Tag Browser - Multi-Selecting - Limiting choices

[macnab69]

Here I am referring to within the Tag Browser itself, and not the displayed results.

In Authors I select Agatha Christie.

I then go to Series. There I only want to see Hercules Poirot, Miss Marple, etc. I don't want to see Inspector Morse because Agatha Christie didn't write them.

If I got to Tags I don't want to see Horror, because I haven't tagged any of her books as Horror.

[At_Libitum]

coincidence, can't be anything else

ctrl-select and read this post

[macnab69]

That changes the results to AND instead of OR. I'm talking about the Tag Browser pane visible choices, NOT the results.

[theducks]

Originally Posted by macnab69

That changes the results to AND instead of OR. I'm talking about the Tag Browser pane visible choices, NOT the results.

Make it into a FILTER.

With the filter in effect, the tag browser reflects the filtered results

[macnab69]

I've been looking around and I must confess I do not know what you mean.

[theducks]

Originally Posted by macnab69

I've been looking around and I must confess I do not know what you mean.

Filters are Saved searches
The advantage of a Filter
is now you can do a (new) Search, but it only applies to what you currently see in the spreadsheet


But, in your Agatha case
All you need to do is
1)Set the Alter Tag browser (at the bottom of Tags) to Match All of the items
2) Click Agatha C in Authors (Green +)
3(hold down Ctrl) Click Inspector Morse (in Series) Twice (red Minus)

Presto every A C book EXCEPT

[macnab69]

Actually, what I was looking for is achieved by doing this:
Select Author: Agatha Christie
Create Virtual Library with *current search. This automatically selects the VL.
Now the Tag Browser shows only relevant items.
Can now select something else and create a new Virtual Library.
And so on.

I was just looking for the same effect without using Virtual Libraries. But seeing as they take microseconds to create, why not do it that way.

[BetterRed]

Interesting, the main reason I shun Virtual Libraries is because they restrict what categories and values I can see in the Tag browser.

Different strokes...

BR

[macnab69]

Virtual Libraries are used when you want to restrict. As in my idea.

But if you want a wider search, set Tag Browser to Match any. Create VL based on *current search. Then, in the VL, be more specific.

Of course, to show/use it to the best, you need an enormous number of books, with a LOT of tags. If you are British think British Library, if you are American think Library of Congress.

Then, use the following, in any order/combination/repetition:
Match any
Match all
Single-select
Multi-select
Create Virtual Library from *current search.

It might take years of training to get the combination correct if you work at a national library, but the possibilities are endless...

[BetterRed]

@macnab69 - your succinctly put post on why VL's suit your needs, made me realise that it also expressed why I don't use them. But that in no way invalidates your use of them, which as far as I can determine is exactly what they were intended to be used for.

Simple example - my current VL is all my books about beetles, I add a new book about carabids, I open 'N' in the Tags category in the Tag Browser, but I can't drag the book to "Nocturnal" because this is my first book about nocturnal beetles, so I have to...

If there's a way to avert that behaviour then maybe someone will tell me about it.

Begs the question - would I use them if they only restricted what books one could see in the spreadsheet but not what categories one could see in the Tag Browser - I dunno.

If I had a choice I'd prefer to have support for controlled vocabularies, or Quickviews of entities outside the scope of what I'm currently looking at, or a multi user system, or direct linking of books, or support for multiple instances of the same file type in book folders, or Hyper Libraries than span multiple physical libraries...

I only use a subset of the the panoply of Calibre features, I suspect that's true of most of 3.5 million active users.

BR

[macnab69]

but I can't drag the book to "Nocturnal" because this is my first book about nocturnal beetles

Create Nocturnal first, then you can drag and drop it. Or just type the word Nocturnal into the correct column.

[BetterRed]

@macnab69 Nocturnal exists, but to date I've only applied it to rat and owl books. I don't have tags in the spreadsheet, so I'd have to go into the metadata editor and select Nocturnal there. If I could invoke the tag selector from the spreadsheet, similar to how I can edit custom comments from there, that'd be good.

Just because something exists doesn't mean everyone has to use it. I'm quite happy to not use VL's. As I said before, even if the restriction to the Tag browser could be tweaked off I'm not sure I would use them. If the developers are running out of things to do - see my previous post :lol:

BTW - this thread https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=210240 provides a lot of background on the why's and hows of VL,s

BR

[macnab69]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

@macnab69 Nocturnal exists, but to date I've only applied it to rat and owl books.

So where is it? I understand that you might not want to apply it to just any book, buy can't you make it availble?

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by macnab69

So where is it? I understand that you might not want to apply it to just any book, buy can't you make it availble?

Yes by going into the metadata editor and using the Tag Selector to assign Nocturnal to the Carabid book. Then it will be available when I get a cockroach book. The Metadata Editor is my least favourite part of calibre - you could even say its my bête noir.

The Tag browser visibility issue is one reason I don't use VL's, another is that some PI's haven't been bought up to scratch with VL's. But the main reason I don't use them is that I don't suffer any loss from not using them.

BR

[speakingtohe]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

@macnab69 - your succinctly put post on why VL's suit your needs, made me realise that it also expressed why I don't use them. But that in no way invalidates your use of them, which as far as I can determine is exactly what they were intended to be used for.

Simple example - my current VL is all my books about beetles, I add a new book about carabids, I open 'N' in the Tags category in the Tag Browser, but I can't drag the book to "Nocturnal" because this is my first book about nocturnal beetles, so I have to...

If there's a way to avert that behaviour then maybe someone will tell me about it.

Begs the question - would I use them if they only restricted what books one could see in the spreadsheet but not what categories one could see in the Tag Browser - I dunno.

If I had a choice I'd prefer to have support for controlled vocabularies, or Quickviews of entities outside the scope of what I'm currently looking at, or a multi user system, or direct linking of books, or support for multiple instances of the same file type in book folders, or Hyper Libraries than span multiple physical libraries...

I only use a subset of the the panoply of Calibre features, I suspect that's true of most of 3.5 million active users.

BR

If you display your virtual library as tabs it might solve the problem. The first tab is all books. If your virtual library is based on beetles and you select a book, that book is also in the All Books tab. Clicking the All Books tab gives you the full tag browser capabilities with the currently selected book still selected. You can then drag and drop or whatever.

Then you can click the tab to go back to beetles with your previous location being the same.

Helen