save expanded tags on exit or some other way

[garberw]

on the left of the calibre window is a list of tags (Authors; Languages; Series; ...). they have little triangles pointing to the right. when you click on the triangle the tag expands to show tags subsidiary to that tag (subcategories).
those have further subcategories/tags.

THE QUESTION: is there some way to set a default for which tags are expanded. For example when you exit calibre and restart it could calibre
return to the previous state?

If this is not already possible could someone please add it?
or give me a hint how to do it myself?
thank you :-)

[kovidgoyal]

IIRC there is nothing in base calibre to do this. Though check the view manager plugin it might allow you to do it already or if not, is probably the right place to add such functionality.

Things lie the current search and virtual library and tag browser state are deliberately not restored in base calibre.

[jtmart]

Thanks Kovid, out of curiosity I checked out the (otherwise terrific) "View Manager" plugin but I could not find a way to automatically expand the tags in "Tag Browser"...@kiwidude can you confirm?

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by jtmart

Thanks Kovid, out of curiosity I checked out the (otherwise terrific) "View Manager" plugin but I could not find a way to automatically expand the tags in "Tag Browser"...@kiwidude can you confirm?

If you post your question in the View Manager plugin thread I am sure you'll get a response from @kiwidude.

That said, View Manager (VM) does not have any interaction with the Tag Browser (TB) that I'm aware of, so I doubt it can offer a solution. I use VM extensively across several libraries, and I normally have the TB hidden.

I'm not aware of any plugins that offer any customisation of the TB, everything is done either in the TB itself, or in Preferences->Look & feel->Tag browser. At a surface level, a Preserve category expansion checkbox in L&F->TB->Display would do the trick. @chaley may have some ideas, he does most of the changes in this regard.

BR

[kiwidude]

No the functionality doesn't exist in any of my plugins, the closest to it in terms of code required is the User Category plugin which has the code to view/expand a node in the tag browser.

It's not a feature of personal interest/use nor have I seen it requested so it isn't something I am rushing to add to the View Manager plugin. If someone else wants to submit a patch or indeed as BetterRed suggested incorporate into the tag browser options within calibre itself then those are your more likely options at this point.

[chaley]

For several reasons I am not willing to add restoring the expanded/collapsed state of the entire tree. The major reason is that I personally have no use for it and don't want to deal with the inevitable maintenance, complaints, change requests, and bug reports. The second reason is that performance would likely be awful.

However, I could add an option in L&F to restore the visibility of the currently focused item in the TB, which is the last item expanded, collapsed, or clicked upon. Of course, the expansion depends on the item still being there. Let me know if this is of use.

[jtmart]

What @chaley suggests, i.e. to add an option in L&F to restore visibility of the last expanded sub-node, seems to me absolutely ideal. I would definitely find that useful, and while this feature might not have been requested much, I am sure it will find its public. Thanks @chaley, @kovidgoyal and @kiwidude!

[Karellen]

I would also find it useful. I have a list of "Saved Searches" that I expand each time I start up Calibre, so that setting would be ideal.

Thank you @chaley

[chaley]

I submitted the changes. I will add a post if and when Kovid accepts them into calibre source.

Prefs / Look & feel / Tag browser contains the new option, unchecked by default.


The implementation provides an API for plugins.

To get the current expanded item:

	tbw = gui.tb_widget
	state = tbw.get_expansion_state()

To set the current expansion state using a previously retrieved state:

	tbw = gui.tb_widget
	tbw.restore_expansion_state(state)

[chaley]

The changes are now in calibre source.

[jtmart]

Thanks a tonne @chaley, the option works like a charm (although the node of the expanded item appears at the top of the Tag browser list, hence hiding the non-expanded items above it) !

[chaley]

Originally Posted by jtmart

Thanks a tonne @chaley, the option works like a charm (although the node of the expanded item appears at the top of the Tag browser list, hence hiding the non-expanded items above it) !

You're welcome.

Qt scrolls the tree until the selected item is visible, preferring to place that item as close to the center of the widget as it can. Which item is at the top of the screen comes from that. There's no guarantee that it is a top level node.

[jtmart]

Right!