[GUI Plugin] Multi-Column Search

[DaltonST]

@enkirkby:

Are you saying that you have a Custom Column with a user-friendly name of "Original_name" that has a "Search/Lookup Name" of "#original_title"? Why isn't the name "Original Title"? Or is the name really "#original_name"?

Please post a screen snip of your Calibre > Preferences > Add Your Own Columns > Edit Settings for your "#original_title" column. I need to see what kind of Custom Column it is (TEXT or COMMENT). It must be identical to the type that "title" is, TEXT. If not, and it is a COMMENT type, it may have HTML tags in it, and will never be identical to pure text. In that case, you need to create a new TEXT version, and use that instead.

In the meantime, test using an Operator of "contains" instead of "=". That might work if the value is contiguous (not separated by any HTML tags).

[EDIT:] But "SWAP" the right side of your parameters "vertically" so the question is: "Is title contained in #original_title", not the reverse.


DaltonST

[enkirkby]

See my setting of custom column in attached picture.
When I changed "=" to "contains", the search produced just one result, the book where the title is equal to #original_title.
When I swap right side vertically, search will produce the same as in reverse order.

[Image violates Posting Guidelines for size - MODERATOR]

Originally Posted by DaltonST

@enkirkby:

Are you saying that you have a Custom Column with a user-friendly name of "Original_name" that has a "Search/Lookup Name" of "#original_title"? Why isn't the name "Original Title"? Or is the name really "#original_name"?

Please post a screen snip of your Calibre > Preferences > Add Your Own Columns > Edit Settings for your "#original_title" column. I need to see what kind of Custom Column it is (TEXT or COMMENT). It must be identical to the type that "title" is, TEXT. If not, and it is a COMMENT type, it may have HTML tags in it, and will never be identical to pure text. In that case, you need to create a new TEXT version, and use that instead.

In the meantime, test using an Operator of "contains" instead of "=". That might work if the value is contiguous (not separated by any HTML tags).

[EDIT:] But "SWAP" the right side of your parameters "vertically" so the question is: "Is title contained in #original_title", not the reverse.


DaltonST

[DaltonST]

@enkirkby:

You said:

I want to find all books which has the same author

MCS is for comparing different columns (standard or custom). It can also compare columns to text values (e.g. Jules Verne). It cannot "find all books that have the same author", unless you specify the author's name (e.g. Jules Verne).

Standard Calibre has functionality to "find all books that have the same author".

MCS does what Standard Calibre cannot do.

You should SWAP "sideways", putting your Title parameters on the left. Then, change the middle boolean logic operator to "inactive". That means "inactive for this search; disregard it; just use the parameters on the left side".

Simplifying your parameters may solve your problem.


DaltonST

[DaltonST]

It produces the same result swapped vertically because (now we know) your custom column is TEXT, not COMMENT. The purpose of the swap was to compensate for it being COMMENT. No need to swap vertically if is TEXT.

See my other post about swapping horizontally, and inactivating the author = author side.

[DaltonST]

@enkirkby:

You are trying to find a book that has a Title = Custom Column Value of Another Book.

MCS looks at one (1) book at a time. MCS compares columns for a single book to other columns within that same, single book.

It does not compare every column for every book to the same column for every other book in the library.

I guess I could add major new functionality to MCS to do what you are asking, but it will be October until I can even think about it.



DaltonST

[enkirkby]

Jules Verne is just an example. I have many books translated and also in original language. So I can't specify the author by name.
So I want to display all books which has the same author and same #original_title. The author is crucial for comparison, as the same title/#original_title can have multiple authors. So I will filter out all books for which I have translation.

Example or returned result:
Author ------------------ Name ------------------------- #original_title
Jules Verne ---- Five weeks in ballon -------------- Cinq semaines en ballon
Jules Verne ---- Cinq semaines en ballon --------- Cinq semaines en ballon
Victor Hugo ---- Notre-Dame de Paris --------------- Notre-Dame de Paris
Victor Hugo ---- The Hunchback of Notre-Dame ---- Notre-Dame de Paris

Originally Posted by DaltonST

@enkirkby:

You said:


MCS is for comparing different columns (standard or custom). It can also compare columns to text values (e.g. Jules Verne). It cannot "find all books that have the same author", unless you specify the author's name (e.g. Jules Verne).

Standard Calibre has functionality to "find all books that have the same author".

MCS does what Standard Calibre cannot do.

You should SWAP "sideways", putting your Title parameters on the left. Then, change the middle boolean logic operator to "inactive". That means "inactive for this search; disregard it; just use the parameters on the left side".

Simplifying your parameters may solve your problem.


DaltonST

[DaltonST]

@enkirkby:

You are trying to find a book that has a Title = Custom Column Value of Another Book.

MCS looks at one (1) book at a time. MCS compares columns for a single book to other columns within that same, single book.

It does not compare every column for every book to the same column for every other book in the library.


DaltonST

[enkirkby]

You hit the head of nail. :-)
I thought that this functionality is implemented and MCS can do the work.
As I know we all have many other important things to do, this is not what I must have. But if you find it useful for others and consider to add this functionality in the future relases, it would be great.
Many thanx for your time and helping hand.
EKB

Originally Posted by DaltonST

@enkirkby:

You are trying to find a book that has a Title = Custom Column Value of Another Book.

MCS looks at one (1) book at a time. MCS compares columns for a single book to other columns within that same, single book.

