Spectrum 2.0 database

[ketmar]

sorry for posting this here, but i couldn't find a better subforum for this. if this better fits for some another subforum, then please, move this topic to where it belongs.

now, closer to the main business. is there some way to download and update Spectrum 2.0 (that site with user-written reviews ;-) database? oh, no, i don't want to create a clone, no. there are two reasons i'm asking: first, if that site will ever go offline, all reviews will be lost. and there are ALOT of them (and counting). and second, i'd like to augment ZXDB result pages (on this site, for example) with inlined review texts via userjs in my browser. less clicks, more interesting things to read. ;-)

right now i'm simply scraping the site once in a while (sorry! i'm trying to not do that often or too excessive), saving all review html pages, and rebuilding my internal database from those pages. but this is very fragile (what if the page will change tomorrow? i will be forced to either support two parsers, or redownload the whole site).

so. is there any API to query Sp2.0 database and get results in machine-readable format, or maybe even database dumps i can periodically download somewhere? it will be a nice addition to ZXDB, i think.

[Morkin]

Absolutely love Spectrum 2.0 - some of the reviews are comedy gold..!

Have to admit I've been a bit worried when it's gone down occasionally, but it's usually been restored when someone's given it a kick.

[ketmar]

yeah, same here. for the worst case i have all review pages downloaded (and i am updating that archive once in a while, it is automatic process anyway), so most of the data can be restored. but with proper API we could show reviews in-place here, for example (or on any other site with ZXDB support). and, of course, have easy backups.

[Einar Saukas]

Spectrum 2.0 is not actively maintained anymore. It's essentially running by itself these days...

If you are interested in taking maintaining it yourself, I can put you in touch with Philip. Just keep in mind it's coded in Ruby on Rails, so you would have to either learn it (it's not hard) or implement it again (not too hard either). The database itself is quite straightforward, you wouldn't need to change anything.

Spectrum 2.0 database contains usernames and passwords (it would make no sense otherwise), therefore it cannot be distributed as database dumps or become part of an open database like ZXDB. Otherwise I would have taken care of it myself, but there's no way I can handle 2 separate projects.

Providing Spectrum 2.0 content as API makes perfect sense, we really need someone to do it

[ketmar]

tl;dr (here, so you don't have to decipher my wall of text ;-): yeah, i'd like to get in touch. i will hardly became a "full-featured" maintainer, but may try to add at least some simple API.


i'd really like to step in, but i don't think that i'll have enough time and energy for that. i know what Ruby is, but i don't know Ruby ;-), and even less Rails framework. i can try, of course, but no promises could be given. (sigh) i am more a C guy, and know very little about web developement, especially with frameworks.

but if i'll get site sources, i can try to learn enough to implement at least some simple API. at the very worst case nothing will change, which is not worser than it is now. ;-) so yeah, i'd like to at least give it a try.

and i never meant to have a full DB dump with full login details, of course. for our goals it will be enough to export user ids and nicks (exactly what i grabbed by site scraping), to have "read-only" copy of the data. the problem with linking people back to their uids in case of site disappearance can be solved later, if it will ever arise. ;-)

[Morkin]

Have just spent most of my lunchtime leafing through some of the reviews... Quite entertaining...

Some that amused me:

Renegade 3 (RWAC)

Fishing Mission (Digital Prawn)

Merlin (dm_boozefreek)

[Magnus]

Fishing Mission (Digital Prawn)

The problem with a hilarious review of a horrible game is that it really makes me want to give it a try .

[Morkin]

The problem with a hilarious review of a horrible game is that it really makes me want to give it a try .

I think you should play through the whole of Cassette 50...

[Rorthron]

I think you should play through the whole of Cassette 50...

You sadist.

[Digital Prawn]

The problem with a hilarious review of a horrible game is that it really makes me want to give it a try .

Despite that review, in some ways I admired the uniqueness of the game to the extent I submitted a ”sequel” of sorts to the CSSCGC:-

https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 6&id=31151

Can't believe that was 10 years ago now!

[Magnus]

Despite that review, in some ways I admired the uniqueness of the game to the extent I submitted a ”sequel” of sorts to the CSSCGC:-

https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/index.p ... 6&id=31151

Can't believe that was 10 years ago now!

Great stuff! There is a potential for a long series here