Fill rows automatically
Fill a database row from a web link, or from a book, movie, TV show or anime found by its title, and see what leaves your device.
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Documentation sections
A database can fill a row for you. Filarr offers two ways, both behind the lightning button (⚡) at the end of a row:
- from a link: Filarr reads the web page of the row and takes its title, its description and its image;
- from a source: Filarr searches the title of the row in a catalog of Books, Anime, TV shows or Movies, and fills in the author, the year, the rating, the genres and more.
In both cases, Filarr only fills empty cells. It never overwrites what you typed. The ⚡ button works in the Table view.
Fill a row from a link
This works when no source is chosen. With a source, ⚡ searches the source instead (see below).
- Make sure the database has a URL column, and paste the address of a web page in it.
- Click ⚡ at the end of the row. Its tooltip reads Fill from link. The button only shows on rows that have a link.
Filarr then fills:
- the title of the page in the first empty Text column;
- the description of the page in the next empty Text column;
- the address of the page's image in another empty URL column.
Filarr goes by position, not by name. If the Name column is already filled, the title of the page lands in the next empty Text column, for example Author. Leave Name empty if you want the title there.
When nothing can be filled, the button shows an error and its tooltip says why: No empty cell to fill on this row, Nothing found on this page, or the page could not be reached. Some sites refuse these requests.
Fill a row from a source
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In the header of the database, click ⋯ (Database settings), then Lightning source, and choose Books, Anime, TV shows or Movies.
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Type a title in a row. Filarr searches the text of a column named like "Title" or "Name", or else the first Text column that is filled in.
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Click ⚡ at the end of the row. Its tooltip now names the source, for example Fill from Books. With a source chosen, the button shows on every row.
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Under Choose a result, click the right one. Filarr shows up to five results.
| Source | Catalog | What it can fill |
|---|---|---|
| Books | OpenLibrary | Title, authors, year of first publication, cover, link, genres, number of pages |
| Anime | AniList | Title, other title or status, year, cover, link, summary, rating, genres, episodes |
| TV shows | TVmaze | Title, network, year of the first episode, image, link, summary, rating, genres |
| Movies | TMDB, with your key | Title, original title, year, poster, link, summary, rating, genres |
Genres become options of a Multi-select column. Filarr creates the ones that are missing, up to 40 options per column. Ratings are turned into 1 to 5 stars.
Which column receives what
Filarr first looks at the names of your columns, in English or in French, then at their types.
| A column named… | receives |
|---|---|
| Title, Name | the title |
| Author, Studio, Network, Publisher, Original title | the authors, the studio or network, or the original title |
| Year, Date, Release, Published | the year. A Date column gets the release date, or January 1 of that year. |
| Rating, Score, Stars | the rating |
| Genres, Genre, Tags, Category, Themes | the genres |
| Pages, Episodes, Count | the number of pages or episodes |
| Image, Cover, Poster, Thumbnail | the address of the image |
| Link, URL, Site | the page of the work on the catalog |
| Summary, Synopsis, Description, Overview | the summary |
A Year column of type Number shows the year with a thousands separator ("2,016"). Make it a Text column to read "2016".
A column whose name matches nothing receives by type, in the order of the columns: a Rating column the rating, a URL column the link then the image, a Date column the year, a Number column the number of pages or episodes, a Multi-select column the genres, and Text columns the title, then the author, then the summary.
A few messages you may see:
- when the row has no title to search: Type a title in the first column, then click ⚡ again.
- when the catalog finds nothing: Nothing found for this title;
- when the matching cells are already filled: Every cell this result could fill is already filled;
- when no column can hold the result, Filarr suggests adding a Year, Rating or Genres column.
The Movies source needs a TMDB key
TMDB, the movie catalog, asks each user for a free key.
- Create an account on TMDB and get an API key at https://www.themoviedb.org/settings/api. The Get a free key button in Filarr opens that page.
- In Filarr, open Settings → Integrations.
- Paste the key in TMDB key (Movies source). It is saved when you leave the field. Show and Hide reveal or mask it, Remove deletes it.
The key stays on this device. It is never synced, and Filarr's servers do not keep it.
Privacy: what leaves your device
Nothing leaves until you click ⚡. Then:
- from a link, only the address of the page is sent;
- from a source, only the words searched (the title of the row) are sent, plus your key for Movies.
The content of your notes never leaves.
In the desktop app, Filarr contacts the site or the catalog directly, as your browser would. Filarr's servers are not involved.
In the web app, the browser can only talk to Filarr's servers, so these requests go through a Filarr relay, which does not record them. The relay stays off until you allow it: the first time you click ⚡, Filarr explains what will be sent, and you choose Continue or Cancel. Two separate switches control the relay, both off by default:
- Link previews via server, in Settings → Security, for filling from a link. It also covers the titles of pasted links and the previews of Bookmark blocks;
- Source lookups via server, in Settings → Integrations, for the sources.
Allowing one never turns on the other.
Every connection Filarr makes is listed in Privacy: what leaves your device.