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Submit Shn Info

to do- copy/update this info to a new page SubmitSourceInfo and turn this old page into a pointer to that, and update misc refs.

This page explains how to submit info for a new or corrected lossless fileset in circulation to db.etree.org, so that the info will appear in the Some Sources in Circulation pages. When you've finished reading this, you can submit your info by clicking on the "Add Source Record" link on the lower left corner of the [db.etree.org homepage]

First, please read Etree:SeedingGuidelines if you have any questions about creating your own seed. If you create your seed correctly, everything will fall into place when you submit it to etree.

Second, please remember three things:
  1. If no one admins the band, or the band is not trade friendly, the new source record will be placed in a queue for review when an admin volunteers. It could be there a long time . . . . (Want to volunteer? Click [here].)
  2. If someone does admin the band, your submission will be reviewed the admin for that band. It may take a few days, so please be patient. If you don't see your submission in a few days, politely e-mail the band's admin and ask about it. (The admin's name and e-mail address appear on the db.etree.org/shncirc/ page for the band).
  3. If you submit nice, neat, properly formatted info, it will be approved quicker. If you submit a mess that takes time to clean up, it will take longer and might be rejected. Admins are volunteers. Be good to us and we'll be good to you, too.
Third, thanks for contributing. Etree wouldn't be etree without you.

So, here's how to create nice, clean .txt, .md5 and/or ffp.txt files for submission to etree:

Step 1: Check and see whether your fileset already exists. If you have the same .txt file but different .md5s, you might have a re-do of an existing fileset (perhaps to fix sector boundary errors or to retrack the discs). These kinds of changes are usually better as new .md5 entries in an existing /shncirc entry, plus an explanation in the comment field, rather than a whole new /shncirc entry. If you've got something like that, it's quicker and easier to e-mail the admin with the new .md5 files and the explanation, rather than to submit a new Source in circulation entry.

Step 2: If this is a new show, then you need to make sure that .md5 and .txt files are looking sharp.
  • Open each .md5 and make sure that there is a line for each .shn file in the fileset. Use Notepad or a simple text editor, because .md5 files are just .txt files with an ".md5" file extension.
  • It's easier to review the .md5 if you put the checksum lines in the .md5 in track order. You can cut and paste until the lines look like this:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx *bandyyyy-mm-ddd1t01.shn
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx *bandyyyy-mm-ddd1t02.shn
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx *bandyyyy-mm-ddd1t03.shn
  • Please make sure that there is a carraige return (in Windows, a single black line) after the last checksum in the .md5 file.
  • If each line is the same length and there's an entry for each track, then the .md5 is OK.
  • Be sure to save the .md5 file in plain old, ordinary .txt format! If you just stick on a .txt extension, the .md5 could be saved with non-text characters that screw things up and must be removed by hand.
  • Check the artist names and dates of the .md5 files. The naming convention is explained in detail [here] and artist abbreviations are listed [here]. Whatever you do, please name the .md5 files consistently. These are all fine:
artist1999-07-01d1.md5
artist1999-07-01all.md5
artist1999-07-01.wav.md5
artist1999-07-01-fixed.md5
These are not:
artist 7-1-99(1).md5
artist7199.md5
artist9971d1.md5
noname.md5
Step 3: Next, take a look at the .txt file. A .txt file does three things:
  1. Give the band name, venue, city and date
  2. Give the source and transfer information
  3. Give the tracklist, broken down by disc.
  • The first four lines of the .txt file should look something like this:
Band Name
Date of Show
Venue
City and State
  • The next part of the .txt file contains the source and transfer information, and information about the taper or the person who seeded the show. Ideally, the source and transfer are on separate lines, like this example:
Source: SBD>MR>DAT
Transfer: DAT>Optical Cable>CD Burner>EAC>WAV>Soundforge>SHN
Taped by Joe Blow (joeblow@aol.com)
Seeded to etree on 2/31/02 by Jane Doe (janedoe@msn.com)

You can go here to learn more about Etree:SourceAbbreviations and transfer abbreviations.
  • Finally, there comes the tracklist. Tracklists can be simple names of the songs or complicated lists of track timings, instruments played, etc. It's nice to indicate set breaks and disc breaks, whether 80 minute discs are needed, and any quests artists. Remember -- the tracklist is for the final audio CDs, not for the SHN files.
  • Each track should be numbered and the numbering should correspond to the .md5 file. It's good practice to include the total disc playing time and, if you can, the timing for each track.
  • Be sure to match up the name of the .txt file with the .md5s. If you're submitting band1999-07-01.md5, the text file should be named band1999-07-01.txt.
  • Here are some examples of well-formatted .txt files: [1], [2], [3], and examples of the same show in [shn] and [flac].
  • Here’s an example of a [badly formatted .txt. file] and its sibling [badly formatted .md5 file]. Here's [another problem .txt file]: no track numbering and all lowercase.
  • Here's a good way to note problems with a seed if you can't fix the seed itself (look in the "comments" field): [4]

Step 4: Submit your Source info. Click on the "Add Source Record" link on the lower left corner of the [db.etree.org homepage].
  1. The first screen that comes up asks you to select an artist and how many .md5 files come with the setlist. Please submit to the artist name that appears on the [shncirc] pages -- e.g., "Garcia," not "Legion or Mary" or "Garcia & Saunders" or any other varient (those varients may never be seen).
  2. The next screen asks for the information that you expect to see when you look at an etree Source listing. You must enter:
  • The date. Most people use mm/dd/yy.
  • The circulation date, if known. If not, enter the month and year, or just the year, if you don't know, type in "before" and the date of submission.
  • The number of discs that the fileset takes up, both as data discs and as audio discs. If you don't know, take your best guess. It's safe to assume that everyone has 80 minute discs, so don't worry about that. (You can always put a note in the .txt file).
  • Comments. Here's where the source information goes. It's easy to cut and paste it from the .txt file. You can add the name of the taper, or seeder, too, or anything else that users will want to know, such as whether the new seed is a fix of an old one.
  • The comment field accepts simple .html tags. You can use the "<br>" (break) tag to separate text out by line. If you type in this: Source: S>MR>DAT<br>Transfer: DAT>CDR>EAC>SHN, it will look like this:
Source: S>MR>DAT
Transfer: DAT>CDR>EAC>SHN
Otherwise, it will look like this:
Source: S>MR>DATTransfer: DAT>CDR>EAC>SHN
  • You can also use the <a> tag to link the comment field to another URL. For example, you can link your new SHN to another one. For example, this text: "This SHN is the same source as <a href="http://db.etree.org/shninfo_detail.php?shnid=9787">this SHN</a>" will link to SHNid # 9787. You can see what it looks like in the comments field [here].
  1. should be # 4 The next field is for the name of the .txt file on your local hard drive, followed by the name for the .md5 link (e.g., "d1", "d2", "all", "wav.d1" etc.) and then the .md5 filename on your local hard drive. Be sure to save any edits before clicking the "Add>>" button, or etree will pull the old version of the files from your hard drive. D'oh!
That's it! When you click that "Add>" button, you'll see a message that says:

You have successfully added an shn record. This will not show up on the /shncirc/ pages until it has been approved. Note you will have to check back on the tables yourself, since the email notification function for this has never worked (sorry about that).

Sit back, enjoy your good deed, and your entry should be approved within a few days.