pgeorges wrote:
Hi!
> Some web sites are commercial, and I think it is fair to
> ask before using them in an automated manner
Maybe I was easy to missunderstand. I didn't mean "should
not" but I said I think it would not be necessary. Still it
is nice to ask anyway.
>>> 3. If we had an ok, would it be tough to implement?
>>>
>> It is actually trivial.
>>
>>
>
> There is already some scripts around for that. But
> integration in Scid is certainly better for the user. The
> question is : how long will the service last without
> teaking a bit the code and/or URLs ?
That is IMHO the main point.
Besides, I've an idea how one could do things in an almost
modular manner. Given, the usual procedure is something like:
1. Fetch an archive of (a) game(s)
2. Unpack the archive
3. Read the PGN files obtained into a database
I'd add
2a. Add some headerlines (Source, AddDate)
For this one needs:
- FetchURL: where to get the thing
- FetchName: this could contain some syntax stuff like
numberings for TWIC issues.
- UnzipTool: how to handle ZIP (or can TCL do it
internally without rising deps?)
- PostprocessingChain: what to do once the archive is
fetched
- HeadersToAdd (for 2a.)
One could move this to some connection file that gives
definitions for various services and then loop over this.
E.g. one could have a structure like
~/.scid/data/dbupdates/twic.dat
~/.scid/data/dbupdates/ChessCafe.dat
[...]
~/.scid/data/dbupdates/WhatHaveYou.dat
And then loop over this to fetch all archives, extract the
PGNs, bring them in form and read them into the current DB.
This all could resuse techniques I used for various CC
functions. With some spare time I could develop such a fetch
feature for other archives as well. If we want to have it
and if we're clear about how the connectors come to the
user. (I'd keep most of them outside of Scids main package
for easy maintanance.)
Opinions?
> I never tried with chessDB (indeed, dead project now), but
> I was reported that this did not work and nobody was
> fixing it... But if TWIC's setup seems stable, then maybe
> it is time to plug it into Scid ?
I could do it, the only thing I don't know about is how to
handle ZIP in a simple transparent and portable way. I'd
tend to call the commandline unzip that is freely available,
but usually it's not there on a certain platform.
>> IMHO it would even be better to set up a webservice
>> somewhere that collects the games from the various sites
>> and offers them for download via some
>> webservice/soap-calls. Then we could add a simple
>> inferface to Scid that allows to select certain
>> collections that get fetched to the local database.
>> Something similar to RSS for chess games.
>>
> I agree. This would be really useful. But this is another
> project ...
Sure. I did not mean the Scid project to do it. But if there
is a willing and skilled web programer arround...
>> Another option would be to have such fetch scripts done
>> in some sort of plugin architecture. But that approach
>> didn't get to much positive response when I suggested it
>> way back.
>>
>>
>
> Plugins add trouble. My reasoning is simple : if a plugin
> is really useful, why isn't in the core code ?
Because you can easily drop a plugin without interfering
with the core code if a service stops operation.
Because it modularises things to a small piece of code that
someone could handle who does not have the time to dive into
some thousands of line of code.
Because there're might be some things with quite specific
use.
Put the other way round: why was NetScape such a success? ;)
> What is the difference between a broken plugin and a
> broken feature in the core (Tcl plugins should be loaded
> the same way other code is) ?
They are, but still you can drop them easily if needs be
without the need to touch the whole thing. And
responsibility for a plugin can lie well outside of Scids
main project. As they can live outside the main code in a
separate package even in a separate project.
> Howto handle i18n with plugins ? etc.
Well, ok, I have a personal opinion about the sense of
i18n...
Anyway, I think plugins would mainly work for simple pieces
of code, not for complex things. Still, i18n is even
possible in a plugin if one really wants to spend time on
the issue.
--
Kind regards, / War is Peace.
| Freedom is Slavery.
Alexander Wagner | Ignorance is Strength.
|
| Theory : G. Orwell, "1984"
/ In practice: USA, since 2001
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