Xmcd Local Discographies

by Ti kan

Local Discographies

Browse Local Discographies by category:
Blues | Classical | Country | Data | Folk | Jazz
New Age | Reggae | Rock | Soundtrack | Misc

## Introduction

Welcome to xmcd Local Discographies. This is a storage area on your system that can be used to collect and organize files related to each CD you own. The files can be text, HTML or other documents, image or animation files, sound clips, etc. Examples are music reviews, artist interviews, photographs, fan information, MP3 sound files etc. You can download these from fan sites on the Internet, or create your own. You can make local web pages that contain links to Internet sites, or links to files associated with other CDs in Local Discographies.

These files can be viewed, played and/or printed using the wwwWarp feature of xmcd. Xmcd will drive an external web browser to access the files.

## Directory Organization

The top-level Local Discographies directory is /var/db/xmcd/discog on your system. This was created when xmcd was installed. Under this directory there are directories for each music category (i.e., rock, classical, jazz, etc.). These categories match those of the CD database. Under each category, xmcd maintains directories pertaining to each CD. The directory names are the 8-digit disc ID of each CD. The category and disc ID are both shown on the xmcd CD Database / Program window. In the directory you can store files related to the CD.

For example, if you have a CD whose category is jazz and the disc ID is c00fc60e, then the directory for this CD is:

    	/var/db/xmcd/discog/jazz/c00fc60e

## Setup Instructions

Here is the information on how to set up Local Discographies.

#### wwwWarp configuration

Xmcd must be configured properly for wwwWarp. This means that there is a supported web browser on your system (Netscape Navigator, Netscape Communicator or NCSA Mosaic). When xmcd was installed the correct browser must be configured. If your xmcd was not configured correctly for wwwWarp, you can re-configure it by logging in as root, and then running the xmcdconfig script.

Of course, in order to reach Internet sites, your system must be connected to the Internet. However, the Local Discographies feature does not require an Internet connection.

Once configured, re-start xmcd and check the wwwWarp feature by choosing "Browse the official Xmcd web site" and clicking "Go!".

#### Local Discography directories

When xmcd is installed for the first time, the top level Local Discographies directory as well as the music category subdirectories are created for you. When you use wwwWarp to view a CD's Local Discography, the directory for that CD is automatically created for you if it doesn't already exist. The path name of the directory is described in the Directory Organization section above.

An HTML index file is also automatically generated by xmcd and installed in each CD's Local Discography directory. This is the file that xmcd will point your web browser to, when you view a CD's Local Discography.

You can put other related files in each CD's Local Discography directory, such as images and sound clips. These files will automatically appear in the CD's Local Discography when you use xmcd's wwwWarp system to view it.

You can set up cron(1M) on your system to run the /usr/local/share/xmcd/scripts/genidx script periodically (for example, once every night) to re-generate the per-category Local Discography HTML index page (/var/db/xmcd/discog/category/index.html). This allows you to browse the categories using your browser.

You are now ready to use Local Discographies!

## How to Use

To use Local Discographies, start xmcd and load a CD in the drive. Click on the wwwWarp button on xmcd's main window (this is the button with the world symbol). A wwwWarp window will pop up. Choose the "Local Discography for this CD title" entry, then click "Go!" to make your web browser go to the appropriate directory.

The web browser will display the artist, disc title and track title information about the currently loaded CD, as well as other information from the CD database.

If there are other files in the directory, the browser will also display a directory listing of the directory. You can click on a file to view or play it. Note that your web brower may need certain plug-ins in order to play some file formats.

The page will also display web links (URLs) associated with each CD, if any are found in the extended information portions of the CD database information.

## Copyrights

Please be aware of possible legal implications when sharing music-related files with others. Some of the information, including album cover art, graphics and photos, lyrics and other data are likely to be protected by copyright. Xmcd and its author are not liable for the users' actions.

## Related Links

- Xmcd - Motif CD player by Ti Kan
- Xmmix - Motif audio mixer by Ti Kan
- CDDB - CD Database
- Plugger - Streaming multimedia plug-in for UNIX Netscape by Fredrik Hübinette
- Sox - Sound eXchange: sound file format conversion utility by Lance Norskog
- Open Sound System - Sound driver for UNIX

@(#)discog.htm 6.15 99/08/17