Subject:
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Re: wishing upon a star
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.db.brictionary
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Date:
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Thu, 26 Aug 1999 02:59:46 GMT
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Viewed:
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1889 times
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In lugnet.db.brictionary, Dave Lovelace writes:
[SNIP]
> I think that 90% of the users of a would-be PartSearch.com (or whatever) are
> NOT businessmen, NOT out to make cash from this, but simply ignoramuses like
> myself who would potentially benefit from a more logical numbering sytem that
> might enable them to track down the parts they're trying to find.
>
> That said, I'll crawl back under my rock....(made of BURP's, no less)...
Well, not so fast. All ideas are welcome here. Maybe a larger
perspective might help. I understand the frustration of an
ignoramus coming to LEGO parts naming and numbering. I've been there.
I'm still there. ( ... Ah feeuhl yo' pain ....) In large part, it's
something that only experience can help.
This group and the postings here, as I understand it, are
part of a larger, long-term effort to provide an integrated
database of part names, descriptions, colors and numbers, along
with links to the sets in which these occur.
What kind of queries should this database handle? I don't
know of any requirements document for it but I would expect
it to handle inquiries such as
1. "Which sets contain part pppp in red?"
2. "Is part pppp in set ssss?"
3. "What parts are contained in set ssss?"
This is similar to that provided now by
http://www.lugnet.com/inv/tv/.
4. The toughest kind of query is "I have this part. It
looks kinda like blahblahblah and I'm not sure
where it came from but what is it? What set does it come from?"
In query #1-3, you have a number already, you want further info. It's
just not necessary for these types of numbers to be coded with
part information. They merely provide a key into a database which
brings up a record containing part-information and links.
I can understand how you could use a code such as you propose
to tackle #4, if you have the rules at hand for forming such a
code, but it might be easier to provide a browsing capability
such as: http://home.att.net/~partsref/
Sure, it takes some pecking around. It would probably take
some pecking around by forming a complex part number also
because, depending on how complex it is, you might not get it
right the first few times. As others have pointed out, bricks
and plates are easy. It's when you get to Technic, Throwbot, and
train parts, for example, that things get complex. Even
the differences among modified bricks and plates can be subtle
and lead to complex identification schemes.
Ideally, for a query like #4, you'd like to be able to look at
the part in your hand, read off the number on it and type it in.
Unfortunately, TLG doesn't put numbers on all of its parts.
Here's an idea. Print out the long version of the list at
http://titan.informatik.uni-bonn.de/~uhlmann/partlst.html and
paste the pages all over the wall next to your bathroom mirror
and every morning, ah, well .... :-0
I've rambled on enough. There's more to this. We can use all the
suggestions we can get here. Keep them coming and don't go hide.
as evah,
John C.
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: wishing upon a star
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| (...) Thank you for the kind words, John...and the insights. I am a two-month old "newbie" and have very little to offer gods of thinking such as yourself, and also of course the other geniuses involved in this discussion, other than simple hero (...) (25 years ago, 26-Aug-99, to lugnet.db.brictionary)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: wishing upon a star
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| (...) Pardon my inexperience. I am neither a program designer, nor a person with any business logic whatsoever...perhaps I should have footnoted these factss before sticking my idea out here. I think that 90% of the users of a would-be (...) (25 years ago, 26-Aug-99, to lugnet.db.brictionary)
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