[GUI Plugin] Reading List

[JimmXinu]

In the sense of, "Reading Lists" defined lists appear in Calibre Companion? No, not directly.

I think you can use the RL feature that can populate a custom column to indicate list membership and then make a Group for that column in Calibre Companion?

Using RL to sync to your CC when used as a smart device does work.

[thegameksk]

On Calibre are you supposed to see the lists? For example I have a list named Psych and History on Calibre. It is set to sync automatically upon connecting. The books appears on my CC but I don't see the lists.

Edit: I just saw your response. So how do I go about "populate a custom column to indicate list membership and then make a Group for that column in Calibre Companion"?

[thegameksk]

Originally Posted by JimmXinu

In the sense of, "Reading Lists" defined lists appear in Calibre Companion? No, not directly.

I think you can use the RL feature that can populate a custom column to indicate list membership and then make a Group for that column in Calibre Companion?

Using RL to sync to your CC when used as a smart device does work.

How do I "populate a custom column to indicate list membership and then make a Group for that column in Calibre Companion"?

[chaley]

Originally Posted by JimmXinu

I think you can use the RL feature that can populate a custom column to indicate list membership and then make a Group for that column in Calibre Companion?

Yes, you can. Steps:

• Create a tags-like custom column.
• Assuming you want to use the list to send books to the device, customise RL's sync options to be "Add new list items to device". There is a lot of flexibility here so you might want to consider whether the other options better fit your workflow.
• Clear the box "Clear this list after a sync ...". If you leave this set then you must think carefully about what to put in "Column update action" below.
• Set the column update action to "Update column for add or remove". Again there is flexibility here.
• Enter the lookup key of the column in "Column to update".
• Enter the list name (or something similar) in the "Value in column..." field.
• In CC (Android -- I can't speak for IOS) add the custom column to the grouping drawer in Settings / Grouping Drawer / Group/sort on custom columns and Select groups to show. You may also want to add the custom column to CC's Sort menu.

At this point, whenever you use CC's Wireless Device Sync the values in that column will appear in CC's grouping drawer.

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by thegameksk

On Calibre are you supposed to see the lists?

If you make a series-like text column and set it in the Reading List preferences, it can show up in Calibre's tag browser.

[ownedbycats]

Question: I made a reading list autopopulated from a search. It works properly if I view it from the reading list toolbar button.

I set the series column and gave it a name. Even after restarting Calibre it doesn't appear in the tag browser.

Is that just not supported? I thought it was because the settings aren't greyed out like the column update ones are:

[JimmXinu]

Populating a series column looks like it only works with manually populated lists and only when manually changed.

IE, search auto-populated lists don't change it (as reported), but neither do device auto-pop lists and if a manual list is cleared by auto-sync, that doesn't change the configured series column either.

(Semi-related: Due to the fact that an search auto-pop list is only refreshed when the list is viewed, the book count shown in menu for that list is also likely to be off.)

I'm not interested right now in trying to puzzle out all the different interactions to try and make this work. I might spend some time on sorting out the mess that is enabling/disabling other settings in list config. But don't hold your breath.

[ownedbycats]

That makes sense. Since I wasn't using it to sync to a device I can just use a saved search. Perhaps in the next version it would make sense to grey it out for autopop lists.

Originally Posted by JimmXinu

Populating a series column looks like it only works with manually populated lists and only when manually changed.

That reminds me of another bug I meant to report. Very minor though so it may not be worth the effort to fix. Steps to replicate:

1. Have some books on a manual list. Make sure the reading order series column is set.
2. Go to RL settings. Change the series name.
3. Don't make any changes to the list, so that all the books still have the old series name.
4. Remove one of the books from the list.

Expected behaviour: All other books on the list get the new series name. The old series name is removed from the removed book.

Actual behaviour: All other books get the new series name. However, the removed book retains the old series name.

This might be a bit troublesome under one situation, though:

1. Somebody has two reading lists, with series name Banana and Orange.
2. They rename Banana to Orange, and Orange to Papaya.
3. They remove a book from Papaya. The series column will still say Orange, and it'll still appear if they click on "Orange" in the tag browser. I'm not sure if there might be other errors that occur because of this.

[JimmXinu]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

That makes sense. Since I wasn't using it to sync to a device I can just use a saved search. Perhaps in the next version it would make sense to grey it out for autopop lists.

That's the part you shouldn't hold your breath for. That sort of nonsense is never as easy as it seems--at least for me.

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

That reminds me of another bug I meant to report. Very minor though so it may not be worth the effort to fix. Steps to replicate:

All of that is predicable from the series update implementation. Other fun effect: Book in series isn't in list. List is updated, that book has series removed.

Personally, I don't know why this series update feature even exists. It's not very well integrated and, as you found, has severe limitations that I don't see getting fixed in RL.

Plus, what's the point? If you have both list and series, it's redundant. I've never looked at before today.

[JSWolf]

I've been using Reading List for some time and I've never seen a need for sort of series based list. Just sort your library by series and add all the books in the series you want to the list. Problem solved (I hope).

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I've been using Reading List for some time and I've never seen a need for sort of series based list. Just sort your library by series and add all the books in the series you want to the list. Problem solved (I hope).

No, I was using "series" to refer to the series-like column that Reading List uses for the read order, under Reading Order in settings. I use it for easy access from the tag browser and a column icon so I know what books are currently on list.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

No, I was using "series" to refer to the series-like column that Reading List uses for the read order, under Reading Order in settings. I use it for easy access from the tag browser and a column icon so I know what books are currently on list.

There's an option to display your list within the plugin.

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

There's an option to display your list within the plugin.

Yes but it just marks the books. That doesn't help with the column icon.

Plus the reading order lets me change certain saved searches (e.g. Unread and Read Again) to not:#readorder so I can exclude books that are already on the reading lists.

[thegameksk]

Originally Posted by chaley

Yes, you can. Steps:

• Create a tags-like custom column.
• Assuming you want to use the list to send books to the device, customise RL's sync options to be "Add new list items to device". There is a lot of flexibility here so you might want to consider whether the other options better fit your workflow.
• Clear the box "Clear this list after a sync ...". If you leave this set then you must think carefully about what to put in "Column update action" below.
• Set the column update action to "Update column for add or remove". Again there is flexibility here.
• Enter the lookup key of the column in "Column to update".
• Enter the list name (or something similar) in the "Value in column..." field.
• In CC (Android -- I can't speak for IOS) add the custom column to the grouping drawer in Settings / Grouping Drawer / Group/sort on custom columns and Select groups to show. You may also want to add the custom column to CC's Sort menu.

At this point, whenever you use CC's Wireless Device Sync the values in that column will appear in CC's grouping drawer.

Thank you!

[JimmXinu]

New Test Version

2020-07-17
- Disable Series custom column settings when not applicable.

All this does is disable (and clear) the "Reading Order Options" settings when they should not be applicable: Auto-pop lists and when 'Clear on Sync' is checked.

Does not change any existing lists that may already have those settings.