Can't search TBR/Read Books

[Waylander]

Hi there,
When I search in the search bar in Calibre for all my read or TBR books to see how many there are of each, the search never shows my what I want, but just shows the part of the Library i'm looking at. What am i doing wrong and how can I fix this?

[eschwartz]

Sticky: Search is showing all books with some highlighted! How do I fix this?

[Waylander]

I have already done what that sticky advised, but the same thing still happens. Anything else I can try?

[eschwartz]

You are getting that problem, and the setting isn't fixing it?

[Waylander]

Yes, I have unckecked the setting in in preferences, but still get only a few highlighted books along with the rest of my library.

[itimpi]

Have you tried setting the option for the button to toggle highlight on/off to be visible in the GUI (it appears after the search bar). That way you can easily switch the option on/off without going into preferences.

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by Waylander

Yes, I have unckecked the setting in in preferences, but still get only a few highlighted books along with the rest of my library.

After you uncheck the box you have to hit apply otherwise the box will remain checked. Did you go back in and verify that the box is unchecked?

[Waylander]

I have unchecked the right setting, hit apply and it still doesn't work. What else should I do? Thanks for the tips so far.

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by Waylander

I have unchecked the right setting, hit apply and it still doesn't work. What else should I do? Thanks for the tips so far.

Give itimpi's suggestion in post 6 a try and put the toggle button on the search bar so you can toggle it manually. It should work.

[chaley]

Something isn't being communicated well. Perhaps you are using an incorrect search expression, perhaps you haven't found the button that others have pointed you toward, or perhaps something else is going on.

The image below shows approximately what you should see, assuming your TBR column is a Yes/No column. The button pointed at on the right should be there if you have changed the search preferences. The search expression should contain the lookup name of your TBR column; mine is #cbhread. The value shown in the spreadsheet should equal the value in the search expression; in this case "yes" is the checked value.


Could you post an equivalent screen shot of what you are seeing?

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by chaley

Something isn't being communicated well...

@chaley - slightly

Would it be possible to reinstate the three blue bars button as a permanent feature of the search bar, but one that only gets displayed when there is an active search in effect. I'm thinking of what is done with the Close VL button - ie its only there when a VL has been selected.

If the button was only present when it was relevant, then users would not be able to inadvertently click on it when there was no active search - which I believe was the original problem.

BR

[chaley]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

@chaley - slightly

Would it be possible to reinstate the three blue bars button as a permanent feature of the search bar, but one that only gets displayed when there is an active search in effect. I'm thinking of what is done with the Close VL button - ie its only there when a VL has been selected.

If the button was only present when it was relevant, then users would not be able to inadvertently click on it when there was no active search - which I believe was the original problem.

BR

This is a damned if you do and damned of you don't sort of thing. There have been many times that I wish I hadn't built this feature.

The button was removed because people clicked on it and forgot, or perhaps didn't even know that they clicked on something. Lots of people. Bug report after bug report. That won't change if the button is there part time. In fact it might get worse. Does the button show when find duplicates sets the mode? Does it show if the preference is set? It seems that any choice we make will leave the opportunity for confusion.

I might be able to accept the case for showing the button if the mode is set, but I am not sure. The question will then become "why does this button come and go, and what does it do that?" Is this better than what we have now? Is it change for changes sake? And in any event, Kovid has the last word.

[BetterRed]

@chaley - I was thinking there wouldn't be any preferences relating to the button and there would be a simple rule

If the search box is empty then don't show the button.

Or to put it the other way, it would be shown irrespective of how the search was initiated - Mark Books, Find Duplicates, Reading List, Quality Check, Advanced Search, Saved Search, Tag Browser... or typing a search term into the box.

2 - always show the button, but ignore any clicks on it if the search box is empty, would that not eliminate most of the 'inadvertent' clicking? But then some users would complain that that couldn't set it before they did their search Ψ²

3 - combine the various search related buttons into a single button (Search options) with a drop down menu - like the Alter Tag Browser button

I've tried to think of something 'better' than three bars and an optional red slash, but I'm no good at that sort of thing. Maybe someone could come up with an 'better' button design

Anyway, I don't want to prolong the discussion, as you say it is vexed. I just wanted to jot down some ideas that have been rattling around in my head

BR