Template Language

[phossler]

I was reading several post about the powerful template language, so I thought I'd try some of the features. Works well for the basic stuff I was experimenting with to add custom columns


1. Would it be possible to validate a template prior to saving it and restarting Calibre? I made a deliberate mistake ( as opposed to my normal ones) and left off a closing brace to see what would happen. It wasn't until it restarted that the error was caught. If it had been validated when I tried to exit, it would have been handier so I could fix it right away

2. Would it be possible to show a preview of the results of the template on the selected book in the template dialog while building it so the user could get a feel for the results? Might be helpful for the new or occasional template creator.

3. After Calibre restarts, the Virtual Library I had open before restarting, is no longer open, and it defaults to All. If I had a VL open when I closed, could (option maybe) the same VL be selected when I come back?

[eschwartz]

Double-click a custom column, the normal column editing paradigm.

If it is a column built from other columns (template column) it will pop up the template editing dialog. Which has a live preview of the results for the current book record.
It doesn't require a restart.

No need to go digging in the Preferences for the column creation dialog.
Which does require a restart, since it is much more powerful and is meant to modify the column itself, not just the default template.

[phossler]

Actually I tried that with my custom 'MyTitle' (testing) column and all it did was reverse the sort direction when DC the header, and open Edit Metadata when DC a book. No dialog.

Ran out of places to DC.

(Dell XPS 8700, Win10)

[eschwartz]

Tweak: Control behavior of the book list

ID: doubleclick_on_library_view

You can control the behavior of doubleclicks on the books list.
Choices: open_viewer, do_nothing,
edit_cell, edit_metadata. Selecting anything other than open_viewer has the
side effect of disabling editing a field using a single click.
Default: open_viewer.
Example: doubleclick_on_library_view = 'do_nothing'
You can also control whether the book list scrolls horizontal per column or
per pixel. Default is per column.

Guess which one I have active, and always forget is actually a personal choice?

Anyway, the F2 key allows you to edit in cell view no matter who you are. And thus to edit the custom column template.

[phossler]

My tweak is set to edit metadata on DC since I find I use that a lot more that the internal viewer or other choices

doubleclick_on_library_view = 'edit_metadata'

Anyway, the F2 key allows you to edit in cell view no matter who you are. And thus to edit the custom column template.

Ahhh - to old F2 super secret trick

Just to further embarrass myself, was that in the manual?

I like the instant error messages and the preview ... very nice


But if I was using it to make a plugboard or something other than a custom column, is there an 'instant error' and preview capability? Say, something like the XPath wizard maybe?

[eschwartz]

Yes the F2 trick is in the manual: http://manual.calibre-ebook.com/gui....oard-shortcuts

F2 (Enter in OS X): Edit the metadata of the currently selected field in the book list.

No it isn't editable, so it won't appear in Preferences ==> Keyboard


Testing templates elsewhere... sure. You can generally right-click an input box and use "Open Template Editor".

You can also use the Template Tester by clicking a row in the main spreadsheet view, and using the shortcut key CTRL+T (or adding the appropriate toolbar icon wherever you want).

[phossler]

Thanks again

BTW, I see the user manual was updated to v2.48 on Jan 10

[chaley]

The other possibility is to use the built-in "template tester". It lets you run arbitrary templates on a book of your choice, immediately seeing the results without changing anything in your library.

For convenience I added it to the context menu of the library.

EDIT: ninja'ed by eschwartz because I didn't read beyond the question.

[phossler]

EDIT: ninja'ed by eschwartz because I didn't read beyond the question

Never hurts to tell me something 2 or 3 times