INTERNET PINBALL DATABASE PROJECT New Database Structure Document Information Initiated: Tue Dec 5 08:59:32 1995 Document ID: DCB-01 Author: David Byers Change Log: .#1 DOCUMENT OVERVIEW ------------------------------------------------------------ . + IPD Structure General information about the structure of the IPD. . + IPD Components Specific information about components of the IPD. . + Release Database Information about the IPD as released outside the project. . + Consolidated Databases Specifics about consolidated (merged) databases. .#2 IPD STRUCTURE ------------------------------------------------------------ The IPD consists of a number of databases, each maintained separately. Each database consists of a common set of data fields and a database-specific set of fields. The databases are: . + CORE The core database contains basic information such as machine name, release date and machine type. . + PEOPLE The people database contains information about the people involved in design, construction and production of a machine. . + AUX The auxiliary database contains textual information relating to a machine and references to outside sources. . + INTERNET The internet database contains references to related material on the Internet. . + SERIAL The serial numbers database contains information about known serial numbers for a machine. . + FEATURES The features database contains information about game features, such as playfield targets. . + MANUFACTURER The manufacturers database contains information about game manufacturers. .#3 IPD COMPONENTS ------------------------------------------------------------ This section specifies the various component databases that make up the complete IPD. . #1 COMMON FIELDS ------------------------------------------------------------ These fields appear in all databases with the exception of the manufacturer's database. . #1 IDNO [CHANGED] ID number of the machine this record is about, if any. Numeric. . #2 SOURCE Source of the information in this record. List of strings. . #3 UPDATED [NEW] Date of last update. List of dates. . #4 DATABASE [NEW] Databases the information in this record belongs to. . #5 XREF [NEW] Cross-references to other machines. Special list of strings Format: ID=REASON where ID is the ID number of the references record and REASON is a string used to annotate the reference. . #2 CORE DATABASE [CORE] ------------------------------------------------------------ This database holds the core of the information in the IPD. The information here fully describes what kind of a game a machine is, who made it and when it appeared on the market. . #1 MANUFACTURER [CHANGED] ID of the game's manufacturer. . #2 MACHINE Names of the machine. List of strings. First string is the most common name. . #3 ABBREVIATION Common abbreviations. List of strings. . #4 MODEL Model ID of the machine. List of strings. . #5 YEAR Year released. . #6 MONTH [CHANGED] Month released. Numeric (1-12) . #7 DAY Day released. Numeric (1-31) . #8 PLAYERS Number of players. Numeric. . #9 PRODUCTION Production run. Range. . #10 SPECIALTY Machine specialty. Add-a-ball, bat game etc. List of strings. . #11 THEME Game theme. List of strings. . #12 TYPE [NEW] Game type. List of strings. SS, EM, Woodrail, etc. . #3 PEOPLE DATABASE [PEOPLE] ------------------------------------------------------------ This database lists names of people involved in creating the game. . #1 CONCEPT Person with game concept. List of strings. . #2 DESIGN Designers. List of strings. . #3 ART Artwork. List of strings. . #4 GRAPHICS Computer graphics. List of strings. . #5 PROGRAMMING Programming team. List of strings. . #6 SOUND Sound engineers and designers. List of strings. . #7 MUSIC Music composers and engineers. List of strings. . #8 MECHANICS Creators of game mechanics. List of strings. . #9 PEOPLE [NEW] Other people whose role does not fit in the above categories or is unknown. . #4 AUXILIARY DATABASE [AUX] ------------------------------------------------------------ This database contains various auxiliary information, mostly in text format. . #1 SLOGANS Marketing slogans. List of strings. . #2 NOTES Notable features and firsts. Tidbiys of information. List of strings. . #3 PHOTOS References to photos in books and magazines. List of strings. . #5 INTERNET INFORMATION SOURCE [INTERNET] ------------------------------------------------------------ This database contains information about resources that are available over the Internet. . #1 RULES References to rule sheets. List of URL-references. . #2 FILES References to informational material. List or URL-references. . #3 IMAGES References to images. Special list of strings. . #6 SERIAL NUMBERS DATABASE [SERIAL] ------------------------------------------------------------ This database contains information about serial numbers. . #1 SERIAL [NEW] Serial numbers. Special list of strings. . #2 SERIALINFO [NEW] Free-text information about numbers. List of strings. . #7 FEATURES DATABASE [FEATURES] ------------------------------------------------------------ This database lists playfield and cabinet features of each game. . #1 DROPTARGETS [NEW] Number of drop targets. Numeric. . #2 BUMPERS [NEW] Number of bumpers. Numeric. . #3 FLIPPERS [NEW] Number of flippers. Numeric. . #4 KICKBACK [NEW] Kickback. Boolean. . #5 SAUCERS [NEW] Number of kickout saucers. Numeric. . #6 LEVELS [NEW] Number of playfield levels. Numeric. . #7 TOYS Toys included in the game, such as dinosaurs, flopping fish and cue balls. List of strings. . #8 MANUFACTURERS DATABASE [MANF] ------------------------------------------------------------ This database contains information about manufacturers. It does not include the common fields. . #1 MANFID ID of the manufacturer. String. . #2 NAME The current name of the manufacturer. String. . #3 OLDNAMES Old names of the manufacturer. List of strings. . #4 FOUNDED Year the company was founded. Numeric. . #5 YWOOB Year when the company went out of business. Numeric. . #6 FOUNDER Names of company founders. List of strings. . #7 ADDRESS Postal address of manufacturer. List of strings. . #8 PHONE Telephone number of manufacturer. List of strings. . #9 FAX Fax number to manufacturer. List of strings. . #10 COUNTRY Country where manufacturer is located. List of strings. . #11 NOTES Notes about the manufacturer. List of strings. . #12 HISTORY History of manufacturer. Special list of strings. Each element is YEAR=INFORMATION where Year is a numeric and Information a string. . #13 XREF Cross-references to other manufactrers. Special list of strings. Format: ID=REASON where ID is the referenced manufacturer ID and REASON is an annotation. . #14 KEYWORDS Search keywords for this record. List of strings. . #15 SOURCE Information source. List of strings. . #16 UPDATED Date when the record was last updates. Date. .#4 RELEASE DATABASE ------------------------------------------------------------ A database not released as a particular tool will probably have to be compressed. The following transformations are suggested for the release: . #1 The entire CORE database is included. . #2 The FEATURES database is compressed to one field, FEATURES. . #3 The name corresponding to MANUFACTURER is included instead of the code. . #4 The PEOPLE database is included in its entirety. . #5 The INTERNET database is not included. . #6 The AUX database is included in its entirety. . #7 The following fields are removed entirely: DATABASE . #8 Only the most recent date in the UPDATED field is kept. .#5 CONSOLIDATED DATABASES ------------------------------------------------------------ When two databases are consolidated, the contents of fields that exist in both databases for one record are appended. Thus the DATABASE field will show which databases are sources for the information and UPDATED will contain dates for all updates and XREF will contain all cross-references and so on. The IDNO field is an exception since it is the same in both databases.