It does not compare every column for every book to the same column for every other book in the library.

I guess I could add major new functionality to MCS to do what you are asking, but it will be October until I can even think about it.



DaltonST

[Dr. Drib]

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enkirkby
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[DaltonST]

If you have specified one of your Regular Expressions to be used as a search criterion, and nothing is being found, and you 'know' there should be something found, it may be due to a Regular Expression compile error.

MCS just 'ignores' regex compile errors, and moves on, returning nothing.

MCS assumes that you have previously tested your regexes before trying to use them.

To easily test your Regular Expressions, go to https://pythex.org/ and test them there. If one is invalid, you will receive an error message. You could then tune it until it works for you, then copy and paste it back into the MCS Regular Expressions Settings Tab.

Another testing resource to use is: https://regex101.com/#python.



DaltonST

[DaltonST]

Originally Posted by enkirkby

You hit the head of nail. :-)
I thought that this functionality is implemented and MCS can do the work.
As I know we all have many other important things to do, this is not what I must have. But if you find it useful for others and consider to add this functionality in the future relases, it would be great.
Many thanx for your time and helping hand.
EKB

@enkirkby:

Please review the attached image, and tell me whether or not this is exactly what you were looking for.

Note the new "Inter-Book Search" checkbox.

"Inter-Book" means "Cross-Book" or "Across All Other Books" in this specific context.

The current (original) version of MCS implicitly does only "intra-book" searches, meaning that it compares a single book's columns directly to each other. It processes a single book at a time, then moves on to the next book.

The upcoming release will default to intra-book searches, changing to inter-book searches only when the new checkbox is checked.

When the checkbox is checked, the MCS Search Dialog automatically reconfigures itself (slightly) for inter-book searches. You will notice the descriptions in blue are different than for intra-book searches, because the interpretation of those fields changes when inter-book searches are desired.



DaltonST

[enkirkby]

Originally Posted by DaltonST

@enkirkby:

Please review the attached image, and tell me whether or not this is exactly what you were looking for.

Note the new "Inter-Book Search" checkbox.

"Inter-Book" means "Cross-Book" or "Across All Other Books" in this specific context.

The current (original) version of MCS implicitly does only "intra-book" searches, meaning that it compares a single book's columns directly to each other. It processes a single book at a time, then moves on to the next book.

The upcoming release will default to intra-book searches, changing to inter-book searches only when the new checkbox is checked.

When the checkbox is checked, the MCS Search Dialog automatically reconfigures itself (slightly) for inter-book searches. You will notice the descriptions in blue are different than for intra-book searches, because the interpretation of those fields changes when inter-book searches are desired.



DaltonST

Hello DaltonST,

that looks to be exactly what I was looking for. Can't wait to try it :-) What to say - marvelous ! Many thanx.

[DaltonST]

Version 1.0.18 - 09 November 2015 Major enhancement to support the Post-Search updating of a single Custom Column for books that are both 'Marked' and 'Selected'.

A new "Post-Search Actions" Tab allows highly selective updating of a Custom Column for some or all of the books that are currently "marked:true" by MCS after it returns search results. "Some or all" refers to the requirement that the books must also be manually selected to be considered for changing. So, a book must be both 'Marked' and 'Selected'.

This new functionality is a logical extension of the new-ish "Inter-Book Search" capability, although it also is useful with "Intra-Book Searches".

Page 5 of the revised User Guide provides more detailed information and images.



DaltonST

[mirikbb]

Custom column update doesn't work to me :-(

Step1
As suggested, I have custom column original_title, where is original title of each book. I search in scope of all books where author is the same and #original_title.
The search produce what I was looking for. So far so good.

Step2
I have series like custom column Translation (#translation), to have possibility store Author name and index for books with translations.
So for example if duplicate search found Michael Crichton - Airframe and Michael Crichton - Drak as search result books, I can't get #translation custom column for both found books set to Crichton Michael with index 1 (for both book the same index).

I can pick up #translation custom column from drop down menu but once it is selected, the button "apply selected changes" disappear.

Why to have setup like that:
- series like column Translation will display in Tag browser
- the topics in Translation tag browser will be grouped by first letter
- same series index for the same books will logically put them together

How it could look like: http://s7.postimg.org/9uad7cuaj/mcs.jpg

[DaltonST]

Originally Posted by mirikbb

I can pick up #translation custom column from drop down menu but once it is selected, the button "apply selected changes" disappear.

@mirikbb:

The pushbutton "Apply Specified Changes [Selected and Marked Books Only]" disappears when you are trying to commingle incompatible data types. That is 'by design'.

You will note the "Target Column Data Type" just below the "Target Column" drop-down list, and "Source Column Data Type" beneath the "Source Column" drop-down list.

In your example, one is "text" and the other is "series". They are different, so the pushbutton "Apply Specified Changes [Selected and Marked Books Only]" disappears to keep you from using it. That is 'by design'.

You will note that if one is, for example, "integer" and the other is anything else except "integer", the pushbutton also disappears.

The only Data Types that MCS will allow you to commingle are Text and Comments. The pushbutton will not disappear for that combination. That too is 'by design'.

"Serieslike" metadata is comprised of 2 different values that are combined dynamically on the GUI for you to see, but are stored separately. You should use the Standard Calibre tools 'Search & Replace' and/or 'Edit Metadata', and not MCS, to do what you are trying to do.


DaltonST