New Database Model ZXDB

[Patrik Rak]

I mean, if you want to group the games by letter reasonably, you need the library title without the articles. In order to be able to search them efficiently in the database, you will have to have the field ready in some form in one way or another, be it in another table or not. So I don't see the point of removing it entirely, even if it can be created on the fly, just to push the burden on the users who need it.

[PeterJ]

As mentioned I can't comment any further as it's Einar's baby. I'm sure he will reply when he has time. He did give six month notice, so not something that can be reversed at this stage. I'm sure he can still help you though.

If you use the mention system '@' then pick username, Einar will get a notification that you have asked a question.

[Einar Saukas]

why was the library_title removed in the first place?

Because it's an automatically generated field.

Imagine the following analogy with programming. Suppose you are creating a game where every sprite also needs the corresponding mirrored version, and it's not viable to generate them during runtime. What's the best option?

a) Store both original and mirrored version of each sprite in your source code. Whenever you modify an original sprite, don't forget to regenerate the corresponding mirrored version, then update both in your source code.

b) Store only the original version of each sprite in your source code. You can freely modify any original sprite without worrying about the mirrored versions. Let your compile script automatically regenerate all mirrored versions whenever you compile your program.

ZXDB follows the latter option. Whenever an information is automatically generated, then it's not part of the ZXDB "source code" distribution. Instead it's dynamically generated by scripts.

As for the provided SQL scripts, unfortunately none worked for me out of the box, not even Skoolkids, perhaps my sqlite is older than his.

Did you try the second version in this post? It uses very simple SQL so it should work for you. Simply remove "collate utf8_unicode_ci" if that's a problem.

Also I find it surprising that there is no check for the language - I would expect Der/Die/Das apply only to German, not other languages, similarly A/An/The to English and not Czech (thus avoiding the need for some exemptions).

It won't help, because titles in foreign languages may still have an English title, and vice-versa. For instance Spanish games like The Blues Brothers or The Last Warrior.

[Neil Parsons]

Maybe it was mentioned long time ago, but I don't know how to reach to that thread or post.

There are some fields in some entries I've been watching from time to time and I'd like to know, for my own curiousity, if they can be filled by any registered user via ZXDB preservation tools, or that's just a feature only available for administrators. As these ones: Controls, Features, Graphical Views, Native Programming Languages (BASIC, Machine Code, etc.), Copyright Status and Cross-Platform Tools.

[StooB]

Controls, Features, Graphical Views, Native Programming Languages (BASIC, Machine Code, etc.), Copyright Status and Cross-Platform Tools.

Go to small changes for existing entries and scroll down to the pink Groups section.

[Neil Parsons]

Go to small changes for existing entries and scroll down to the pink Groups section.

Thank you.

[Einar Saukas]

Also when adding a new (MIA) entry, click on "Show advanced features" and add each feature under "Group title".

[Einar Saukas]

A new ZXDB release is now available!

[Einar Saukas]

Another ZXDB release is now available!

We added hundreds more links to ports of Spectrum titles in other platforms. Many thanks to Kim Lemon from Lemon64 for this information! We have been collaborating for quite some time helping each other and exchanging data, which benefits both sites.

This release also incorporates the latest updates from ZXSR (ZX Spectrum Reviews). Many thanks to @Vampyre for continuously improving it!

[Patrik Rak]

Because it's an automatically generated field.
...
ZXDB follows the latter option. Whenever an information is automatically generated, then it's not part of the ZXDB "source code" distribution. Instead it's dynamically generated by scripts.

You could just as well run the scripts and distribute the results... People wouldn't then have to worry that they might create different results than the master... But I accept that it's your call, of course.

Did you try the second version in this post? It uses very simple SQL so it should work for you. Simply remove "collate utf8_unicode_ci" if that's a problem.

Yeah, I did, but IIRC it choked on more than just the collate. But considering it's something which works for the current version and needs to be updated whenever one of your tables for creating the library title is modified, it's not a long term solution for me anyway.

I guess I'll just write a script which will create the library title using your tables and hope I made it compatible to your scripts and that your scripts won't change in foreseeable future...

Still I can't shake the feeling this is a pointless hassle for something which was working just fine...

It won't help, because titles in foreign languages may still have an English title, and vice-versa. For instance Spanish games like The Blues Brothers or The Last Warrior.

Oh, right. True...

[Einar Saukas]

I don't think these generated tables should be put together with the main data. Certain sites may have no use for them (for instance ZXInfo uses ElasticSearch instead of queries). Others may choose a different convention to display information such as publishers (in case of a title originally published within a magazine covertape for instance) so they would want to generate these tables differently. And so on...

But since that's such a big problem for you, we can do it like this: whenever there's a new ZXDB release, I will also provide a separate file with the already generated tables. OK?

[Einar Saukas]

whenever there's a new ZXDB release, I will also provide a separate file with the already generated tables.

From now on, the generated "search" tables will be available at this link in directory ZXDB.

[Einar Saukas]

A new ZXDB version is available!