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Shn Database Guide

This is the raw text from the old "walkthrough" page that needs to be updated and wikified later.

If you are thinking of becoming a volunteer for the Sources in Circulation Database section of db.etree.org, see the volunteer and ShnAdmin help pages.

SHN Info Database Orientation
http://db.etree.org/etree_shnlist.php
alias http://db.etree.org/shncirc

I. Big Picture

A. No music is here!

This is a database of *information* about various recordings of taper-friendly
bands that circulate in the Shorten, FLAC and similar formats. These are called lossless "Sources." There are no music
files here, just the "support" files that accompany these Sources such as info files (.txt) and checksums (.md5 and .ffp).

If you do not yet know what lossless audio files are (e.g., .flac, .shn or .md5) get an orientation
at these two sites:
http://research.umbc.edu/~hamilton/shnfaq.html
http://etree.org

If you are looking for the music itself, browse these resources:
BitTorrent?: http://bt.etree.org
Trades: http://db.etree.org
Miscellaneous: http://research.umbc.edu/~hamilton/shnlinks.html

B. Who's in charge?

Tom Anderson is the creator and owner of both http://db.etree.org and
http://db.etree.org/shncirc. His entire site is wholly noncommercial.

Additional volunteers maintain the database of shn entries for each
trade-friendly band. The people responsible for each band may be listed on
the individual pages for the band. You can contact them if you have info
they could use for their pages.

If a band is not covered in the shn info db, either it is not *known*
trade-friendly, or else no one has yet volunteered to track the shns for
the band. Any responsible person may do so, and it may be done as a team
effort. Contact Tom if interested.

Still more volunteers may maintain the show/setlists in the master db at
http://db.etree.org. Tom and/or the SHN admin for a band can assign those
volunteers.

C. How it all hangs together

Tom created a giant master db of dates and setlists for a wide variety of
artists. At the trade db, http://db.etree.org, people can create
personal lists based on the master db.

The shn info db at http://db.etree.org/shncirc is connected into the
master db using the dates. Multiple shn sets may exist for each date, but
not all show dates might have a shn set. Only shows that are circulating
publically in Shorten format- through etree.org, public mailing lists,
or other means- will be listed in the shn info db.

II. Details

Here is a "walk through" of what you will see in the shn info database.

A. Main Page
Example Link: http://db.etree.org/shncirc

1. Artist Listing

The table of SHN tracking lists contains only bands that are known
trade-friendly. If a tradable band is not listed, no one may have
volunteered to track shn info yet, and/or none of the band's music may be
circulating in shn format yet.

To access a tracking list, click on the band's name. This will take you to
the table for most recent year for the band. See section B below for more
info.

2. SHN Info Message Board
Link: http://boardserver.mycomputer.com/list.html?u=toma42&f=3

Below the table of lists is a link for a message board for questions,
discussion or announcements about the shn info db. If you have a question,
please check whether it is covered in this document or earlier on
the message board before posting.

3. Other external links

The list of resources toward the bottom of the main page includes links to
some external shn tracking lists that are not in the db.

4. Searching SHN Listings

Not currently linked on the main shn info page, but still useful (it's
actually linked from the trade db page), is the SHN Listing Search Page,
http://db.etree.org/search_shninfo.php

Searches can include numbers and text strings from parts of shn entries,
and/or parts of corresponding show db entries. When shn hits are returned,
the "Date" link will come from the show db, and the "SHN Detail" link from
the shn db.

B. Band/Year Page
Example link: http://db.etree.org/shnlist.php?year=1995&artist=2

Data for each band is listed on separate pages by year. After clicking on
a band at the main page, you will be taken to the band's most recent year.
Here is what you will see:

1. Date Jump

At the top of each table, you can jump to different years for the band.
Only years that have shn information will be listed.

2. Header/footer info added by admin

Above and below the body of each shn info table are header and footer
areas, which are tailored by the individual shn admin. The admin may give
his name and contact info here, or add band-specific or any other links as
he wishes.

3. SHN info table for a band/year

On the shn tables, each circulating shn set will have an entry. Separate
shn sets for the same performance date have their own distinct entries.
See section C below for a detailed breakdown of a typical entry.

If a date is not listed it may not have a shn version circulating for it
yet. Alternatively, the admin may not have any knowledge of a given shn,
or had the chance to create an entry yet. Feel free to give the admins a
hand by sending usable info to them, if you have it. Also, please remember
they are unpaid human volunteers with real lives. :)

4. Gutter with shn db, trade db and etree.org links

Below the footer of every shn info table, Tom has placed a "Return to SHN
Artist Listing" link, http://db.etree.org/etree_shnlist.php, which will
take you back to the main shn info page. Below that are links for the
trader database (db.etree.org) and etree.org.

C. The Table Columns
Example link: http://db.etree.org/shnlist.php?year=1995&artist=2

Here is a step-by-step across a shn info table, from left to right.

1. Show Date

Each shn set is associated with a numerical perfomance date, in mm/dd/yy
format. For uncertain dates, ?? may be used (example: 05/??/68).

If you click on the date link for a given shn entry, you will be taken to
the details page, which includes the info file for the shn set. See
section D below for more info.

2. Venue

The name of the venue is taken from the main show db.

