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In lugnet.general, "Mike Poindexter" <lego@poindexter.cc> writes:
> [...]
> It seems as though the online system at Lugnet is not really doing it very
> well,
Well, it's not trying to yet...that part is still a ways out.
> as it hasn't been updated and searches don't return current sets that
> have part X. Also, if I inventory a set, then how do I put it into Tim
> Vattima's database? I can't.
Right. That interface was a quick prototype and an experiment to get the
feel of cross-referencing hops between different object types. It was never
meant as anything but a static data set based on a snapshot. Of course,
later the data can be extracted from it and retrofit for a dynamic format.
> All I can do is upload it to db.inv and then
> those who can program text parsers use it and the majority of the rest of
> people here don't see it or benefit from it.
Right. The .db.inv newsgroup was never meant as anything more than a
stopgap: the next best thing to actually having a DB. That is to say, with
the newsgroup, there's a common place to begin collecting and archiving new
inventories for the real shebang later, rather than having them completely
scattered.
> [...] Face it, a windows only application would serve the majority of
> Lugnet users better than the current system. [...] I actually LIKE
> windows. [...] Also, I think connecting to an online database is great,
> but then you HAVE to be online to get it to work. I would personally
> prefer a database that would work offline that could be updated through
> either downloading a patch OR syncronizing over the net. Then you could
> have the best of both worlds.
Say, that reminds me... What you're describing sounds almost exactly like
what Tim Vattima implemented for Windows several years ago. I remember
seeing a beta version of it in 1995...it had a toolbar, multiple windows,
and so forth. I don't know if Tim is still working on it in his spare time,
but if he is, it must be pretty amazing by now. It was a Windows app that
was created specially for entering inventories of LEGO sets. It's what he
used to enter the 800 inventories which appear here:
http://www.lugnet.com/inv/tv/
I forget whether Tim's app uses his own RDBMS or an external RDBMS such as
Access. I remember he did mention in RTL once that his element identifiers
were 4-digit hexadecimal numbers, allowing for a maximum of ~65,000
different LEGO elements.
So you might want to consider contacting TimV and seeing what his current
plans are for his Windows application. Maybe he's already got exactly what
you want.
> I just noticed that there are 3206 sets in the Pause directory. I know many
> are DUPLO and Scala, but there are probably around 2000 Lego sets and the
> average set size is about 130 pieces, which ends up being over a quarter
> million pieces to inventory. I think Access can handle it without too much
> difficulty, but if it can't, I will either upsize it or port it to another
> database program.
>
> How is the bricktionary debate doing, by the way? I would LOVE to include a
> bricktionary in the database as part of the parts inventory system. Is there
> any plan yet to make the bricktionary an online database or possibly an
> offline one?
I'm not sure exactly how Sybrand's plans are coming along, but he's got a
webpage with a fair amount of data collected:
http://members.tripod.com/~Sybrand_Bonsma/lepanadat/
"Brictionary" is the name of the resource on LUGNET which will be for
looking up LEGO elements by name or characteristic or browsing, and will be
tied in with the inventories and set databases. For more background, see:
http://www.lugnet.com/admin/plan/
http://www.lugnet.com/admin/plan/3.html
http://www.lugnet.com/admin/plan/3a.html
http://www.lugnet.com/admin/plan/5.html
http://www.lugnet.com/admin/database/?n=362
http://www.lugnet.com/admin/database/?n=325
A prerequisite for the Brictionary™ and dynamic inventories is having
memberships for data authentication and so forth. Memberships are still at
least a month away, but I think they'll be ready by Thanksgiving or
Christmas.
--Todd
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: Inventories
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| (...) Well, there are several reasons I am not going to do that. First off is that I know how to program Access. Those who know how to program other systems have not put forth the time to make one in their programming language of choice, so I will (...) (25 years ago, 10-Oct-99, to lugnet.general, lugnet.db.inv, lugnet.db.brictionary)
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