[Feature Request] Expand Volume field to be alphanumeric

[LegendaryLass]

Is it possible to make the Volume field open-ended string like number? I've been considering using the comicvine volume in this field but it seems to be limited to 4 digits or possible enforcing a year entry. Furthermore, it should probably be expanded to allow alphanumerics because Marvel does have some official classifications for things like when two volumes for a mag run in the same year. For instance, Blood Hunters has both a 2024A and a 2024B volume in their listings/solicits.

[maforget]

It's not a bad idea, my only worry is that it may break some plugins/compatibility with other programs like Komga/Kavita. A lot of software these days uses the ComicInfo.xml as a standard. This could completely break these programs and create crashes when it detects a letter when only numbers are expected.

I am pretty certain that the Data Manager plugin will need to be updated, and someone that may have the latest ComicRack, but not the latest plugin would probably end up with crashes or errors.

The thing is that python used for the plugins is pretty forgiving with different types, so it might not be an issue. But C# isn't, It's a strongly typed language, wrong types would not even let a program be compiled and will lead to a crash 100%.

It would probably require some kind of compatibility layer where the Volume stays a number but permit letters and in that case it would store the value in another new property (like Volume2) that would not break plugins. It could either save only the number part in the ComicInfo.xml for compatibility and/or have another Volume property saved instead that would have less chance to interfere much with other programs (even then I don't know how they all work).

[LegendaryLass]

I understand your point regarding changing the data type to alphanumeric, but that makes sense. I'm not sure I agree with forever being locked into the existing xml format, but that's a bigger discussion.

At the least could it be expanded to more than just four digit integers tho? I wouldn't imagine that would break anything...

[maforget]

There is no such limitation for the Volume field to be max 4 character. You can have has much as you want. The only limitation is the integer 32bit limit (2,147,483,647).

I do not want to be locked into a xml format forever either. But the solution could be additional fields, or even another xml file for newer fields. For example one of the newest change is to add read support for the MetronInfo.xml (2f4077c). We can even now have multiple xml file in the archive and they have a preferred read order.

I just don't want to do changes that could break something without having a plan or at least some community feedback.