11-01-2017, 01:24 PM | #1 |
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Feature Request: Lock Column
I love Calibre, and can't imagine life without it. So first, and foremost -- Thank you!
One feature I would like to see in Calibre is the ability to 'lock' a column. This is something that spreadsheets do, and it would be really useful to be able to lock the Title column so that the book title is always visible even as you scroll across the main panel of the program. For those of us who have multiple custom columns, it can be a bit challenging to know exactly what book we're looking at or editing one of the fields on in that main window if we've had to scroll far enough to the right to no longer see the left hand columns. |
11-01-2017, 02:01 PM | #2 |
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Any reason why the book details panel won't work for what you're trying to do? That should show the title of the book you have currently selected.
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11-01-2017, 02:09 PM | #3 |
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Works for the currently selected book, but NOT for other books. So I can see what the currently selected book is, but not what other books I might want to see the details on. So selecting multiple books I want to edit a custom column on, for example, is annoying if that column is not visible. Or, the column is visible, but not the name of the book.
I confess, I grew up with spreadsheets as a norm, and this table format just makes me expect it to have basic spreadsheet capability. I can certainly work around it, and do every day. But it's a feature I'd really appreciate. |
11-01-2017, 02:41 PM | #4 | |
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Quote:
I don't know of any way to lock a column, but depending upon your work flow, maybe you could use the View Manager plugin as a workaround? If you find yourself frequently editing the same set of columns, you could set up a view that pushes them all to the left next to the Title column. That's what I do, especially when I import several books at once and want to edit certain fields that normally I don't want up front when I'm just perusing my library. |
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11-01-2017, 03:04 PM | #5 |
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That doesn't really work for me, though thanks for the suggestion. I can live with the current behaviour, but I confess it causes frequent annoyance. Hopefully, @kovidgoyal will find that it's easily (or at least reasonably) possible with the underlying QT tools and it can make it into a future release.
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11-01-2017, 03:44 PM | #6 |
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There is no reason you can't change the order of your columns, so title could remain in view. Just drag the header or use Preferences: Look and Feel: Book Details <tab>
Or hide the lesser viewed columns |
11-01-2017, 04:07 PM | #7 | |
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Quote:
I import into an Intake library which has View Manager l-to-r column sequences and book list sort orders which are optimal for editing metadata in the book list (I don't use the metadata editor forms) I wouldn't say no to a Lock Column option in the column header right click menu, but if we're to have additional spread sheet behaviours, I'd put copy and paste a set of cells from Book A to Books X, Y and Z at the top of my list. BR |
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11-01-2017, 05:43 PM | #8 |
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Something I wouldn't mind having either! And, I would think something that might be easier to implement, though, again, I don't know what the underlying tool set makes possible.
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11-01-2017, 05:46 PM | #9 |
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The thing is, I've already done that for most of what I do. But there are times where I find myself working over on the far right of the table, and there is literally no time when it wouldn't be useful to have the title column visible. So a lock column feature would simplify the whole thing.
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11-01-2017, 11:21 PM | #10 |
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It could probably be done with something like this: https://doc.qt.io/qt-5/qtwidgets-ite...n-example.html however, it is not trivial, so opena bug report for it and when I have the time I will investigate.
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11-02-2017, 01:19 AM | #11 |
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Bug report opened.
Thanks for considering it. I really _do_ appreciate it. |
11-02-2017, 11:42 AM | #12 |
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I too would LOVE to see a "lock column" feature in Calibre. Just sayin'...
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11-03-2017, 04:17 PM | #13 |
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In the meantime, while you wait for that non-trivial enhancement, this alleviates some of the pain:
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...&postcount=153 The image attached to it explains both why to use it and how to use it. DaltonST |
02-01-2018, 12:21 PM | #14 | |
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Quote:
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02-01-2018, 12:56 PM | #15 |
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You're welcome
Note that the implemented feature is not exactly a lock column, but instead a split view. Basically you can now have two book lists next to each other that scroll together. So you can use it for lock columns by hiding the columns you dont want to see in the second book list, but it is more general than that. |
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