Custom columns for virtual libraries [Enhancement]

[Jeff]

For virtual libraries, could functionality be added to show/hide columns specific to each saved virtual library? For example, I have numerous pdf’s related to the Dungeons and Dragons game and have created several custom columns with D&D-specific information (that is, columns that only contain values for D&D items and are blank for all others). When I create a virtual library for these D&D items, it would be great to see only the custom columns I have created specifically for them and not see other columns that are not relevant. Similarly, when I am looking at other virtual libraries, it would be helpful to not see these D&D-related columns. Ideally, this see/hide functionality would be available for the main browser window, the tag browser, and the Edit Metadata dialog windows (individual and bulk).

Virtual libraries allow the user to segment a single “main” library file into arbitrary subsets as desired – I think that this functionality would move virtual libraries one step closer to emulating physically separate library files.

[Kovid Goyal (kovid)]

IIRC the View manager plugin for calibre allows you to do that.

 status fixreleased

[Jeff (annoywife)]

I took a look at the View Manager plugin - it allows custom views to be created for the main browser window, but does not allow these custom views to be linked to defined virtual libraries and also does not allow customization of the tag browser or Edit Metadata dialogs. The Job Spy plugin seems intended in part to allow linking of custom views from the View Manager plugin to defined virtual libraries, but after 1+ hours of trying, I came up empty.

The intent of Calibre's virtual library functionality as I understand it is to reduce the need for separate physical libraries by allowing the user to emulate separate physical libraries on the fly through Calibre's built-in search/filtering functionality. Integrating and troubleshooting multiple plugins to try and possibly make this happen (if they can be made to make it happen at all) seems beyond the capability of the vast majority of Calibre users. Is there any hope of a solution here within Calibre itself?

[Kovid Goyal (kovid)]

You asked for the ability to hide columns when in a virtual library --
the view manager plugin does that. In addition, the Tag browser shows
only items that have actual data in them for the current virtual library
if you enable Preferences->Look & Feel->Tag browser->Hide empty
categories, so that is effectively per virtual library customization.
The book details panel does that by default.

About the only thing you cannot do is hide custom fields in the edit
metadata dialog based on virtual library. And it should be fairly easy
to add that functionality to the view manager plugin. There is already a
tweak in Preferences->Tweaks to control the order of custom fields in
the edit metadata dialog. By putting fields you dont want at the end,
that is effectively hiding (well de-prioritizing) them. The view manager
plugin simply needs to be extended to manipulate that tweak when
changing between virtual libraries.