Sort options for Publisher field similar to Author field?

[Thinkling]

One of the tweaks that can by highly customized in Calibre is how to sort names in the Author column. What titles/honoraries to ignore, ignoring leading articles, etc.

I would like to be able to implement this last feature, ignoring leading articles (a/an, the) in the Publisher field's names as well. Currently names like "The Atlantic" do not ignore the leading article and sort as starting with "T" and not starting with "A". But this can be done in the Author field.

My current workaround is to give names like "Atlantic, The". But this is clunky and unattractive. Any pointers as to how to implement this feature? Are there plug-ins which do this?

Thanks in advance,
T

[kovidgoyal]

Create a custom column built from other columns, then use a template to format the publisher name however you like.

[Thinkling]

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

Create a custom column built from other columns, then use a template to format the publisher name however you like.

Thank you Kovid. I have never used templates before but I know there is a lot of documentation about them I can use to get up to speed.

[chaley]

The template function swap_around_articles() should do what you want. If putting the article on the end is all you want then this template should do

{publisher:swap_around_articles()}

Note that it uses a semicolon instead of a comma because publisher names can include commas.

If you want a comma instead of a semicolon then this template should do:

{publisher:'re(swap_around_articles($, ','), ';', ',')'}

This converts all semicolons to commas.

[Thinkling]

Originally Posted by chaley

The template function swap_around_articles() should do what you want. If putting the article on the end is all you want then this template should do

{publisher:swap_around_articles()}

Note that it uses a semicolon instead of a comma because publisher names can include commas.

If you want a comma instead of a semicolon then this template should do:

{publisher:'re(swap_around_articles($, ','), ';', ',')'}

This converts all semicolons to commas.

I made a custom column and used this template. The sorting works fine, but the original issue still stands: it's displayed as (e.g.) "Atlantic; The". This does seem to jive with the documentation for that template.

I think I will need to write/extend a template to format the entry, like Kovid mentioned.

[chaley]

Originally Posted by Thinkling

I made a custom column and used this template. The sorting works fine, but the original issue still stands: it's displayed as (e.g.) "Atlantic; The". This does seem to jive with the documentation for that template.

Yes it does. The output of the template becomes the text of the column. The documentation says that the template returns its argument with articles moved to the end. That is what you are seeing.

I think I will need to write/extend a template to format the entry, like Kovid mentioned.

Columns sort on "what you see" except for columns that have a "look somewhere else" for sort order, e.g., title, authors, and series. There is no mechanism other than changing calibre's code to add look-aside sort functionality for other fields.

When Kovid suggested a custom column he was suggesting exactly what I showed you. Instead of sorting on Publisher you sort on the custom column to get the order you want. The Publisher field remains "The Atlantic". The custom field is "Atlantic; The".

You don't need to show the custom column in the book list to sort on it. Hide the custom column then use the "sort by" tool to sort the library. If you do this often enough then you can use the Action Chains plugin to create a shortcut to do the sort.

I could in theory add a "sort template" to custom columns, which would give you a mechanism to sort custom columns on something different from what you see. I'm not convinced the added functionality is worth the development effort. I'm also not sure the performance would be adequate.

[Thinkling]

Originally Posted by chaley

Yes it does. The output of the template becomes the text of the column. The documentation says that the template returns its argument with articles moved to the end. That is what you are seeing.

Columns sort on "what you see" except for columns that have a "look somewhere else" for sort order, e.g., title, authors, and series. There is no mechanism other than changing calibre's code to add look-aside sort functionality for other fields.

When Kovid suggested a custom column he was suggesting exactly what I showed you. Instead of sorting on Publisher you sort on the custom column to get the order you want. The Publisher field remains "The Atlantic". The custom field is "Atlantic; The".

You don't need to show the custom column in the book list to sort on it. Hide the custom column then use the "sort by" tool to sort the library. If you do this often enough then you can use the Action Chains plugin to create a shortcut to do the sort.

I could in theory add a "sort template" to custom columns, which would give you a mechanism to sort custom columns on something different from what you see. I'm not convinced the added functionality is worth the development effort. I'm also not sure the performance would be adequate.

Success! Thanks chaley for the clarification.

For other users' reference: I kept the column I made above, and hid it. Then just added the Sort by drop down tool to my toolbar. Selecting my new invisible column from that drop down did the trick.