[iOS] Number 0 in a series

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Have you ever seen any book series list online that shows a book 0?

http://www.goodreads.com/series/41526-the-wheel-of-time

[theducks]

Originally Posted by Steve_Haley

Thinking of which... does anyone use negative series numbers? Those currently wouldn't display either.

Prequels

Currently, I use hierarchical Series (series_name.prequel_name) because Series_Index in Calibre does not accept <0 (at least in the GUI)

0.n books are usually shorts that may have resulted in a series:
Briggs-Alpha & Omega
Clarke- Venus Prime (Preuss turned it into a series)

I sometimes used negative sign as a flag and still used ABS(value) as originally used back when lean & mean was the rule

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

http://www.goodreads.com/series/41526-the-wheel-of-time

New Spring should be 1 and The Strike at Shayol Ghul should be 1.5. All the rest should be upped by one so The Eye of the World should be 2.

That way, the incorrect 0 would not exist. 0 means nothing. So a book 0 means it's a book that doesn't exist.

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

New Spring should be 1 and The Strike at Shayol Ghul should be 1.5. All the rest should be upped by one so The Eye of the World should be 2.

Give it up. Just because it is 1st chronologically speaking doesn't mean you re-number the entire series. Never has, never will. Most of the folks on Goodreads that answered the question should I read New Spring first or wait til later said to wait and included good reasons. Although some agree with you and said to read it first.

Originally Posted by JSWolf

That way, the incorrect 0 would not exist. 0 means nothing. So a book 0 means it's a book that doesn't exist.

What you say may have merit for some sort of library standard. You need to find whatever body oversees book metadata and series numbering standards and make your case to them. Here your argument, in the context of a calibre and CC, falls flat.

In calibre and CC folks use all sorts of indicators to represent items, ideas, or concepts. Since calibre allows 0 to be used by its users then CC should also allow 0 to be used. The idea that it is "incorrect" for folks to use 0 in a book series in their personal book management software is ludicrous and certainly not in the spirit of flexibility in which Kovid has crafted calibre.

@Steve_Haley - Calibre does not allow negative to be used as a standard series designation so I don't think you need to allow negative series numbers to be used for series. Custom columns though are another matter completely.

[gsparks2]

I use [0.x] for short fiction in a series. Sometimes [0.xx].