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Standards For Naming Your Files
Basic Naming Scheme Every file
in a set (whether .shn, .md5, .txt, .flac, etc) and any directory for
the set should have a name which starts like this:
- bbyyyy-mm-dd
- ^^^^^^ ^^ ^^
- |||||| || \\___ Day (with leading zero)
- |||||| ||
- |||||| \\______ Month (with leading zero)
- ||||||
- ||\\\\_________ Year (Full 4 digit year)
- ||
- \\___________ Band Abbreviation, lowercase preferred (e.g. ph = Phish)
Use only letters, numbers, hyphens (-), and when necessary, periods (.) or underscores (_). Do not include spaces, ampersands (&), slashes or any other special characters. They cause problems in many cases.
Extended Naming Scheme
- bbyyyy-mm-dd.mics.Taper.SourceID.sbestatus.filetype
- ^^^^^^ ^^ ^^ ^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^
- |||||| || || |||| ||||| |||||||| ||||||||| \\\\\\\\___ shnf, flac16 or flac24
- |||||| || || |||| ||||| |||||||| \\\\\\\\\___ sector boundary error check done, tagged 'sbeok' or 'sbefail'
- |||||| || || |||| ||||| \\\\\\\\___ Wheel Source ID (See Db:FindingShnId?)
- |||||| || || |||| \\\\\___ Short taper or seeder name
- |||||| || || \\\\___ Short Mic Desc (optional)
- |||||| || \\___ Day (with leading zero)
- |||||| \\______ Month (with leading zero)
- ||\\\\_________ Year (Full 4 digit year)
- \\___________ Band Abbreviation (e.g. ph = Phish)
Examples:
- jgb1987-01-25.nak.corley.19810.sbeok.flac24
- gd1969-01-25.sbd.kaplan.7923.sbeok.flac24
- gd1969-01-24.sbd.kaplan.7922.sbeok.flac24
- gd1969-01-17.sbd.clugston.3115.sbeok.flac24
- gd1979-10-31.sbd-aud.shephard.9372.sbefail.flac24
The FLAC codec
supports both 16-bit and 24-bit content. Because of these multiple
bit-depths, we use the .flac16 and .flac24 naming convention to distinguish each type. Don't use .flac or .flacf when naming a directory. These distinction are important! Some reasons to care:
- Using .flac as a directory suffix
will confuse the upload checking software at the Live Music
Archive, and may confuse regular users too. This extension makes the
directory look like a file, instead of a whole directory.
- Typical downloaders will want to watch for .flac16 seeds. The 16-bit encoded FLAC files can be turned directly into traditional audio CDs, just like we do with Shorten files.
- As the lossless audio community slowly adopts and purchases 24 bit
capable gear (or FLAC-capable hardware decoders), the demand for
higher-quality audio recording resolutions will increase. In addition,
users without 24 bit audio support will want to know to stay away from .flac24 folders because they won't be able to take advantage of the additional audio clarity that 24 bit recordings offer.
- Tapers and seeders who want to archive their original 24 bit
content, in addition to the 16 bit audio that they seeded for wider
distribution, can use the .flac16 and .flac24 folder extensions to archive files easily on larger storage media such as DVD-R/RW and DVD+R/RW.
All files in a "flac set" must be enclosed within a directory (aka
folder). This makes them easy to sort and transfer as a group. The
directory name should follow the Basic Naming Scheme. Inside the
.flac16 or .flac24 directory, place the info file (.txt) for this seed,
the .flac files (each named by CD disc and track if appropriate), and a
file containing the FlacFingerprint (ffp.txt) of every .flac file. See SeedingGuidelines for tips on writing a proper info file.
Below is an example of what a 16-bit flac set should look like, tracked
for audio CDs. It's possible 24-bit flac sets* might be laid out
differently, given archiving needs.
- ph2003-04-20.flac16 <--- Directory for the set
- ph2003-04-20.txt <--- Show info file
- ph2003-04-20ffp.txt <--- FlacFingerprint file for the wav portion of the .flac files
- ph2003-04-20d1t01.flac \
- ph2003-04-20d1t02.flac \ __ disc one .flac files
- ph2003-04-20d1t03.flac /
- ph2003-04-20d1t04.flac /
- ph2003-04-20d2t01.flac \
- ph2003-04-20d2t02.flac \ __ disc two .flac files
- ph2003-04-20d2t03.flac /
- ph2003-04-20d2t04.flac /
- ph2000-04-20.md5 <--- optional md5 whole-file checksum file for your .flac files
Important: Place a 0 before any single-digit track
number (1 to 9). Without the 0, 10 would come before 2 during file
sorting. This can mess up track orders when the decompressed files are
burned to audio discs.
Handling Mics Or Other Source Info
Often, it's convenient to include mic info or other important source
information in the filename itself. That way, two filesets from the
same date, but from different sources, won't conflict with each other.
The best way to do this is to put the unique info after the date and
track part of the filename, and before the extension. For example,
these all work:
- ph2003-03-01.dpa.flac24
- ph2003-03-01-nak.flac24
- ph2003-03-01cmc6.flac24
Do not use the "&" character, because most operating systems won't accept it in a filename.
Naturally, individual files would be named the same way -- all extra
info goes after the date info and before the file extension, like this:
- gd1973-02-09d1t01bertha.flac
- gd1973-02-09berthad1t01.flac
Either way works OK, although the first example is better than the
second. Done this way, files and directories will still sort correctly,
two filesets from a single band and date won't conflict or overwrite
each other, and users can tell the source at a glance.
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