Credits 4.19

Introduction

The database aims to capture any and all information associated with movies from across the world, starting with the earliest cinema, going through to the very latest releases and even movies still in production. Many thousand of the movies are covered completely from the major actors to the minor bit players and crew members.

Requirements

The mkdb program needs ~26MBytes of memory (8MB wimpslot + 16MB dynamic area).

Downloading

The list files are available by anonymous ftp from

• uiarchive.cso.uiuc.edu
• ftp.funet.fi
• ftp.fu-berlin.de
• ftp.sunet.se (http)

The files need to be renamed as below (bold indicates an essential file; italic indicates that filename is also changed.)

Unix	RISC OS 3
actors.list actors.list.gz	list.actors listgz.actors
actresses.list actresses.list.gz	list.actresses listgz.actresses
aka-names.list aka-names.list.gz	list.aka-names listgz.aka-names
aka-titles.list aka-titles.list.gz	list.aka-titles listgz.aka-titles
alternate-versions.list alternate-versions.list.gz	list.alternate listgz.alternate
biographies.list biographies.list.gz	list.biography listgz.biography
business.list business.list.gz	list.business listgz.business
certificates.list certificates.list.gz	list.certificat listgz.certificat
cinematographers.list cinematographers.list.gz	list.cine listgz.cine
color-info.list color-info.list.gz	list.color-info listgz.color-info
complete-cast.list complete-cast.list.gz	list.complete listgz.complete
{complete-crew.list complete-crew.list.gz	list.compl-crew listgz.compl-crew}
composers.list composers.list.gz	list.composers listgz.composers
costume-designers.list costume-designers.list.gz	list.costumes listgz.costumes
countries.list countries.list.gz	list.countries listgz.countries
crazy-credits.list crazy-credits.list.gz	list.crazy listgz.crazy
directors.list directors.list.gz	list.directors listgz.directors
distributors.list distributors.list.gz	list.distribute listgz.distribute
editors.list editors.list.gz	list.editors listgz.editors
genres.list genres.list.gz	list.genres listgz.genres
goofs.list goofs.list.gz	list.goofs listgz.goofs
language.list language.list.gz	list.language listgz.language
laserdisc.list laserdisc.list.gz	list.laserdisc listgz.laserdisc
literature.list literature.list.gz	list.literature listgz.literature
locations.list locations.list.gz	list.locations listgz.locations
miscellaneous.list miscellaneous.list.gz	list.miscellany listgz.miscellany
movies.list movies.list.gz	list.movies listgz.movies
movie-links.list movie-links.list.gz	list.movie-link listgz.movie-link
plot.list plot.list.gz	list.plot listgz.plot
producers.list producers.list.gz	list.producers listgz.producers
production-companies.list production-companies.list.gz	list.companies listgz.companies
production-designers.list production-designers.list.gz	list.proddesign listgz.proddesign
quotes.list quotes.list.gz	list.quotes listgz.quotes
ratings.list ratings.list.gz	list.ratings listgz.ratings
release-dates.list release-dates.list.gz	list.release listgz.release
running-times.list running-times.list.gz	list.running listgz.running
sound-mix.list sound-mix.list.gz	list.sound-mix listgz.sound-mix
soundtracks.list soundtracks.list.gz	list.soundtrack listgz.soundtrack
special-effects-companies.list special-effects-companies.list.gz	list.special-fx listgz.special-fx
taglines.list taglines.list.gz	list.taglines listgz.taglines
technical.list technical.list.gz	list.technical listgz.technical
trivia.list trivia.list.gz	list.trivia listgz.trivia
writers.list writers.list.gz	list.writers listgz.writers

After the database files are created the program 'Make' needs to be run add some extra index files needed for the Credits application; this should create files Actors, Actresses, AKA-Titles, AKA-Names, Cine, Composers, Costumes, Directors, Editors, Miscellany, Movies, Producers, ProdDesign, Writers, and Years in the !Credits directory. Credits should now be ready to run.

Running Credits

If you want to use the HTML output option the filer will need to have seen a suitable web browser. The hyperlinks only work using Stewart Brodie's ArcWeb (see http://www.dsse.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~snb94r/) and Acorn's browser (see the file BrowseMe for help on configuration).

Help on the running of the application can be obtained by running the Interactive Help application (!Help) from Apps.

Customisation

workspace: maximum size (KB) for dynamic area
pcommand3: command to display filmography; %0 is name of file (uses PIPEFS).

The order of the messages beginning with D_ affects the Search Lists menu.
The order of the messages beginning with I_ affects the filmography output.
The order of the messages beginning with T_ affects the trivia output; particular trivia lists can be enabled/disabled from the Options menu, their initial state is obtained from the Choices file. They can also be enabled by setting the variable Credits$Options (eg *setenv Credits$Options -Trivia 2+8 will enable the 2nd and 4th lists).
Message beginning with N_ indicate a the list has character name information.
Message beginning with C_ indicate that the attribute information should be converted as if it was character name information (usually set for the Miscellaneous list). eg

                        Derek Cracknell  (assistant director)

Assistant director      Derek Cracknell

The codes in MessagesH/T (eg Plo.PL:, LAB:, Bio.TR:, NOVL: and link07:) specify which plot, technical, biography, literature or link fields should be displayed. Note that some of them have trailing spaces.

To disable information comment the relevant line out with a '#' in column 1. Note that some fields (eg Bio.AG:Agent's address) are already marked disabled.

The MessagesX file contains kludges to improve the output for browsers without TABLEs.

Note also that any changes will not have any effect until Credits is rerun. If you produce any interesting display routines, or translate the Messages file into another language, please let me know.

Unix tools

You can use mkdb (example script) to update or build the database - Do not use it to update the database if there is no key.counts file or if it is only eight bytes long.

John.P.Baker@bristol.ac.uk