Preferences - cascading menu

[BetterRed]

Will I be able to access all Preferences dialogues via this tool, or is it limited to the Toolbars and Shortcuts dialogues.

BR

[chaley]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

Will I be able to access all Preferences dialogues via this tool, or is it limited to the Toolbars and Shortcuts dialogues.

BR

Just those 2 via this menu. I added them because they are directly related to what the action does. You can of course open the general preferences dialog via its calibre action, but I don't think that is what you are asking about.

[BetterRed]

You're right.

• I can access Look & feel and Searching by right clicking relevant icons in the status bar:
• I can access Add your your own columns via the header context menu,
• I can access Get plugins to enhance calibre via the Preferences drop down menu
• Now, via this tool I'll have access to two more: Toolbars & menus and Shortcuts.

A cascading menu in Preferences would be better than ad-hoc back doors, it would not replace the icon grid… or the existing back doors. And it could probably be cherry picked by Favourites.

Interface
   Look & feel
   . . . 
   Searching
. . .
Advanced
    Plugins
   . . .
   Template functions

BR

[chaley]

@BetterRed:


They show wherever the preference menu can show. This example show it them in the main context menu.


They are bog-standard menu items that should be visible whereever you want. I know they work in Favorites and Action Chains. This also lets you can assign a shortcut to individual preference dialogs.

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by chaley

@BetterRed:
Attachment 206454

They show wherever the preference menu can show. This example show it them in the main context menu.
Attachment 206455

They are bog-standard menu items that should be visible whereever you want. I know they work in Favorites and Action Chains. This also lets you can assign a shortcut to individual preference dialogs.

恭喜发财, Magnifique, Wunderbar, Bellissimo - break out the champers.

BR

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by chaley

@BetterRed:
Attachment 206454

Can't see the Restart in debug mode action



And we lack a Restart in debug mode with no plugins action.

why not have Restart in here and scrap the separate Restart tool

Or put Restart in debug, Restart with no plugins and Restart in debug mode with no plugins as drop down actions in the Restart tool.

At the moment it's a bit belt and braces with no buckle

BR

[chaley]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

Can't see the Restart in debug mode action

Attachment 206461

And we lack a Restart in debug mode with no plugins action.

why not have Restart in here and scrap the separate Restart tool

Or put Restart in debug, Restart with no plugins and Restart in debug mode with no plugins as drop down actions in the Restart tool.

At the moment it's a bit belt and braces with no buckle

BR

It shows all the actions that can be put on a toolbar/menu etc. It doesn't show everything available within actions, for example submenu operations within Preferences you reference. It doesn't show everything that can have a keyboard shortcut, for example the operations in the Tag browser configuration menu.

Moving all the restart stuff to be in Restart instead of Preferences wouldn't change what shows.

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by chaley

It shows all the actions that can be put on a toolbar/menu etc. It doesn't show everything available within actions, for example submenu operations within Preferences you reference. It doesn't show everything that can have a keyboard shortcut, for example the operations in the Tag browser configuration menu.

Moving all the restart stuff to be in Restart instead of Preferences wouldn't change what shows.

I'm confused, I never mentioned keyboard shortcuts, or the new All GUI actions tool. Might be best if I move our posts referring to Preferences menu cascade into a separate thread.

This is what I currently see in the Preferences drop down:



This is what you posted



Restart in Debug mode is missing in your screen shot.

---

Restart Options

We have two restart options in the Preferences tool drop down menu, Restart in debug mode and Restart ignoring third party plugins, and we have the single action Restart tool.

I suggest the Restart action be moved into the Preferences drop down with the other two Restart actions and the separate Restart tool be scrapped, OR move the two Restart options in Preferences into a drop down on the Restart tool.

If I were my decision I would choose the first option because I think it would create less "where did the Restart options go" complaints.

---

This is a calibre-debug issue - on a number of occasions I've wanted to run calibre in debug with no third party plugins, the way I've been doing it is to run a fresh install of portable in debug.

If calibre-debug had a --ignore-plugins option we could have a another Restart option - Restart in debug mode ignoring third party plugins.

Running a fresh install of portable in debug with no plugins installed is not quite the same even if I copy my 'install' preferences into calibre portable.

BR

[un_pogaz]

At first, deleting a User Action seems... audacious. It wouldn't cause a problem, but that's the feeling I have about deleting a built-in action.
So, I add to moved the two debugging restart options to the "Restart" Action. It always seemed strange to me that it should appear here and not in the action (but now that we're working around).

