Re: database information

[billyc999]

im hoping to purchase bigbox this weekend ,when i have time to start messing with it, but i have a question regarding the onscreen information , ive kinda gathered that the info comes from the gamesdb but im wondering if it will be possible to use my csv files to create the data, as i spent months creating them id rather i use them as theres quite a substantial amount of information ready for my sets im sure some of you will of seen my csv files but for thos who asnt here's a link https://github.com/billyc999/Game-database-info also is there any plans to split the launchbox database as it could end up rather huge

[SentaiBrad]

We don't use the Games DB at all anymore, we've since created our own LaunchBox Games Database almost completely. Wikipedia support was left over from before we created out own and EmuMovies is mostly for video with some extra media to fill in holes. In terms of using your CSV file, no we currently have no way to do this. It would be nice if we could convert that info in to the .xml files, but this is a lot harder than people would think. Not just formatting differences, but different names and what not. In the end though, yea this is probably most certainly a good idea. If the ticket doesn't exist on our BitBucket you're more than welcome to request it from the link at the top of the forums. Otherwise I ask, if you haven't already created LaunchBox Games Database, to look in to it and read out guideline thread in it's subforum. If you're willing to share that info I would appreciate it if you uploaded it to our Database so that every user can take advantage of it. We were a copy of GamesDB several months ago, and since then we've had thousands and thousands of changes made by users, but we know for a fact we're not anywhere near perfect (and we still have a few features to implement too), so we could really benefit to having that information.

[billyc999]

cool, whats the standard of naming thats used, the csv files are based on hyperspin's xml files so they match emu movies media. reagrding adding the info to the database would that need to be done 1 game at a time. have you got an example of 1 entry in launchbox database im sure ive already seen it but will double check,as converting to xml would be simple but im sure i saw other information that was in the database that is probably created by launchbox

[SentaiBrad]

Look at your LaunchBox.xml, that is where all the information is stored that you downloaded to your library.

[CriticalCid]

LaunchBox also downloads the newest copy of all the metadata from the LaunchBox database when you add new games. You can find it under “LaunchBox/Metadata/Metadata.xml”. Maybe @Jason could even use your metadata and batch add them to the online database to fill all the holes?

[SentaiBrad]

As per the ticket too, chances are there won't be ways to add info to the Database from CSV files, but rather add info in to LaunchBox from CSV files. As long as the CSV file has the same formatting from everyone who uses it we can easily transfer the formats then have it readable by the XML. If the CSV files can vary in formatting then there might be a slim chance for it to be implemented because then there is no way for us to be able to import accurately.

[billyc999]

as soon as i get chance to set launchbox up ill take a look at the database structure, but if jason can do something with them that would be great, it probably would be better if i sorted them because some of them are pretty basic and need the info filling in. however the structure of the csv can be changed to suit lanchbox if thats needed. at present time the are all set up in this order Rom|Year|Rating|Game Name|Publisher|Developer|Genre|Score|Players|Description we used them with this formula

=CONCATENATE("<game name=";CHAR(34);A1;CHAR(34);"> <year>";B1;"</year> <rating>";C1;"</rating> <title>";D1;"</title> <pub>";E1;"</pub> <dev>";F1;"</dev> <genre>";G1;"</genre> <score>";H1;"</score> <player>";I1;"</player> <story>";J1;"</story> </game>")

to create the xml like this , also requires the xml to be run through Notepad++ to reg ex (Find) > <

<game name="astdelux"> <year>1980</year> <rating>ESRB - E (Everyone)</rating> <title>Asteroids Deluxe</title> <pub>Atari</pub> <dev>Atari</dev> <genre>Shooter</genre> <score>3.2</score> <player>1 Player</player> <story>A "Deluxe" version of Atari's original Asteroids, Asteroids Deluxe swaps the vector graphics for bitmaps. The basic gameplay is still the same: You fly your triangular ship around a space which wraps around the edges, filled with asteroids. Shooting the asteroids splits them into two smaller ones, until they are small enough to be destroyed. If you collide with an asteroid, you're dead, unless you activate your forcefield which will bounce the ship off the asteroids. Sometimes, a flying saucer flies through the screen, shooting everywhere. Additional asteroid shapes also show up, such as the blue target-seeking hexagons which split up into smaller triangular missiles.</story>

