Disney Comics Database [retry]

[Harry Fluks]

[first attempt bounced; sorry if this message arrives twice - HF]

FYI (on request by Ole):

I already made some files and programs. There are three kinds of files in
the database:

- DBS (DataBase Story files). Contain story information like number of pages,
  creators, dates etc. Not all story files have the same format (because
  newspaper strips have no 'number of pages', Dell comics have no 'end date'
  etc.)

- DBI (DataBase Issue files). Contain entries for all issues. Most entries
  have only the codes of the stories, referring to the DBS files where
  the full information is stored.

- DBL (DataBase List files). These files are generated by programs from the
  DBS and DBI files. The DBL files are the only interesting files for
  people who only want the information in a readable form, and don't want
  to add information themselves.


Here are some examples of parts of the various database files.


ar.dbs:

AR 101        10                MGr MGr     DD  T:Big Feet!
AR 102        26                DR  DR      US  T:The Son of the Sun
AR 103        10                DR  DR      US  D:Nobody's business
AR 104        10                DR  DR      DD  D:Mythological Menagerie


w-us.dbs:

W US    4-FC   1   53-05-07     CB  CB      US  O:Bill treated coat
W US    4-01   1   53-05-21     CB  CB      US  D:Ballet School
W US    4-02  32   53-05-28     CB  CB      US  R:Hawaiian Hideaway
W US    4-03   1   53-05-21     CB  CB      US  O:your weight 1 cent
W US    4-04   1   53-05-21     CB  CB      US  O:Money bags for tramp


gladsdis.dbi:

GCA  24a  FC                    DR  DR      US  T:A Cold Bargain
GCA  24b      W US   17-02
GCA  24c   1  W US   31-05
GCA  24d      W US   31-01
GCA  24e      W US    5-01


gladsdis.dbl (based on gladsdis.dbi, with information added from the .dbs
             files. The format is a lot like the current format of the
             'gladstone-disney.index' file):

GCA  24a  FC                    DR  DR      US  T:A Cold Bargain
GCA  24b  26+ W US   17-02      CB  CB      US  T:A Cold Bargain
GCA  24c   1  W US   31-05      CB  CB      US  T:The Secret Book
GCA  24d  17  W US   31-01      CB  CB      US  T:All At Sea
GCA  24e   1  W US    5-01      CB  CB      US  D:Hospitality Week


w-us.dbl (based on w-us.dbs, but a program has gathered the reprints from
         all DBI files):

US   4-FC  1   US  O:Bill treated coat
US   4-01  1   US  D:Ballet School                     US 260d
US   4-02 32   US  R:Hawaiian Hideaway                 US 190, GCA 11b, USD 5c
US   4-03  1   US  O:your weight 1 cent                US 214g
US   4-04  1   US  O:Money bags for tramp              WDC 513f

Note that some "irrelevant" information is skipped. If a story is (partly)
not by CB, this is added as a comment [Not by CB], [CB art only] etc.
In fact I tried to let it look like the Helseth files.


My idea is to put the DBL files (the output generated by programs)
on the ftp site, and *maybe* the original DBS and DBI files on a separate
directory.

Since I don't have programs (yet) to perform data entry in a consistent and
user-friendly way, I think updates should go through a central point (i.e. me).
For instance, if someone indexes the contents of a Gladstone comic containing
a Barks WDC reprint, a Danish story and a new AR story with a new artist,
several files have to be updated:

  gladsdis.dbi, d.dbs, ar.dbs, creators

and several files have to be re-generated:

  gladsdis.dbl, w-wdc.dbl, ar.dbl (and others, depending on which DBL files
  we want to have).


The first version of the Disney comics Database (DcD) on ftp can be expected
in May (I hope!)

--Harry.