Spectrum Computing

Thanks a lot, Einar! ZXDB's integration with JSW Central is greatly appreciated!

jetsetdanny wrote: ↑Sun Jul 14, 2019 6:18 am Thanks a lot, Einar! ZXDB's integration with JSW Central is greatly appreciated!

You are welcome!

Yet another ZXDB version is now available!

This update includes new titles (thanks to [mention]R-Tape[/mention]!), new Danish magazines "SOFT" and "SOFT Today" (thanks to [mention]kolbeck[/mention]!), and fixed magazine references to New Computer Express (thanks to myself! )

And another ZXDB version is available!

This update includes more titles (thanks [mention]R-Tape[/mention]!), more hires inlays (thanks [mention]pavero[/mention]!), and more magazine updates (I will describe these later)


IMPORTANT: From now on, the auxiliary tables to help database searches (prefixed with "search_by_") are distributed separately. If you have a website that uses these tables, don't forget to always execute ZXDB_help_search.sql after running the main ZXDB script.

Einar Saukas wrote: ↑Thu Jul 25, 2019 12:56 pm And another ZXDB version is available!

Excellent! We should start counting these, there are 35 updates so far in this thread (I'll look at the other thread later).

EDIT - The other thread has 19 updates, so plus the 35 so far takes the total (from this forum) to erm...54!

There were plenty announced at WoS to include if anyone wanted to count them too.

I know ZXDB had 42 content updates in the last 15 months, because I have been assigning a version number to each release since it moved to Github.

Einar Saukas wrote: ↑Thu Jul 25, 2019 7:43 pm I know ZXDB had 42 content updates in the last 15 months, because I have been assigning a version number to each release since it moved to Github.

BTW, any reason you are not using the "release" feature on Github, Einar? Since Github has an API to access those, can open the door to automatic or one-click updates on sites using the ZXDB.

druellan wrote: ↑Fri Jul 26, 2019 1:45 pm

Einar Saukas wrote: ↑Thu Jul 25, 2019 7:43 pm I know ZXDB had 42 content updates in the last 15 months, because I have been assigning a version number to each release since it moved to Github.

BTW, any reason you are not using the "release" feature on Github, Einar? Since Github has an API to access those, can open the door to automatic or one-click updates on sites using the ZXDB.

The reason is, this "release" feature on Github is intended for software releases. The idea is that Github repository stores source code files, and the release section stores distribution packages. I'm using it in ZX-Ed, for instance.

However it's not much adequate for ZXDB, where a distinction between source code and release doesn't make sense. Every update to ZXDB is already a new release on itself. Using the "release" feature for every update, containing exactly the same files, would be simply duplicating information without any practical benefit.

However, if anybody is planning to use Github API for automatic ZXDB updates, please contact me so we can work out the best solution for you.

There are now 31 magazines in ZXDB indexed as PDF from Archive.org:

48K
ACE (Advanced Computer Entertainment)
Big K
Computer Input
Crash
El Ordenador Personal
Input
Jogos 80
Magazine ZX
Micro Mart
MicroHobby
MicroHobby-BR
Mundo Spectrum
New Computer Express
Personal Computer News
Planeta Sinclair Almanaque
Retro Maniac
RetroMagazine
Sinclair User
SOFT
SOFT Today
SoftSpectrum
Spectrum Today-EN
The Spectrum Show
Timex Sinclair User
Todospectrum
Your Sinclair
ZX
ZX Spectrum Gamer
ZXShed
ZXShed Reloaded

It means you can now view these magazine issues online from Archive.org, or download it as PDF.

Now it should also open the right page, when you click on a magazine reference to some specific page number (as discussed here). If anything doesn't work as expected, please let me know!

Hi [mention]Einar Saukas[/mention] , it seems there's a problem in the Microhobby folder.

Whenever I click on [PDF] works ok (the PDF file is shown) but if I click on [VIEW] a new archive.org screen appears with the next error message:

'The item you have requested has a problem with one or more of the metadata files that describe it, which prevents us from displaying this page'

There's no similar problem with Sinclair User or Crash, everything is OK.

Besides, in the list of Microhobby issues, before #1 issue some random issues appear (with no corresponding picture):

1985/10
1987/3
1987/7
1991/4
1991/5
1991/12

I'm using Windows 10 & Chrome.

Hope it helps.

Juan F. Ramirez wrote: ↑Fri Jul 26, 2019 6:42 pm Hi @Einar Saukas , it seems there's a problem in the Microhobby folder.

