New action to save & restore GUI pane layouts

[chaley]

I added the ability to save and restore the GUI pane layout, including Narrow/Wide, what panes show, the pane sizes, and where supported by base calibre the pane positions. The new operations are added to the existing "Layout actions".

Notes:

• You can assign a keyboard shortcut to open the Layout actions menu.
• With the Action chains plugin you can assign shortcuts to specific menu actions such as restoring a layout.
• I included an API for plugin writers to use to save/restore/delete layouts (View manager?). The API methods are documented in calibre.gui2.actions.layout_actions.py.
  
  Spoiler:

      # Public API
      def apply_layout(self, name):
          '''apply_layout()
          Apply a saved GUI panel layout.
  
          :param:`name` The name of the saved layout
  
           Throws KeyError if the name doesn't exist.
          '''
  
      def save_current_layout(self):
          '''save_current_layout()
          Opens a dialog asking for the name to use to save the current layout.
          Saves the current settings under the provided name.
          '''
  
      def current_settings(self):
          '''current_settings()
  
          :return: the current gui layout settings.
          '''
  
      def save_named_layout(self, name, settings):
          '''save_named_layout()
          Saves the settings under the provided name.
  
          :param:`name` The name for the settings.
          :param:`settings`: The gui layout settings to save.
          '''
  
      def delete_layout(self, name, show_warning=True):
          '''delete_layout()
          Delete a saved layout.
  
          :param:`name` The name of the layout to delete
          :param:`show_warning`: If True a warning dialog will be shown before deleting the layout.
          '''
  
      def saved_layout_names(self):
          '''saved_layout_names()
          Get a list of saved layout names
  
          :return: the sorted list of names. The list is empty if there are no names.
          '''

  
  This python template is a small example.
  
  Spoiler:

  python:
  def evaluate(book, context):
  	from calibre.gui2.ui import get_gui
  	gui = get_gui()
  
  	api = gui.iactions['Layout Actions'] # Note the capitalization.
  	settings = api.current_settings()
  	print(settings)
  	names = api.saved_layout_names()
  	print(names)
  	api.apply_layout('Normal')
  	return ', '.join(names)

• While there I added toggling panes to the existing abilities to show and hide panes. All the pane visibility actions are visible in Action chains.
• The changes are in calibre source and will be included in the next calibre release.

[Comfy.n]

looks awesome, thank you!

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by chaley

I added the ability to save and restore the GUI pane layout, including Narrow/Wide, what panes show, the pane sizes, and where supported by base calibre the pane positions. The new operations are added to the existing "Layout actions".

Suggestions:

1. A setting in Preferences to nominate a Layout to be used at startup or library open - default would be none… i.e. reinstate what was there when calibre was closed. Analogue of the setting for startup/library-open VL.
   
2. Probably a big ask: Could window sizes be added?

BR

[chaley]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

Suggestions:

• A setting in Preferences to nominate a Layout to be used at startup or library open - default would be none… i.e. reinstate what was there when calibre was closed. Analogue of the setting for startup/library-open VL.

That would be a big step down the slippery slope of incorporating the View Manager into base calibre. The request to save column display, order, and width would very reasonably be next. Neither I nor @kovid wanted to go there, so we agreed on an "action" implementation to provide a base level of functionality while making an API available for plugins. Of course, @kiwidude might also not want to incorporate this stuff into the VM. Up to him.

• Probably a big ask: Could window sizes be added?

They 'can', but I won't do it. I don't want to get stuck in the quagmire of dealing with window placement on monitors that may or may not be there, with window sizes that may or may not fit. The pane sizes are expressed as fractions of window size, so manually adjusting the window will automatically adjust the layout.

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by chaley

That would be a big step down the slippery slope of incorporating the View Manager into base calibre. The request to save column display, order, and width would very reasonably be next. Neither I nor @kovid wanted to go there, so we agreed on an "action" implementation to provide a base level of functionality while making an API available for plugins. Of course, @kiwidude might also not want to incorporate this stuff into the VM. Up to him.

The VL to use at startup/library-open is in Preferences->Behaviour:



BR

[chaley]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

The VL to use at startup/library-open is in Preferences->Behaviour:

Attachment 206378

BR

I considered removing that option when the VM appeared and matured but decided breaking things for "correctness" wasn't the best idea. As I said, I'm not going further down that road.

[Comfy.n]

The other day I was thinking that many plugins like VM, Favourites Menu, Walk Search History, probably others, could be incorporated into Calibre. But then the plugin authors might, understandably, not like this. Or they might think "Phew, one less to maintain!"

[chaley]

Originally Posted by Comfy.n

The other day I was thinking that many plugins like VM, Favourites Menu, Walk Search History, probably others, could be incorporated into Calibre. But then the plugin authors might, understandably, not like this. Or they might think "Phew, one less to maintain!"

The problem is that once these things are in base calibre, @kovid or someone like me must maintain them. That would increase his already nearly crushing workload of keeping calibre "as is" running on multiple OS with dependencies having all of increased complexity, frequent changes, and being flat-out broken. The catalog and store stuff are good examples of what can happen if code is incorporated into base calibre then the developer goes away. Another example and more personal, he must keep in mind that my work could present the same problem not all that far in the future.

Of course popular plugins can have the same problem. I think it is easier for someone else to pick these up than to have someone hacking inside base calibre, breaking things for everyone. For sure, @kovid doesn't need to review plugin code as he must do with base calibre code.

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by chaley

I considered removing that option when the VM appeared and matured but decided breaking things for "correctness" wasn't the best idea. As I said, I'm not going further down that road.

Of the dozen or so calibre users in the local library reading group I 'lead', at least half use the setting in Prefs->Behaviour to start calibre in their "Current" VL. They wouldn't have been impressed if they'd been forced to install VM just for that.

BTW: if the Sort by tool had Save/Load/Delete actions I would probably remove VM from my system. I don't make as much use of the variable column layout feature as I once did and I've never used its VL/Saved-search/Split-columns features.

BR

[chaley]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

BTW: if the Sort by tool had Save/Load/Delete actions I would probably remove VM from my system. I don't make as much use of the variable column layout feature as I once did and I've never used its VL/Saved-search/Split-columns features.

BR

I am confused. The "Sort by" action does have Save/Load/Delete, although expressed differently. The menu option "Sort on multiple columns" offers you the ability to give a sort a name, save it, or delete other sorts.

[BetterRed]

oops, I bet that's always been been there. I looked for something like you've just added for Layout actions - options in the action menu.

However, there's one feature in VM I wouldn't want to lose:

The Re-apply current view action, which puts columns back where they were after they are moved manually… which is something I do quite often.

Perhaps of something similar were incorporated into the Header context menu I could remove VM. It would restore the sequence of columns as specified in the Add your own columns list… widths?

BR

[chaley]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

However, there's one feature in VM I wouldn't want to lose:

The Re-apply current view action, which puts columns back where they were after they are moved manually… which is something I do quite often.

Perhaps of something similar were incorporated into the Header context menu I could remove VM. It would restore the sequence of columns as specified in the Add your own columns list… widths?

BR

If it already exists and works in VM, why should we replace it? IMO your arguments strengthen the position that putting all of this together in one place is best, and given that the VM already has most of it then that is the best one place. After all, "Least is best".

[capink]

The API will be useful as an a complementary action in Action Chains. I will add it later when I have the time. The goal is to have multiple atomic actions that can modify aspects of the GUI and can be combined in a single chain, to be invoked either on demand or in response to events.

I currently have a custom multi-sort action that needs some polishing before I add it to the plugin, and I may add some other actions e.g. virtual libraries ... etc.