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Tech:Digitrad File Format
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Tech:Digitrad File Format |
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Subject: Tech:Digitrad File Format From: Scabby Douglas Date: 22 May 02 - 10:54 AM Hello... TechHead question follows: I'd like to find out some info about the file format of Digitrad - I have a notion to transfer the song/lyrics into another format of Database - possibly Access, maybe SQL Server.
Assuming that no-one objects to my attempting to transfer the information into an searchable database for myself, can anyone confirm, deny or comment on any of the following? - If any of the above is valid, can anyone help me understand the format? What I'm ideally trying to get to is an understanding of how the songs are seprated from one another in the file. It's OK to get fairly technical in your reply. Cheers
Steven |
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Subject: RE: Tech:Digitrad File Format From: Jon Freeman Date: 22 May 02 - 11:07 AM It's in AskSam format - a free format database... One possiblilty is to go to AskSam and to download the trial version. I've a feeling that had some limited export capabilities. Jon |
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Subject: RE: Tech:Digitrad File Format From: MudGuard Date: 22 May 02 - 12:38 PM Before you start working on that, Steven, have a look at DonkeyWork MudGuard/Andy |
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Subject: RE: Tech:Digitrad File Format From: Joe Offer Date: 22 May 02 - 01:14 PM Has anybody tried DonekyWork on Windows XP? I use it on Windows 98 2nd Edition, and it's rock-solid. The only thing is that it doesn't play the tunes for me. I know I can make it play the tunes, but the setup is more than I want to bother with. For that matter, has anybody tried the Windows CD version of Digitrad on Windows XP? -Joe Offer- |
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Subject: RE: Tech:Digitrad File Format From: DMcG Date: 22 May 02 - 01:27 PM I used DonkeyWork for quite a long time on Windows 2000 without problems, but eventually I have written by own search facility working from an Access database for two reasons. Firstly, by writing my own db I have been able to include things like other ABC files and the Child ballads in HTML from various sources. Also, I have been able to interface to music editing software which allows me to amend the music by adding harmonies, etc. So if you want to do things like this, consider writing your own search facility - but its far harder than you think. Otherwise, stick to DonkeyWork because its very good indeed at what it does. |
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Subject: RE: Tech:Digitrad File Format From: MudGuard Date: 22 May 02 - 01:40 PM Sorry, Joe, no play-time systems in my home and my company... MudGuard |
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Subject: RE: Tech:Digitrad File Format From: Joe Offer Date: 22 May 02 - 02:00 PM DMcG gives me an idea - It would be nice to have a Digital Tradition that I could customize, adding my own annotations and links. -Joe Offer- |
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Subject: RE: Tech:Digitrad File Format From: JohnInKansas Date: 23 May 02 - 03:32 AM It's been a long time since I've looked at my own copy of DigiTrad - it's a 1996 download, and I'm not sure it's complete. I think that I put it on 5.25 disks when I first got it, and I don't have the machinery to read them anymore - even if I could find them. If you click on "help" at the DigiTrad Search box, you can wander through some fairly general information that might be helpful. The first thing that caught my small brain is that the "search engine" unZips the data for a search result, but deletes anything unzipped when you're done with it (oversimplified?). The Zip method used is PKZip, which is fairly simple to find on the net. So there's nothing difficult about unzipping the whole database, if you've got a few dozen megabytes of someplace to put it? I've got a few files on my "archive" disk that I apparently unzipped and "saved out," and they look like fairly straight .TXT and .DOC stuff. The music is apparently "notated" in SongWright, but comes across in my unzippered text files as a fairly straight ABC-like notation. Shouldn't be too hard to "break the code," but SongWright is apparently available and could(?) write the tunes out in MID or MID2TXT or ABC format??? Is there a key in the (apparent) fact that the search engine works directly with zipped files - and you don't really have to do that if you unzip first? The unzipped dozen Meg was enormous when I got my copy, but by today's standards its perfectly manageable. Or have things changed more than I see in the DigeTrad since I got my sample? John |
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Subject: RE: Tech:Digitrad File Format From: Joe Offer Date: 23 May 02 - 03:42 AM Close, John, but no cigar. The lyrics database is in an AskSam database file called Oct99.ask. It remains intact, and is not unzipped. You're almost right about the tunes, though - they are extracted from a Zip file. The Zip file remains intact, and the extracted files are discarded after playing. The whole package is contained in a Zip file for downloading, but that file is no longer needed after the Digital Tradition is set up. Now, the ASK file is in small pieces after the download is unzipped, but the parts of the ASK file are put together in the setup process. The Digital Tradition has worked the same way since I first came across it in the early 1990's. -Joe Offer- |
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Subject: RE: Tech:Digitrad File Format From: JohnInKansas Date: 23 May 02 - 06:08 AM Thanks Joe - Given the time since I last looked at the thing (and a little touch of CRS) I wasn't sure which files are even part of the DigiTrad and which ones might be stuff I'd pulled out of it. Given that it's a database, if you can figure out what the record markers are, and what kind of pointers are being used, it should be fairly simple to pull out the data and reformat it so that you can import it into another database program(?) A quick look shows: The first 8K or so of the file appears to be devoted to instructions and display text. The first "visible" tune name appears about 8,151(?) bytes into the file ('ARD TAC in the Oct96 version). Subroutine calls are maybe enclosed in curly braces {} actually HEX 1B and 1D. - Pretty typical in several languages. The initial colon (Hex 3A) probably is used for "called strings." Hex FF appears to be used as a non-breaking space - and may display as a "y-umlaut." Linefeeds are maybe HEX 1C - give or take a byte. There is some similarity in what appear to be record start/record end markers, but it would take some sorting to figure them out. What appears to be the start of the first "lyric" is HEX 22 00 1E 23 00 00 DB 1E 00 00 00 1B 02 27 41 52 44 20 54 41 43 1C 1C 31 2E 02 49 27 6D After the unprintables 22 ... 02 comes 'ARD TAC (41 52 44 20 54 41 43) Obviously, it would be easier to have someone who knows the donkey introduce you, but it seems to have an "extractable" data setup. So - is this the kind of info wanted by someone?????? John |
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Subject: RE: Tech:Digitrad File Format From: Scabby Douglas Date: 23 May 02 - 07:34 AM Thanks all for your help. I'll start having a look at it again. As DMcG says, I had a notion that I could expand on what was there and add in my own bits'n'pieces. It's an exercise for myself as much as anything - I develop and maintain databases for other people - I wanted to see if I could get this set up for myself. Ultimately I'd like to port it all to a VB front-end with perhaps an Access MDB backend for the data. But first things first...
