thanks for your help last time! I made now some Phyton scripts that help with my condition problem that I had before! I use them together with integrated options like search and replace.

It saved me a lot of manual work

---

I wanted to download specific Metadata from one site. I found a script in the Action Chain Resource Thread. (https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...9&postcount=28) But I do not understand how to use it.
If I try to use it in a Chain it tells me "run" is missing.

It would be nice if you have some advice how that script is meant to be used.

I haven't used this action since writing it. I am currently traveling and don't have my laptop with me, so I cannot test that action. But double check you copied it correctly including the run() function.

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by capink

One way to do it would be a condition like this on the SFE action(s):

program:
    if globals(_caller) inlist 'my first chain,my second chain, ....' then
        'skip'
    fi

value type > text
comparison operator > !=
Condition value > skip

You can also use a condition to check the value of the said field, presuming the default value in nil.

Second one worked.

What would I use specifically for the first one? I wasn't sure if it'd be if globals(_caller) inlist 'Cleanup: Kobo, Add Purchase Information' or something else.