3. Circ Date

The circulation date is the approximate date that the shn set was seen in
public circulation, typically through etreeing, mail trees, or offers on
public mailing lists. Looking at the circ date may help you judge whether
something might easy or hard to find, or whether you'll have a better
shot finding it through etree vs. trade.

This column is formatted as text, not as numerical data. A tip for
searching by circulation date is given at the top of the SHN Listing
Search Page: http://db.etree.org/search_shninfo.php

4. #s/a

This numerical column stands for "Number of shn discs needed, versus
number of audio discs needed." If no number is available, there will be a
zero. The #s value is useful for people who archive their shns as data
discs. However, since few people mention how many shn discs a show
requires, that column is often full of zeroes.

A good rule of thumb is that a typical 3 audio disc show might fit on 2
shn discs.

5. Md5s

This column contains md5s checksums for the shn files. Besides their use
in checking file integrity, they also serve as handy identifying
"fingerprints" for each shn set.

On the table, the md5s are typically listed by disc (such as d1, d2, d3),
and pertain to the compressed shn files. In some cases you may also see
additional checksums for the decompressed wav files themselves (such as
d1wav, d2wav, d3wav); these provide an extra level of verification.

When clicking on a link in this column, you will see a page displaying the
checksums.
Example link: http://db.etree.org/md5view.php?md5key=2438

To obtain a copy of the .md5 file for yourself, click on the "Download
This MD5" link. The file will be saved to your computer with filename
"band-yyyy-mm-dd-linkname.md5".

6. Comments

Objective notes about a shn set are added to this column by the shn admin.
These might include source details, names of people responsible for the
seed, flaw notes, or pointers to additional info.

7. Public Comments

The final column shows how many public comments have been added about a
shn set by users. Comments can be viewed and added on the details page,
described in section D below.

D. Show Date Link: The Details Page
Example link: http://db.etree.org/shninfo_detail.php?shnid=1297

After clicking on the highlighted "Show Date" in the left column of the
table, you are taken to the details page for a shn set. Here is what you
will see:

1. Recap of table entry

Below a series of links (explained below), you will see a recap of the
table entry for the given shn set. Md5 links, admin comments etc are as
descrbed above.

Just above that is a link to go to the table containing the entry.
Example link: http://db.etree.org/shnlist.php?artist=2&year=1995

2. Info File

Below the table recap is an area containing the info file that typically
accompanies the shn set. The info file has usually been written by the
seed person who put the shns into circulation.

By clicking on the "Download This Text File" link, you can save a copy to
your own computer. The file will be saved with name "band-yyyy-mm-dd.txt".

Note, sometimes admins may make additions or corrections to the db copy of
the info file, so that this copy may be slightly different from the .txt
file circulating with the shn set.

3. Public Comments

Below the info file, you will see any public comments that may have been
made about the shn set. These may be listeners' subjective comments about
the quality of the recording, comparisons to other shn sets for the date,
flaw notes, etc. You can jump to these comments by clicking on the "View
comments about this SHN" link in the upper left of the details page.

To add your own comment, click on the "Add a comment about this SHN" link
in the upper left of the details page. You do not have to be a
"registered" user of db.etree.org to make a comment.
Example link: http://db.etree.org/shn_addcomment.php?shninfo_key=1297

When typing a comment, you can include certain html tags. Allowed ones
include tags for paragraphs, bold, italics, and links.

Please note that off-topic messages, trade requests, spam and flame wars
may be deleted by the admin. If you need to withdraw an erroneous comment
you made, contact the admin.

4. Trader DB links

In the upper right of the details page are links that tie the shn entry
into the trading lists at http://db.etree.org.

a. Add this show to your list
Example link:
http://db.etree.org/myshows_add2.php3?ref_shows=2332&ref_shninfo=1297

If you have a username at db.etree.org, you can add a particular shn set
to your list easily by clicking the link. You will first be prompted for
your username/password if you haven't entered it during the session yet.

You will then see a page to modify your new trade list entry, if desired.
At the bottom right corner is a pull-down option for "Link SHN", that
should show the beginning of the admin comments for the shn set you have
selected. You can select "none" instead if you wish to create a date entry
on your list, but not cross-reference the shn info. If there is more than
one shn set for a date, those will also be options in the pull-down.

At the very bottom left is a button to "Add Show". Make sure to click this
to add the entry to your list.

b. Add this show to your Want List
Example link: http://db.etree.org/addtowantlist.php?ref_shows=2332

If you have a username at db.etree.org, click this link to add the show to
your personal want list there. The particular shn set will not be listed-
just the show date.

c. List users with this show
Example link:
http://db.etree.org/shn_lookupshow.php?shows_key=47605&shninfo_key=1345

Clicking this link takes you to a page with the show db details for the
date (upper half of the page), plus a list of any db.etree.org traders who
have *cross-referenced* the info for the particular shn set on their
lists (lower half of the page).

This will not necessarily be a list of all traders having this show date,
but *only* the ones who have set up a link to the shn db entry. To pull
up a more complete list of traders possessing a given date, search for the
band/date from the pulldown at the top of the main trading page,
http://db.etree.org.

Search md5s

The search md5s form at the bottom of the /shncirc/ page allows you to enter a md5 checksum such as d2ed5e23a027cc56d72e16692809af12. When you click the search button, all the md5 entries will be searched for the checksum you entered. If only one source entry is found you will be redirected to that source detail. If none are found or multiple ones are found, the site will let you know.