Column related according to the State column

[dunhill]

Hello people, I have a State column where I put if the book was read, I am reading it or if it is next to read.
I would like to have a column that if the state is reading, put the date of the day as the reading start date, and if it was read, put the date as the reading end.
They could guide me. I already have the State column, what syntax should I use in the columns of Start date and end date ????
From already thank you very much.

[BetterRed]

You will need two Date custom columns, #start/Start and #end/End - but you probably know that. Off hand I can't think of a way to automate updating those columns with current date on change of #state/State, other than writing your own plugin.

FWIW: this is what I'd probably do:

I would position Start, State and End as three adjacent columns in the book list.

• When I added a book I would set State to Unread.
• When I started a Book I'd press F2 on Start, press '=' to get today's date, Tab into State, select Started, and press Enter.
• When I finished a book I'd press F2 on State, selected Finished, Tab into End, press '=' to get today's date and press Enter

Note: I do all metadata editing in the book list and I avoid using the mouse, so the above fits into my usage of calibre. If you prefer using the Metadata Edit windows and clicking things with the mouse the above may not suit.

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Added: Maybe you don't need a State column, you could use Rules based on the two dates to set a column icon (or colour) - roughly

• If Start and End are not set, then set icon to transparent.png,
• If Start is set and End is not set, then set icon to open-book.png,
• If Start is set and End is set, then set icon to closed-book.png,
• If Start is not set and End is set, then set icon to question-mark.png.

I prefer icons to colours, as it's easier to figure out what they mean. You'll have to download icons - Browse Icon Packs

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But you won't get anything in tag browser if you use column icons/colours for the different States. You could create a Saved Search for each combination of Start and End set and not set, they will appear in the Tag Browser.

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Or maybe you could make State a column based on other columns and set it in an Advanced template that interrogates the start and end dates. See User-defined template functions

BR

[dunhill]

BetterRed
Thank you very much for the prompt response and clarity in the explanations. I have friends who recommend the use of Caliber and these are your doubts.

https://ibb.co/YpNMfhv

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by dunhill

BetterRed
Thank you very much for the prompt response and clarity in the explanations. I have friends who recommend the use of Caliber and these are your doubts.

https://ibb.co/YpNMfhv

Yeah, that's using calibre's column colouring feature - my brain isn't very good at associating colours with a semantic states - apart from the state of my bank balance

Here's a sample of calibre's column icons feature from my test library



BR

[dunhill]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

Yeah, that's using calibre's column colouring feature - my brain isn't very good at associating colours with a semantic states - apart from the state of my bank balance

Here's a sample of calibre's column icons feature from my test library

Attachment 168238

BR

BetterRed here I leave you how to do it.

To begin we must go to the preferences button (it is in the top toolbar when it is displayed by pressing the arrows at the top right).
The next thing is to go to visual aspect.
And inside the colored tab of column you give to add rule.
-it dark green if the LEED value appears in the status column.
-it red title if the PROXIMA READURA value appears in the status column.
-Blue title and in the status column the value READING appears.
-author color chocolate if in the comments column appears the value Bibliografia completa.
Very important, do not forget to accept or do not keep it. And of course the green button to apply that in the image above is clearly seen. In the event that the rule created is not to your liking or does not work, you can modify it by pressing twice on it.
Considerations to take into account. When rules are created they are valid for the library in which they are created.
Well, I'm satisfied that at least it's useful to someone.

a greeting.