[GUI Plugin] Walk Search History

[kiwidude]

This plugin provides toolbar and keyboard shortcuts to moving forward and backward through your Calibre search history.

The intention is to offer a similar experience to a web browser of allowing you to "surf" back and forth between your search results. My primary usage is when I get "sidetracked" and want to run a query on another book/series/author and then most quickly return to the previous search results. Also upon restarting Calibre you can quickly restore your last search by hitting Alt+Left.

Main Features:

• Alt+Left Arrow to move back one search in your history
• Alt+Right Arrow to move forward one search in your history
• Search history maintained independently of that displayed in the combo dropdown
• Optional independent search history per library (retained until calibre closed)
• Additional history list displayed in toolbar dropdown menu
• Ability to clear the search history
• Shortcuts and other preferences customisable in a configuration dialog

Special Notes:

• Help Documentation
• Change History
• Requires Calibre 2.0.0 or later

Paypal Donations:

• If you find this or any of my other plugins useful please feel free to show your appreciation. I have spent many hundreds of unpaid hours in their development and support so any encouragement for me to continue is appreciated!
  

[kiwidude]

Changes in v1.1:

• Rewritten to maintain search histories independent of that displayed in the search dropdown.
• Can now go forward/backward to "empty" searches in the history
• Search history displayed in the toolbar dropdown menu
• Ability to clear the search history in the dropdown
• Additional customisation options in the configure dialog

[kiwidude]

Changes in v1.2:

• Rewritten for new plugin infrastructure in Calibre 0.7.53

[kiwidude]

Changes in this release:

• Support skinning of icons by putting them in a plugin name subfolder of local resources/images

[kiwidude]

Changes in this release:

• Support refactoring by Kovid of gui.tool_bar to gui.bars_manager in Calibre 0.8.2
• Fix bug of config screen getting wrong preferences

This release requires 0.8.2 or higher.

[kiwidude]

Changes in this release:

• Upgrade to support the centralised keyboard shortcut management in Calibre

Requires Calibre 0.8.18. You can customise keyboard shortcuts using Preferences->Keyboard or from the Customise Plugin screen for this plugin.

[davidfor]

FYI, I am not kiwidude and this isn't my plugin. But I am trying to help out by porting some of the plugins I use regularly while kiwidude is busy.

Attached is a test version that should work for both the existing 1.X calibre and the upcoming 2.X version calibre. 2.x will use PyQt5 which requires changes to virtually all plugins. This version of the plugin has version number 1.201.0.

This version needs to be tested with the existing calibre.

Brave souls to test with with the beta 2.X version would also be appreciated. Links to the 2.X beta and discussion of the transition (for plugins) can be see at: Attn plugin developers: calibre moving to Qt 5.

[BetterRed]

@davidfor - working fine with V1.201 portable

But next and previous do not work with properly with 1.44. Next seems to jump from first to last and Previous from last to first. Reinstalled the 'current official' version and it works as it should.

Added - Above statement re V1.44 is wrong. The PI needs to be updated to work properly with multiple physical libraries, it keeps a global list, would be better if it kept library specific lists. It would also better differentiate the PI from the standard drop down list - ie more added value.

So the Qt5 version works fine with 1.44 in the sense that it works like the 'current official'.

BTW thanks for using a distinctive version number

BR

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

@davidfor - working fine with V1.201 portable

But next and previous do not work with properly with 1.44. Next seems to jump from first to last and Previous from last to first. Reinstalled the 'current official' version and it works as it should.

Added - Above statement re V1.44 is wrong. The PI needs to be updated to work properly with multiple physical libraries, it keeps a global list, would be better if it kept library specific lists. It would also better differentiate the PI from the standard drop down list - ie more added value.

So the Qt5 version works fine with 1.44 in the sense that it works like the 'current official'.

Good to hear. And that is probably a good change to make.

BTW thanks for using a distinctive version number

It was needed as I was getting confused about what I had installed where

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by davidfor

It was needed as I was getting confused about what I had installed where

And you're the man in charge, pity us poor plebs

If the standard search bar history was library sensitive and it similar keyboard short cuts, then this PI could probably be put into mothballs like Temp Marker.

BR

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

If the standard search bar history was library sensitive

If the search bar history isn't library sensitive, it probably isn't possible to make this plugin library sensitive. Or at least it would be a lot harder.

and it similar keyboard short cuts,

Not sure what you mean by that.

then this PI could probably be put into mothballs like Temp Marker.

I started doing Temp Marker before this one. But, there are comments in the thread from Kovid and kiwidude about the function now being base calibre function. When I looked, I couldn't see anything that Temp Marker did that calibre didn't do with the "Mark books" button. Do you know of something?

[BetterRed]

@davidfor - Re library sensitivity, I agree it would be better if the base search history was library specific. IIRC when the PI was first developed its history was not the same as baseline product, might have been that back then the baseline history was session data or something. But now they are the same.

The PI kb shortcuts are always available, ie I can hit alt/→ alt/← anytime. Whereas if I take focus away from the search bar then I have to ctrl/f and arrow up/down. I do most everything via keyboard shortcuts or the context menu. Due to hand injuries I avoid using the mouse.

AFAIK Mark Books and Temp Marker are the same. The only issue I know of with 'marking' is with Find Duplicates, it maintains a persistent list of Duplicate Exclusions. You find some books that the PI considers to be duplicates, but you know they're not, so to prevent them showing up in future Find Duplicate searches you exclude them. For performance reasons the Find Duplicates PI loads the exclusions when calibre starts. So the recent addition of the gold pins means they show for the excluded books when you start calibre - but by definition the Marks are temporary - so it confused people; I think many had forgotten they ever created any exclusions.

It would be better if the loading of the exclusions was done when the Find Duplicates PI is run. With the various changes Kovid has made to the database etc I doubt performance would be an issue today, but kiwidude would know better than me. I start calibre in a marked books VL, tap alt/shift/m to clear them. If I want to run Find Duplicates (infrequent), I restart calibre.

BR

[compurandom]

I just installed this (calibre 2.73) and it works great if I click on the toolbar icon, but the alt-left and alt-right keys don't work.

I tried customizing the key (set it to alt-left) and it still didn't work.
Added an alternative of p and that worked, but alt-left still does not.

[davidfor]

The plugin has just been updated to version 1.3.2. There are no changes in function. This is to make the plugin compatible with the future Python 3 version of calibre.

If there are any problems with the plugin in either the released version of calibre, or the Python 3 beta, please report them here.

[ownedbycats]

I know this isn't officially maintained, but I noticed a small bug.

Steps to replicate:
1. Clear search history.
2. Click on a searchable item in the tag browser.
3. Click on a searchable item in the details pane.
4. Examine history menu. The two entries don't show up.
5. Now click on the search bar and press enter to make a manual search.
6. Examine menu again. The entries now show up.

After an initial manual search, any further tag browser/details pane searches show up without intervention. Just not when it's empty.

Also I can confirm the report in post #13 about the alt-left/alt-right shortcuts not working.