[GUI Plugin] Action Chains

[capink]

No. Action chains does not give you the ability to name templates. This can already be done in calibre using stored templates (preferences > template functions).

Action chains only gives you the ability to set an icon and a tooltip for the condition, to be used as kind of visual cue of which conditions this action/chain will run under.

[compurandom]

Originally Posted by capink

No. Action chains does not give you the ability to name templates. This can already be done in calibre using stored templates (preferences > template functions).

Ahh! So that's where the button is hidden.

Would it be possible to either add a button in the plugin dialog to bring that up, or at least mention it in the post documenting conditions? Or is it there and I missed it?

[capink]

What version of the plugin are you using? The tooltip and icon fields are in the conditions dialog right at the bottom. If you mean you want a button to calibre's stored templates, I can add that.

[compurandom]

I just noticed clicking on the pulldown like a button opens the template editor.
Somehow I never thought to try that before.

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by capink

It refers to the ability to set it for more than one chain simultaneously. Maybe this is not grammatically right, I am not sure. If so, I will modify it in the next release.

Note that you can set multiple conditions using one template. As an example, this template tests for two conditions (selection_count + book format). The following boolean template functions can be useful for setting multiple conditions: and(), or(), not().

That makes sense. I think I was confusing "multiple conditions" for "multiple templates."

Another question: If I want to switch to a saved search at the end of a chain, is Selection Modifier the right way to do that?

[capink]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

Another question: If I want to switch to a saved search at the end of a chain, is Selection Modifier the right way to do that?

It is the most straightforward way to do it. But you will also have to choose one selection option with it.

If you want to just display the search results without making any selections, you can use this custom action instead, just type the following in the template dialog:

search:"=my_saved_search"

A third option would be through the view manager plugin.

[Terisa de morgan]

I have a doubt. Let's say I have an action that includes to set some custom columns, that doesn't exist in all the libraries. Is it possible to execute the part that is common in all the libraries and the part about custom columns only in the libraries where they exist?

[chaley]

Originally Posted by Terisa de morgan

I have a doubt. Let's say I have an action that includes to set some custom columns, that doesn't exist in all the libraries. Is it possible to execute the part that is common in all the libraries and the part about custom columns only in the libraries where they exist?

You can use current_library_name() in a template to determine if an action should run. However, this isn't ideal because the mapping from library name to columns is in your head and can change. Better would be an field_exists('name') boolean function. I will look at adding that.

[Terisa de morgan]

Originally Posted by chaley

You can use current_library_name() in a template to determine if an action should run. However, this isn't ideal because the mapping from library name to columns is in your head and can change. Better would be an field_exists('name') boolean function. I will look at adding that.

Thank you very much! This would work for me in a lot of places (yes, I have a lot of custom columns and libraries )

[chaley]

Originally Posted by Terisa de morgan

Thank you very much! This would work for me in a lot of places (yes, I have a lot of custom columns and libraries )

Done. The function field_exists(name) is in source now and will be in the next calibre release.

[capink]

chaley's new template function is a lot better than setting conditions with library name.

The problem with both approaches is that the plugin will validate each action in the chain before running it, and if single action has problems (e.g custom column not in current library) the whole chain will be disabled.

I will see what is the best approach to deal with this.

[Terisa de morgan]

Originally Posted by capink

chaley's new template function is a lot better than setting conditions with library name.

The problem with both approaches is that the plugin will validate each action in the chain before running it, and if single action has problems (e.g custom column not in current library) the whole chain will be disabled.

I will see what is the best approach to deal with this.

That was going to be my next question. So, the condition is for the whole chain, not for a single action, right?

[capink]

The condition chaley suggested is per action. It is currently not going to work. I think the solution to this would be to validate only actions that are going to run under the current conditions. So if you set a condition on an action using chaley's new function, the action will only be validated if the condition is true. I hope the explanation makes sense.

[chaley]

Originally Posted by capink

The condition chaley suggested is per action. It is currently not going to work. I think the solution to this would be to validate only actions that are going to run under the current conditions. So if you set a condition on an action using chaley's new function, the action will only be validated if the condition is true. I hope the explanation makes sense.

Validating only actions that will be run makes sense.

However, unless I am misunderstanding I don't think the problem is as large as you indicate, at least for template actions. Looking at check_template() I see that the template is run to see if it produces an error. Assume the template looks something like this

program:
    if field_exists('#somefield') then
        do_something();
        do_something_else()
    fi

This template won't produce an error if #somefield doesn't exist so it would validate. Of course it might not do what the action requires, which is a different problem.

[Terisa de morgan]

Originally Posted by chaley

Validating only actions that will be run makes sense.

However, unless I am misunderstanding I don't think the problem is as large as you indicate, at least for template actions. Looking at check_template() I see that the template is run to see if it produces an error. Assume the template looks something like this

program:
    if field_exists('#somefield') then
        do_something();
        do_something_else()
    fi

This template won't produce an error if #somefield doesn't exist so it would validate. Of course it might not do what the action requires, which is a different problem.

So, essentially, instead of using "Edit Metadata", I use a function with that template that set the value of the column if it exists.