Thanks again for everyone's help - if I get anywhere, I'll let you know.
Cheers
Steven |
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Subject: RE: Tech:Digitrad File Format From: MMario Date: 23 May 02 - 08:43 AM I have the file format specs for Songwright files around somewhere - and can post if if people are interested. |
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Subject: RE: Tech:Digitrad File Format From: MMario Date: 23 May 02 - 08:53 AM A SongWright file consists of two parts: a) header b) music ============================== Syntax of the header ------------------------------ There are eight lines starting thus: ------------------------------ N- C- A- T- S- K- B- F- ------------------------------ N-Name of piece C-Composer A-Author T-Tempo S-Speed (15- 270 range) K-Key eg A Bb F# a (minors in lower case) B-Time eg 4/4 (0/0 is free time) F-Footnote, eg date ------------------------------ Entries for the KEY and the TIME are the only necessary ones. ============================== Syntax of the music ------------------------------ Header line One or two music lines One or more lyric lines (One or two music lines) (One or more lyric lines) (etc.) ------------------------------ Each line has a fixed begining ------------------------------ H- M- or M+ or m- or etc. L- ------------------------------ Words and/or guitar chords can be put in the header line. ------------------------------ eg H- Am Dm G7 Am ------------------------------ ------------------------------ Syntax ------------------------------ [clef part][width part][notes] ------------------------------ Syntax of clef part [clef][+or-][number of bars in line] ------------------------------ M treble clef m bass clef + treble clef with bars joined to clef below - bass clef not joined below # (need not be accurate!) ------------------------------ Syntax of width part ------------------------------ You may see a width display command next such as W-1 W-2 W-3 W-4 W-5 Note, W-3 is the default and may be omitted. ------------------------------ Syntax of notes ------------------------------ [note code][accidental][measure][characteristic] ------------------------------ Note codes ------------------------------ Treble clef note codes (white notes) ------------------------------ Code Note < C-- lowest note = D-- > E-- ? F-- @ G-- A A-- B B-- C C- D D- E E- F F- G G- a A- b B- c C Middle C d D e E f F g G h A i B j C+ k D+ l E+ m F+ n G+ o A+ p B+ highest note r rest R rest x blank X blank ------------------------------ Bass clef note codes (white notes) ------------------------------ Code Note < C--- lowest note = D--- > E--- ? F--- @ G--- A A--- B B--- C C-- D D-- E E-- F F-- G G-- a A-- b B-- c C-- d D- e E- f F- g G- h A- i B- j C middle C k D l E m F n G o A p B highest note r rest R rest x blank X blank ------------------------------ Accidental codes ------------------------------ code meaning - normal # sharp $ double sharp & flat * double flat % natural ------------------------------ Measure codes ------------------------------ Code meaning 1 whole note 2 half note 3 dotted half note 4 quarter note 5 dotted quarter note 8 eighth note 9 dotted eighth note 0 sixteenth note - dotted sixteenth note = thirty second note / triplet 6 quarter triplet 7 eighth triplet ) sixteenth triplet ------------------------------ Characteristic codes ------------------------------ Code meaning [space] nothing + chorded with next note _ tied to next note . staccato - legato |
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Subject: RE: Tech:Digitrad File Format From: DMcG Date: 23 May 02 - 08:58 AM That's for that, MMario. Up to now I have just extracted the lyrics from Songwright but I'll use this info to 'grab' some of the other info. |
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Subject: RE: Tech:Digitrad File Format From: MMario Date: 23 May 02 - 09:08 AM songwrite files are pure dos text, so can be pulled in and edited in any text processor. |
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Subject: RE: Tech:Digitrad File Format From: Scabby Douglas Date: 23 May 02 - 11:01 AM Nice to know I'm not the only poor sad-get-a-life-techy bugger in here... Some of you guys are much worse than me... :) Cheers Steven |
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