Multi Icon Columns

[BetterRed]

The only thing I can find on the forum, is this post dated 9th Sep, 2013 Multiple icons in a column? where chaley wrote

There is no way to display multiple icons in a column using icon rules.

Then this feature was introduced

Release: 1.4 [20 Sep, 2013]

Column icons: Allow the use of multiple icons with column icon rules.

You can now have column icon rules display multiple icons in a single column, side by side. There are two ways to do this, either specify multiple icons when creating the rule, or create multiple rules that match the same book and specify the icon type to be 'composed' for every rule. See Preferences->Look & Feel->Column icons for details.

But I've never been able to figure out how they work. I've tried a few things but got nowhere with them. Is there anyone who can give me some examples of their practical use, with screen shots if possible.

I have a gut feeling I could use them. And I sometimes wonder if they might not be a solution to questions posed on the forum. But I won't suggest using them to others if I don't know how to use them myself

BR

[davidfor]

I have a column that shows the progress in a book pulled from my Kobo devices. I then use multiple icons to show more status. A tick for finished, a book for reading, a star if I want to rate it somewhere and a couple of other things. I think there can be five icons.

To do this, the icon rule has to be either "composed icons w/no text" or "composed icons with text". Two of the rules are:

Advanced Rule: set composed icons w/no text for column Kobo % Read:
<pre>program:
	test(
		or(
			cmp(field('#kobo_percentread'), 100, '', 'Y', 'Y'),
			str_in_list(field('#status'), ',', 'Finished', 'y', ''),
			field('#read')),
	'ok.png',
	'')

That puts the tick in the column if the book is 100% finished or a couple of other conditions (which I should remove). The column #status is populated by a reading list. It also means the value isn't displayed.

Advanced Rule: set composed icons w/text for column Kobo % Read
program:
	str_in_list(field('#status'), ',', 'toRate', 'rating.png', '')

Which puts a star in the column if the book is in the "To rate" list.

When I finish a book, I connect the device, fetch the status and put the book into the "to rate' list. The tick and the star are displayed with no text. When I move the book from the "to rate" list to the "Finished" list, the star disappears.

[chaley]

I can't speak for usefulness because I don't use them, but here are some rules I use for testing them. The rules for author compose a check for author count and some attributes of the book. The rules for the composite column compose checks for two particular formats. The advanced rule for author returns either a single icon or a pair of them. One of the rules for the composite column returns 3 icons.

The rule setup:


The results:

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by davidfor

I have a column that shows the progress in a book pulled from my Kobo devices. I then use multiple icons to show more ...

@davidfor - thanks, any chance of some screen shots - I have a hard time imagining what the result looks like in the book list based on code and description.

So where does this multi select icon list fits into the scheme of things



And is there any doco on this, I couldn't find anything in the manual - but that doesn't mean its not there

If anyone else uses multi-icon columns then they should feel free to chime in.

BR

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by chaley

I can't speak for usefulness because I don't use them, but here are some rules I use for testing them. The rules for author...

@chaley - ah-ah that's something I can digest - I think - and it tells me where the multi icon selector fits in - I think

I saw a remaindered book today, titled something like 'Why Proverbs Work Through the Ages' I nearly bought it. But I squandered thrice the price on Mantel's Assassination of Maggie.

Might go back 2mora and see if it has - 'a picture is worth a thousand words'.

- BR

[davidfor]

I think you got what you need from Chaley's post. But, here's a sample of what my column looks like:



I moved the status column next to the percent read for the screenshot. Normally it's out of view.

[BetterRed]

@davidfor - on more than the odd occasion even iconoclasts like me need some data visualisation

BR