Help with search query; excluding books with a single format

ownedbycats · 10-05-2018, 04:06 PM

Hi. I've been lurking here for a little while and been a happy user of Calibre since 2013 but only just now registered. I've started using Calibre to catalog my physical books (couldn't find a satisfactory solution for a while, thought "I wish there was something like Calibre for paper books...wait..."), using dummy.paperbook files so they appear in the format category.

I've created a virtual library for the physical books, using the search query "formats:#=1 and formats : paperbook" for the Paper Books sublibrary.

The problem, though, lies in the default virtual library (which already excludes a specific tag). I'd like to exclude books that have only a paperbook format. A simple "not formats : paperbook" doesn't work as I have books with both physical and digital formats that I do want to appear. Can't quite figure out how to accomplish this.
Things I've tried:
"formats : paperbook AND formats:epub" for each different format - rather unwieldy
"formats : paperbook AND formats:#=2" only works for books with two formats
(both of those resulted in every other book getting excluded as well)

I hope someone here may be able to help with this.

fidvo · 10-05-2018, 04:40 PM

This is just a guess, but try this:

not formats:#=1 or not formats : paperbook

If I remember my rules of logic correctly, this is the equivalent of wrapping a "not" around your physical books filter. Any book that doesn't have a paperbook format, as well as any book that has multiple formats, will pass. Therefore, it will only exclude those that have a single format that's paperbook.

ownedbycats · 10-05-2018, 04:45 PM

I tried that. It works perfectly. Thank you so much.

EDIT: It broke my previous tag restriction, but I got around that by adding your query as a saved search and using the Additional Restrictions.

ownedbycats · 10-11-2018, 08:23 PM

Okay, sorry for bumping this, but I noticed that every time I launch Calibre, the additional restriction gets reset.

So is there either a way to make the additional restrictions persist, or a way to make this work?

not tags:"=.Fanfiction" and/or not formats:#=1 or not formats : paperbook

I've tried both and and or and in both cases the stuff tagged as Fanfiction continues to appear.

theducks · 10-11-2018, 08:46 PM

formats is an EBOOK format (from the pulldown in the MDE).
in addition the 2 Logical: true and false
and the count

'paperback' would be a tag

ownedbycats · 10-11-2018, 09:25 PM

I actually figured it out between posting it and returning here. I just had to use parentheses, as such:

(not tags:"=.Fanfiction") and (not formats:#=1 or not formats : paperbook)

I'm a little slow, I'm afraid.

10-05-2018, 04:06 PM	#1
ownedbycats Custom User Title Posts: 8,539 Karma: 61120499 Join Date: Oct 2018 Location: Canada Device: Kobo Libra H2O, formerly Aura HD	Help with search query; excluding books with a single format Hi. I've been lurking here for a little while and been a happy user of Calibre since 2013 but only just now registered. I've started using Calibre to catalog my physical books (couldn't find a satisfactory solution for a while, thought "I wish there was something like Calibre for paper books...wait..."), using dummy.paperbook files so they appear in the format category. I've created a virtual library for the physical books, using the search query "formats:#=1 and formats : paperbook" for the Paper Books sublibrary. The problem, though, lies in the default virtual library (which already excludes a specific tag). I'd like to exclude books that have only a paperbook format. A simple "not formats : paperbook" doesn't work as I have books with both physical and digital formats that I do want to appear. Can't quite figure out how to accomplish this. Things I've tried: "formats : paperbook AND formats:epub" for each different format - rather unwieldy "formats : paperbook AND formats:#=2" only works for books with two formats (both of those resulted in every other book getting excluded as well) I hope someone here may be able to help with this. Last edited by ownedbycats; 10-05-2018 at 04:27 PM.

10-05-2018, 04:45 PM	#3
ownedbycats Custom User Title Posts: 8,539 Karma: 61120499 Join Date: Oct 2018 Location: Canada Device: Kobo Libra H2O, formerly Aura HD	I tried that. It works perfectly. Thank you so much. EDIT: It broke my previous tag restriction, but I got around that by adding your query as a saved search and using the Additional Restrictions. Last edited by ownedbycats; 10-05-2018 at 05:12 PM.

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10-05-2018, 04:40 PM	#2
fidvo Addict Posts: 296 Karma: 1599870 Join Date: Jun 2012 Device: none	This is just a guess, but try this: not formats:#=1 or not formats : paperbook If I remember my rules of logic correctly, this is the equivalent of wrapping a "not" around your physical books filter. Any book that doesn't have a paperbook format, as well as any book that has multiple formats, will pass. Therefore, it will only exclude those that have a single format that's paperbook.

10-11-2018, 08:23 PM	#4
ownedbycats Custom User Title Posts: 8,539 Karma: 61120499 Join Date: Oct 2018 Location: Canada Device: Kobo Libra H2O, formerly Aura HD	Okay, sorry for bumping this, but I noticed that every time I launch Calibre, the additional restriction gets reset. So is there either a way to make the additional restrictions persist, or a way to make this work? not tags:"=.Fanfiction" and/or not formats:#=1 or not formats : paperbook I've tried both and and or and in both cases the stuff tagged as Fanfiction continues to appear.

10-11-2018, 08:46 PM	#5
theducks Well trained by Cats Posts: 29,763 Karma: 54401244 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: The Central Coast of California Device: Kobo Libra2,Kobo Aura2v1, K4NT(Fixed: New Bat.), Galaxy Tab A	formats is an EBOOK format (from the pulldown in the MDE). in addition the 2 Logical: true and false and the count 'paperback' would be a tag

10-11-2018, 09:25 PM	#6
ownedbycats Custom User Title Posts: 8,539 Karma: 61120499 Join Date: Oct 2018 Location: Canada Device: Kobo Libra H2O, formerly Aura HD	I actually figured it out between posting it and returning here. I just had to use parentheses, as such: (not tags:"=.Fanfiction") and (not formats:#=1 or not formats : paperbook) I'm a little slow, I'm afraid.