**edit** i just had a look at the metadata file

<Name>Air Warrior</Name> <ReleaseDate>1995-01-01T00:00:00-08:00</ReleaseDate> <Overview>Air Warrior was an early multiplayer on-line air-combat simulator introduced in 1986 by Kesmai. The game was played over modems and hosted on the GEnie online service provider. Players could choose one of a number of World War II aircraft to fly, along with a small number of ground vehicles, and play in a multiplayer "arena" with hundreds of other players. The game focussed mostly on dogfighting, with a secondary strategic role of capturing forward airbases near the center of the map. Several updated versions followed, and additional service providers were added over time.</Overview> <Cooperative>false</Cooperative> <DatabaseID>14369</DatabaseID> <CommunityRating>5</CommunityRating> <Platform>3DO Interactive Multiplayer</Platform> <Genres> Action; Flight Simulator</Genres> <Publisher>kesmai</Publisher> </Game>

diffrences i see are release date (launchbox full date) (csv's just year) Name (easy to correct in the csv with reg ex \(.*\) this would be the first column as it is the actual rom name ) Cooperative (doesnt exsist on csv files) Platform (easy to add) DatabaseID (unsure how this is created)

[billyc999]

quick question: everytime you start launchbox does it try to add information from the online source, if so is it possible to turn this off so i can create my own metadata.xml to use

[SentaiBrad]

No it doesn't. The Metadata.xml in the Metadata folder has all of the metadata for the entire Database. It used to be that it was updated when LaunchBox was, but now with the database it will ask you to update your Metadata.xml if it's outdated. Other than that, media is only downloaded when queried.

[billyc999]

cool ill do some testing

[billyc999]

ok i changed my atari 2600 csv a little and used the formula then through notepad++ to clean it up

=CONCATENATE("<Name>";A1;"</Name> <Year>";B1;"</Year> <Overview>";C1;"</Overview> <MaxPlayers>";D1;"</MaxPlayers> <Cooperative>";E1;"</Cooperative> <DatabaseID>";F1;"</DatabaseID> <CommunityRating>";G1;"</CommunityRating> <Platform>";H1;"</Platform> <ESRB>";I1;"</ESRB> <Genres>";J1;"</Genres> <Developer>";K1;"</Developer> <Publisher>";L1;"</Publisher> </game>")

questions ive removed the region tags in the game names, will launchbox still match the info to my roms which contain the region tags if i use this as a metadata file should it work and ive noticed in launchbox theres the option to edit fields, what happens when you fill in them fields does it update the launchbox database for everyone. im asking this as i dont want to use a custom metadata file that will update other peoples. so before i test i will wait for an answer atari 2600 metadata file attached , had to rename extension to txt to upload

[CriticalCid]

LaunchBox ignores all tags in the filename like region, languages, etc on import. So you should be fine. Also when you edit a field in LB it changes them only for you in your own LaunchBox.xml. If you want to change or add something so that the whole community can benefit from it you still have to do this directly in the online LB database. So no worries :)

[billyc999]

thanks for that, ive got around 50+ csv file that are complete so ill make them up into one file. need to test the 2600 one first tomorrow, also got to do some reading on launchbox first as i dont know how to use it lol once ive merged my csv files into one xml, i can share if anyone wants to use it

[SentaiBrad]

That won't really work. The LaunchBox.xml holds ALL the settings and information for any given LaunchBox install, so it wont work if you give your LaunchBox.xml to anyone else. For others to use that information you need to upload it to the LaunchBox Games Database.

[CriticalCid]

I guess he means a Metadata.xml he wants to build with his csv files for using it to import his own metadata into LaunchBox. I don’t know if that will work but I could imagine that it would.

[SentaiBrad]

It should work until LaunchBox is updated or the package is updated, then if you use the download and replace metadata option it will replace it within LaunchBox. It may not even work the first time, because the second you go to Tools -> Download Images and Metadata you'll need to select to replace all the fields, and it may see that the Metadata.xml is different and assume it needs to be updated and ask you to update the file.

[SentaiBrad]

For a bit of clarification, I'm not saying you can't insert your own metadata in to your LaunchBox.xml (You very much can), but you can't really share that as it's all personalized settings and the Metadata.xml is not necessarily designed to be altered.

[CriticalCid]

Assuming it would work that LaunchBox can easily import metadata from a custom Metadata.xml than I think a simple way to do this would be to add the platform regularly to get all the images and LB metadata. That’s especially important for the values which aren’t included in his CSV's like the LBDB ID. After that just replace the LB Metadata.xml with the custom one and import the data by either replacing all values or just fill in the gaps. When LB wants to download the current LB metadata.xml just cancel the download or disconnect your PC from the internet while importing. Done Or have I overlooked something?

[DOS76]

Isn't that basically what lightspeed does uses other data sources to populate the LB.xml

[CriticalCid]

Not exactly. Lightspeed does directly import/write the new games into the LaunchBox.xml. But I’m talking about to use a custom Metadata.xml so that no additional tools for importing would be needed.