Download The Oct 98 Version of the DT

Subject: Download The Oct 98 Version of the DT
From: John in Brisbane
Date: 18 Jan 99 - 02:24 AM

Dear Mr Greenhaus, I note that the downloadable version of DT is available now - many, many thanks.

I think I'm right in saying that there is some duplication of files of new songs added in Oct 98 (a few hundred of them). Not a major problem, but could be confusing to new database detectives.

Perhaps I should start a new thread on this, but I have converted the DOS file of Song Titles (plus the indicator as to whether they have tunes or not) to an Excel spreadsheet. I can now sort it by title or filename or tune status, and also optionally print it - which has always hassled my PC setup. I have already sent it to a few people who routinely contribute new tunes to the DT, but would appreciate some feedback as to what to do with it now.

BTW what I did in Excel (pre Win 95) is relatively simple to do, but takes a bit of mucking around. It can probably be done in a variety of software packages that allow you to parse the database entries. Just unzip the Titles.zip file and Save As a spreadsheet file or similar. One of the steps is to use the '|' symbol as a de-limiter.

Without this extra foolishness however I still love the downloadable DT.

Want to find all songs without a tune? Press the Full Search command. Type in {NOT} play.ex* and hit your Enter button.

Feeling lonely and want to find bawdy songs missing the tune? Same routine but type in @bawdy {NOT} play.ex* and hit Enter.

Want to find all songs with the word 'Ireland' in the title. You'll only get a few if you use the Quick List command, rather than the huge number you would get if the word was merely included in the song, or some of its descriptive text.

Regards
John

Subject: RE: Download The Oct 98 Version of the DT
From: John in Brisbane
Date: 19 Jan 99 - 09:53 PM

Dick,

I have just noticed that the file TITLES.ZIP does not have any titles for songs beyond those starting with the letter T, but are certainly there in the database itself. Any clues please?

Regards
John

Subject: RE: Download The Oct 98 Version of the DT
From: Susan of DT
Date: 20 Jan 99 - 07:30 PM

The problem is in the titles file, not the database, which we discovered after sending it on to Max, of course. The songs are not duplicated, just the titles are on the titles file. The database works fine. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Subject: RE: Download The Oct 98 Version of the DT
From: Barbara Shaw
Date: 20 Jan 99 - 09:12 PM

Dick,

I'm still waiting to see the (at least) 20 or so songs that I posted that never made it to the Oct 98 version. I don't really want to post any more until you catch up, and I've got a lot more in my songbook that aren't in the DT. Not rushing you, just commenting.

(Examples: Curtains of Night, Hold Fast to the Right, Sweetest Gift a Mother's Smile, Walls of Time. Am I just searching wrong?)

Subject: RE: Download The Oct 98 Version of the DT
From: Joe Offer
Date: 21 Jan 99 - 12:26 AM

Hi, Barbara - Why wait for Dick to catch up? Anything you post is immediately available to everyone, and then it give us an opportunity to add comments and go off on tangents and whatever else it is that we do so well. I think Dick and Susan like to ruminate about some songs before they include them in the Digital Tradition, which may be a good idea. In the meantime, the forum has served us well as a supplement to the database.
-Joe Offer-