[slinkelist] Someone working on another "Covers" program?

Hoen, Dave Dave.Hoen@emulex.com
Thu, 28 Oct 1999 12:24:47 -0700


Well, I'm glad I'm not the only one who had problems with the Covers =
program.  I had covers showing up for albums I've never even considered =
buying.  I really thought someone was playing jokes when George =
Michael's "Listen Without Prejudice" album showed up with the cover for =
"Beverly Hills Cop" soundtrack.  I thought it was just too coincidental =
to not have been someone's practical joke.

Dave Hoen

----------
From:  Ken Geoffrion
Sent:  Thursday, October 28, 1999 10:27 AM
To:  ofriend@ldd.net; will@airmail.net
Cc:  slinkelist@nirvis.com
Subject:  Re: [slinkelist] Someone working on another "Covers" program?

Okay, I'll admit it.  I'm working on a new covers program.  I have to =
laugh=20
when I think about how much time I've spent versus using the "hammer"=20
approach.  But, I'm using it as an excuse to learn Visual Basic, and=20
enjoying myself -- so please don't lecture me for wasting my time. :>

The specific problem people are having with the program halting with an=20
error is probably due to a title/artist with a ":" colon in the name.  =
It's=20
one of the special characters that was omitted in the original program's =

filter.

My program is almost a total rewrite.  I'm trying to make it really=20
intelligent, but there are SO MANY situations where the cddb names are=20
really different than the CDNow database.  There are misspelled names,=20
titles in the artist fields, etc.  Soundtracks, Various Artists,=20
Collections, Greatest Hits, singles, obscure albums, special editions, =
etc.=20
are the real problem cases.  Also, I've had really bad luck with getting =

hits on most of my classic albums.  Many times an album will be listed =
2-3=20
times in the results of the search -- some with a cover, some without.  =
I=20
recognize this and keep searching.  Sometimes the cover chosen is not =
the=20
original cover, or just a mistake based on very similar names.  I =
haven't=20
devised a solution for handling that yet -- maybe an option to go back =
and=20
browse through the list of selected covers giving the user the chance to =

manually change the cover.  That would be pretty simple to do.  Most =
people=20
would probably just handle these manually by dragging and dropping.

I'm hitting over 90% on albums in the CDNOW database, where the names =
are at=20
least close to what they're supposed to be.  I'm completely skipping the =

classical genre for now.

The are other locations that have covers (like Amazon), but the pictures =
are=20
different sizes, so I chose to not pursue that.

One feature I've added that I really like is an Option to intervene when =
the=20
program can't find a cover.  A mini-browser will pop up, that lets the =
user=20
navigate to a page (if he can find one) that contains the cover, then =
click=20
a button that says "use this cover", or just skip the album completely.  =
Of=20
course, you can select the option not to do this so you don't have to =
sit=20
there while it's going through your entire collection, then come back =
and do=20
all the manual ones at one time.

I also generate a log file of all the errors (skipped, not found, no =
cover,=20
etc), so the status can be reviewed afterwards.

I'm not sure what the original author's idea was in writing the program =
in=20
two pieces -- a DLL and a driver program.  My guess is that he planned =
to=20
(or hoped Colby would) integrate the calls to the DLL from CDJ, itself =
(like=20
the calls CDJ makes to the cddb).  Either way, I've left the design that =

way, but I moved almost all of the intelligence to the DLL program. =20
Previously the driver (TestICProj) would make multiple calls to the DLL =
for=20
a single album, changing the parameters around hoping for a hit.  My DLL =

does all of that itself, trying many combinations of names.

I haven't yet learned how (technically) to package this into an =
installable=20
"package."  But, I'm close (a few more days) to being willing to let =
others=20
have a copy of the programs to play with.

Or, if anyone wants to email me his MDB file, I'd love to have more test =

criteria!


----Original Message Follows----
From: ofriend@ldd.net (ORAL FRIEND)
To: slinkelist@nirvis.com
Subject: Re: [slinkelist] Someone working on another "Covers" program?
Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999 11:32:15 -0500

I'd really like to see an update to the covers program, myself.  It =
crashes=20
on me about 20-30 covers into it, with an INVALID FILE TYPE error, or=20
something similar.  I've tried removing the Cd that I THINK it's working =
on,=20
but no luck.

It works great up to then, but since I have 600 CD's to get covers for, =
it=20
would be great to have it automated!  <g>



***************************************
Oral Friend  CNE
The M. Taylor Company
mailto:ofriend@mtaylorcompany.com
http://www.mtaylorcompany.com
***************************************


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