Klarinet Archive - Posting 000240.txt from 2006/01

From: "David Kumpf" <dkumpf@-----.com>
Subj: RE: [kl] (OT) Barcodes and CDs
Date: Sat, 28 Jan 2006 02:03:54 -0500

Karl Krelove wrote:
>
> Utilities like Winamp and Windows Media Player seem to be=20
> able to access a data registry of some kind - I assume the=20
> information they scroll across the display comes from an=20
> online source because the programs complain if for some=20
> reason I'm not online when I put a CD in the drive.
>=20
> So, (1) is there any database that connects the UPC on the=20
> box and the content of the recording that would useful for=20
> this? Or (2) can I somehow pull the information from Winamp=20
> out to a disk file that I could later import into Access?
>=20

Can't help you with WinAmp, but iTunes DOES save things in a way that
would allow you to accomplish what you want. The iTunes.xml file in the
main iTunes folder contains information on every track and CD. Not sure
whether you would actually need to rip the CD to get iTunes to store the
info, or whether it stores the info once it does the lookup in the CDDB.
It's probably a five-minute test to find out after you download and
install iTunes (free).

The nice thing about iTunes is that it uses the Gracenote CD Database,
which, because of the popularity of iTunes, is pretty complete, albeit
not perfect. I've found a number of obscure clarinet CDs (bought
overseas, etc.) were recognized on lookup. The usual error that I see
(and it is not too common) is that people swap artist and track names.
(In fact, I've been meaning to write a rant about that...how hard can it
be to get it right?) But it's not hard to fix using the iTunes tools.

GraceNote is far better than the All Music Guide that Windows Media
Player uses. Last I looked, it still insisted that Sabine Meyer playing
K.622 was a heavy metal band named Mozart. Go figure.

Anyway, once the data is in the iTunes.xml file, you can then copy it
out to another text file and manipulate it with an editor to get what
you need. Having some facility with wildcard processing would likely
make this much easier. That said, there are LOTS of tools out there to
manipulate XML, and there's probably a way to move the data directly
into MS Access from there.

Of course, if you load up all those CDs, you'll want an iPod...

...with a 60 GB version, I have 487 CDs loaded, and it's still less than
half full.

Hope this helps.

Dave Kumpf
dkumpf@-----.com

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