Question about counting books

[Arrow]

Hello,

this is my first post. I'm using Calibre for almost 2 years now, and anytime i had doubts i did a search and found an answer. However i never went that much into editing until now.

After experimenting several book collections software, i think Calibre is by far the best. I decided to use this program to count and register both my digital and physical collection.

Now i understand how to use custom tags with hierarchical items; i have one to manage subgroups but Calibre only counts the books from each subgroup.

So i created another custom text column to keep series-like information to count how many digital and physical books i have.

My question: is it possible that Categories with hierarchical items count the total number of books i have instead of counting the total subgroups i have?

I mean, can i create only one custom column that can have all the information above instead of having the two above columns that i mentioned?

Thanks in advance.

[speakingtohe]

I have one hierarchal column. The name is Genre. If I click on Genre in the tag browser making the + sign green it displays the number of books in the bar at the bottom.

Don't quite know what you want though. Virtual libraries with tabs might be a better option.

A virtual library created with with genre:true lets me click on the tab and display only those books I have assigned a genre to.

Helen

[theducks]

Counting/Showing Hierarchical groups:

Clicking the Parent (top level) once shows the parent (green Plus)
Clicking it again shows (2 Green pluses) all the siblings

[speakingtohe]

Originally Posted by theducks

Counting/Showing Hierarchical groups:

Clicking the Parent (top level) once shows the parent (green Plus)
Clicking it again shows (2 Green pluses) all the siblings

I only get one green plus?

Helen

[theducks]

Originally Posted by speakingtohe

I only get one green plus?

Helen

Is it a (true) Hierarchical Item ?
eg. Pern.Harper Hall
Did you set them up in? Preferences:Look and Feel: Tag Browser

[speakingtohe]

Originally Posted by theducks

Is it a (true) Hierarchical Item ?
eg. Pern.Harper Hall
Did you set them up in? Preferences:Look and Feel: Tag Browser

Yes
I have #genre in the categories box.
I tried changing the partitioning but I get 1 plus when I click once and then the minus when I click again on all methods.

When I enter genre I get mystery, mystery.cozy etc. if I type my into the dropdown list.

Maybe I am missing a tweak? Not that it matters a lot, but curious.

Helen

[chaley]

Originally Posted by speakingtohe

Yes
I have #genre in the categories box.
I tried changing the partitioning but I get 1 plus when I click once and then the minus when I click again on all methods.

When I enter genre I get mystery, mystery.cozy etc. if I type my into the dropdown list.

Maybe I am missing a tweak? Not that it matters a lot, but curious.

Helen

If you are seeing mystery.cozy in the tag browser then the setup isn't right. You should be seeing mystery with a triangle next to it as shown in this image. Note the two green plus signs on Mystery, which means search for Mystery and all sub categories.


Be sure that your hierarchical setup is correct. You should have the correctly-spelled lookup name in the categories with hierarchical items box in preferences/look & feel/tag browser.


Be sure that the character separating the genres is really a period.

[speakingtohe]

I have always had it set up as in your pictures.
I only get the period when entering using the GUI dropdown as I said.
I do get the double plus on the sub items in the tag browser although I was expecting it for the top item and didn't check them(wrongly I guess).

Thanks for the reply.

Helen

[theducks]

Originally Posted by speakingtohe

I have always had it set up as in your pictures.
I only get the period when entering using the GUI dropdown as I said.
I do get the double plus on the sub items in the tag browser although I was expecting it for the top item and didn't check them(wrongly I guess).

Thanks for the reply.

Helen

To get the parent to show seperatly, there needs to be a parent only entry in the Library.

When I need to add a new sibling, I just pick one, the backspace to the dot and go from there.

[speakingtohe]

Originally Posted by theducks

To get the parent to show seperatly, there needs to be a parent only entry in the Library.

When I need to add a new sibling, I just pick one, the backspace to the dot and go from there.