Whenever I click on [PDF] works ok (the PDF file is shown) but if I click on [VIEW] a new archive.org screen appears with the next error message:

'The item you have requested has a problem with one or more of the metadata files that describe it, which prevents us from displaying this page'

That's a problem at Archive.org. I will try to find a different source. Thanks for reporting it!

Juan F. Ramirez wrote: ↑Fri Jul 26, 2019 6:42 pm Besides, in the list of Microhobby issues, before #1 issue some random issues appear (with no corresponding picture):

1985/10
1987/3
1987/7
1991/4
1991/5
1991/12

These are "lost issues".

For instance, according to Martijn's WoS there was a reference to game "Combinatoria" in MicroHobby year 1985 month 10 page 9. The problem is, MicroHobby was a weekly magazine, therefore several issues of this magazine were published in October 1985. Which one of them contained this reference?

I have fixed literally thousands of these reference problems in ZXDB, but I didn't notice MicroHobby still had a few problems left. I will fix them all, thanks for reporting it!

A new ZXDB version is available!

This update includes new titles (thanks [mention]R-Tape[/mention]!), new hi-res inlays (thanks [mention]pavero[/mention]!), new magazines, updated integration with RZX Archive (thanks Daren!) and ZXSR (thanks Chris!).

I'm planning to remove column "is_electronic" from table "magazines" in the next ZXDB update.

This column is supposed to distinguish between paper and electronic magazines. However it's more informative to simply obtain this information directly from the magazine format: PDF for paper magazines, TAP or TZX for tape magazines, MGT or DISK for disk magazines, etc. In particular, I know SpectrumComputing is already doing it.

Moreover, I had identified a few cases where column "is_electronic" conflicted with the magazine format. In all such cases, "is_electronic" was wrong. I could have fixed these values, but there's no reason to keep a column that's redundant anyway.

I'm announcing this change in advance, to give site owners the chance to let me know if this change would affect them.

I'm also planning to remove columns "link" and "link2" from table "magrefs" in the next ZXDB update.

This information will be moved to a new table, because it's technically a one-to-many relationship.

A new ZXDB version is already available!

This update contains lots of updated information about magazines. I will talk about them in further detail after SC is updated with this new version, because it will be easier to describe these changes when users are able to see them in practice.

Another ZXDB update is available!

This update includes lots of minor changes, such as the notion of "derived" titles. It refers to a new title that is basically an improved version of another title from the same author (for instance see this thread). I will start a new thread later to discuss about it in more detail...

Einar Saukas wrote: ↑Tue Aug 13, 2019 9:54 pm This update includes lots of minor changes, such as the notion of "derived" titles. It refers to a new title that is basically an improved version of another title from the same author (for instance see this thread). I will start a new thread later to discuss about it in more detail...

I have just started this new thread about it.

A note for site owners running ZXDB:

In the ZXDB update, I'm planning to remove column "hardware_feature" from table "entries". The reason is, this column currently contains website links, so it's more appropriate to store this information in table "webrefs" instead.

A new ZXDB update is available!

This version contains more bugfixes and cover artists credits (thanks [mention]druellan[/mention]!), more hi-res inlays and typed instructions (thanks [mention]pavero[/mention]!), and many other improvements.

I have been so focused on improving ZXDB, that I forgot to take some time off to document and explain the ZXDB roadmap. My apologies!

Our current and future plans for ZXDB are now documented here:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1o_f ... sp=sharing

I wrote is as a separate online document because I intend to update it over time. In particular, I probably forgot to mention a few important items that I will need to add later.

Feedback is welcome!

Integrate ZXDB with other databases. Perhaps SPA2?

Absolutely agree! Great idea!

Juan F. Ramirez wrote: ↑Thu Aug 22, 2019 10:33 pm

Integrate ZXDB with other databases. Perhaps SPA2?

Absolutely agree! Great idea!

That's in my roadmap as well indeed

[mention]Einar Saukas[/mention], I'll be back in touch with you in due time - I'm simply still working on it!

Absolutely agree! Great idea!

I agree it would be great too. And maybe later with Computeremuzone.com as well

Awesome!

A new ZXDB update is available!

It includes new titles (thanks [mention]R-Tape[/mention]!), the first half of newly indexed magazine interviews with software authors (thanks [mention]Stefan[/mention] and [mention]blueowl0708[/mention]!), and a few other improvements.