But now that I think about it: why are the two debugging restart options in the "Preference" menu? Because we need these two options to be easily accessible by all users. And since "Preference" is mandatory in the interface and "Restart" isn't, it makes sense to put them there.

Conclusion:
It would be better to add normal restart to the "Preference" menu and possibly delete the "Restart" Action.
The problem will be to migrate the keyboard shortcut if possible or without creating a duplicate.

... In fact, we're faced with a Legacy debate: we're paying for an old decision, and any changes will certainly lead to a compatibility breakdown. Not very serious, but still, not so simple.

[chaley]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

I'm confused, I never mentioned keyboard shortcuts, or the new All GUI actions tool. Might be best if I move our posts referring to Preferences menu cascade into a separate thread.

Restart in Debug mode is missing in your screen shot.

Because I am *already* in debug mode. You should run the actual code to see what happens in your case.

Restart Options

We have two restart options in the Preferences tool drop down menu, Restart in debug mode and Restart ignoring third party plugins, and we have the single action Restart tool.

I suggest the Restart action be moved into the Preferences drop down with the other two Restart actions and the separate Restart tool be scrapped, OR move the two Restart options in Preferences into a drop down on the Restart tool.

If I were my decision I would choose the first option because I think it would create less "where did the Restart options go" complaints.

I am not getting into a discussion about moving stuff around between actions or removing actions. If you want such things, make an enhancement request and Kovid will decide.

This is a calibre-debug issue - on a number of occasions I've wanted to run calibre in debug with no third party plugins, the way I've been doing it is to run a fresh install of portable in debug.

If calibre-debug had a --ignore-plugins option we could have a another Restart option - Restart in debug mode ignoring third party plugins.

Running a fresh install of portable in debug with no plugins installed is not quite the same even if I copy my 'install' preferences into calibre portable.

BR

Same as above: if you want to change the existing actions or, in this case, the CLI, make an enhancement request.

[chaley]

Originally Posted by un_pogaz

At first, deleting a User Action seems... audacious. It wouldn't cause a problem, but that's the feeling I have about deleting a built-in action.
So, I add to moved the two debugging restart options to the "Restart" Action. It always seemed strange to me that it should appear here and not in the action (but now that we're working around).

But now that I think about it: why are the two debugging restart options in the "Preference" menu? Because we need these two options to be easily accessible by all users. And since "Preference" is mandatory in the interface and "Restart" isn't, it makes sense to put them there.

Conclusion:
It would be better to add normal restart to the "Preference" menu and possibly delete the "Restart" Action.
The problem will be to migrate the keyboard shortcut if possible or without creating a duplicate.

... In fact, we're faced with a Legacy debate: we're paying for an old decision, and any changes will certainly lead to a compatibility breakdown. Not very serious, but still, not so simple.

Deleting an action is serious. It breaks muscle memory and discoverability. It can break Shortcuts, Action Chains and Favorites. If the deleted action is on the tool bar then the tool bar visually changes, with actions after the deleted one moving left.

I don't know what Kovid would do with a PR that makes these changes. I suspect he would reject deleting the Restart action, but that he would accept adding a dropdown menu to it as long as the basic Restart action is cloned onto the menu.

[kovidgoyal]

Originally Posted by chaley

I don't know what Kovid would do with a PR that makes these changes. I suspect he would reject deleting the Restart action, but that he would accept adding a dropdown menu to it as long as the basic Restart action is cloned onto the menu.

Definitely not willing to delete the action.

@BR: If you want to run the GUI in debug mode while ignoring plugins you can do:

calibre-debug -c "from calibre.gui2.main import main; main(['calibre', '--ignore-plugins'])"

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

Definitely not willing to delete the action.

@BR: If you want to run the GUI in debug mode while ignoring plugins you can do:

calibre-debug -c "from calibre.gui2.main import main; main(['calibre', '--ignore-plugins'])"

Thanks

Create catalogue is available a tool in its own right (with a short cut) and as a Convert books drop down action (with no shortcut). viz:



Could Restart be similarly available in two places?

BR

[chaley]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

Create catalogue is available a tool in its own right (with a short cut) and as a Convert books drop down action (with no shortcut). viz:

Attachment 206481

Could Restart be similarly available in two places?

BR

I think it is possible, especially given that the new All GUI Actions offers "Restart" as a menu option.

Make an enhancement request and it will be considered. The questions to be answered: where and why?