Not understanding what you mean dammit.
I have no trouble with entering them. Usually I just type the first letter and select from the list. It all works fine. I was just curious about the double plus which I cannot get on the top level category called genre in the tag browser.

Again I don't need it, just curious.

Thanks for your reply

Helen

[theducks]

Originally Posted by speakingtohe

Not understanding what you mean dammit.
I have no trouble with entering them. Usually I just type the first letter and select from the list. It all works fine. I was just curious about the double plus which I cannot get on the top level category called genre in the tag browser.

Again I don't need it, just curious.

Thanks for your reply

Helen

OK I got confused.
Check the setting again: be sure there is NO spaces and only ASCII letters
See chaleys picture.

#genere should work (assuming #genere is the column)
The manual (and it is that field, as the example) says it works
http://manual.calibre-ebook.com/sub_groups.htm

[chaley]

Originally Posted by speakingtohe

Not understanding what you mean dammit.
I have no trouble with entering them. Usually I just type the first letter and select from the list. It all works fine. I was just curious about the double plus which I cannot get on the top level category called genre in the tag browser.

Again I don't need it, just curious.

Thanks for your reply

Helen

You won't see the double-plus on the outermost item in the tag browser (#genre). You see only the single plus. The count on the outermost item is the number of genres in your library. If you are partitioning, the count of the partition grouping also is the count of subitems in that partition. Yes, this is inconsistent (see below).

For any subitem after partitioning, the count is the number of books with that subitem. If the subitem has children than books with the children are counted too. If the same book appears more than once (is in the group defined by more than one child), it is counted only once.

The single green plus searches for items with exactly that subitem, and if the subitem has children will often find zero books. The double plus searches for items with that subitem or children of that subitem. The number of books found when searching using the double plus should equal the count of books shown for the item you click upon.

I can imagine that I am not being totally clear. There isn't a standard vocabulary, and even if there was it is late here and I probably wouldn't use it. Ask if I can clarify something.

[speakingtohe]

Originally Posted by theducks

OK I got confused.
Check the setting again: be sure there is NO spaces and only ASCII letters
See chaleys picture.

#genere should work (assuming #genere is the column)
The manual (and it is that field, as the example) says it works
http://manual.calibre-ebook.com/sub_groups.htm

Now I am more confused than you.

I have everything as in chaley's picture and have had it that way for a year or so. I have a column called genre (#genre) custom column
In the tag browser I have genre as top item after Identifiers. If I click on little arrow I get all the genres, some with little arrows indicating sub genres. If I click twice on little sub genre with sub genre I get two small plus. I don't think I would have all that if configured wrong.

I just don't get two plus (large or small) when I click twice on genre. Not even sure I should as chaley's picture didn't show that.

Hope I am not confusing you further

Helen

[speakingtohe]

Originally Posted by chaley

You won't see the double-plus on the outermost item in the tag browser (#genre). You see only the single plus. The count on the outermost item is the number of genres in your library. If you are partitioning, the count of the partition grouping also is the count of subitems in that partition. Yes, this is inconsistent (see below).

For any subitem after partitioning, the count is the number of books with that subitem. If the subitem has children than books with the children are counted too. If the same book appears more than once (is in the group defined by more than one child), it is counted only once.

The single green plus searches for items with exactly that subitem, and if the subitem has children will often find zero books. The double plus searches for items with that subitem or children of that subitem. The number of books found when searching using the double plus should equal the count of books shown for the item you click upon.

I can imagine that I am not being totally clear. There isn't a standard vocabulary, and even if there was it is late here and I probably wouldn't use it. Ask if I can clarify something.

Nah it is fine. I knew that already I think. I wasn't actually wanting help, just not wanting to be left out of the double plus club I guess.

You are going once again above and beyond. I wish to take this opportunity to thank you for all of the detailed help you have given me in many areas on many occasions. You are the bomb! that opens the brain for me.

Helen