workmandb(5)

NAME
workmanrc, workmandb - database and preferences files for workman

SYNOPSIS
$HOME/.workmanrc or value of WORKMANRC variable

$HOME/.workmandb or value(s) of WORKMANDB variable

DESCRIPTION

The .workmandb file stores information about compact discs. It is generated by workman(1) based on user input. Its companion file, .workmanrc, stores user preferences for each disc. The distinction between the two is that .workmandb contains only the hard information about a CD (the disc name, artist, track titles, etc.) and is often shared among several users. .workmanrc, on the other hand, contains settings like the default volumes of particular tracks, the numbers of tracks to be avoided, and so forth. Each user generally maintains a private .workmanrc, even if a shared .workmandb is being used.

Though workman(1) stores different information in each file, both files have an identical format; most of this manual page will not distinguish between the two. Each line of the file is of the form

[s-]keyword    [optional whitespace-separated arguments]

Empty lines are ignored. Lines starting with unrecognized keywords are retained and written back out verbatim when the database is saved. The program preserves the ordering of unrecognized lines, and their positions relative to the track information. This allows the database to be extended to hold any sort of information desired by the user.

Keywords that begin with "s-" apply to sections rather than tracks. See the sections keyword below. A CD entry with "s-" keywords must have a sections keyword as well. This is done for backward compatibility and will disappear eventually, and in any case only applies to keywords found in .workmandb (the assumption is that users won't downgrade the versions they run, so .workmanrc doesn't need to be backward-compatible.)

Some keywords are delimiters that modify the meanings of keywords that follow; others are position-independent and may occur anywhere in the file. (In general, the position-independent keywords are concerned with settings for the tool as a whole, rather than for a particular disc.)

The keywords, and their arguments, follow. All numeric arguments are in decimal unless otherwise specified.

  Initial Keywords
These keywords must appear before the first CD's entry, and represent global settings for the tool. They are usually found in .workmanrc.

whendone eject | stop | repeat
    Select the default action taken by workman(1) when a CD is finished playing. The default is stop.

playnew
    If specified, workman(1) will play unknown CDs (those not listed in .workmanrc) when they're inserted.

  CD Information
The rest of the keywords describe specific CDs.

tracks ntracks start1 start2 ... startn length
    This keyword delimits the start of a particular CD's entry (and thus the end of the previous entry.) Its arguments contain the information used to distinguish one disc from another. The first argument, ntracks, is the number of tracks on the CD. For each of those tracks, there is a start value, which is the starting frame of the track (a frame is approximately 1/75th of a second.) The final argument is the length of the CD in seconds.

sections nsects start1 start2 ... startn
    Workman(1) allows the user to split a CD's physical tracks into smaller virtual tracks called sections. The sections keyword, which must immediately follow tracks, defines the starting positions of the sections. Sections are inserted into the track list, and track numbers are adjusted accordingly, e.g. section 1.2 as presented to the user is represented as track 2 in the database file. If the sections listed in .workmandb and .workmanrc differ, .workmandb takes precedence, and sections listed only in .workmanrc are discarded.

cdname name
    The name of the current disc, as supplied by the user.

artist name
    The artist's name for the current disc, as supplied by the user.

playmode mode
    The default play mode for the CD is mode, a numeric value. 0 is the "normal" play mode (play all tracks sequentially) and 1 is "shuffle" mode. If mode is 2 or greater, the default play sequence is a playlist (mode 2 meaning the first playlist, 3 meaning the second, etc.)

autoplay
    If autoplay is present, this CD will begin playing immediately when it is inserted.

cdvolume volume
    The default play volume of the CD, a value from 0 to 32. If volume is 0, the CD has no default volume (since 0 is the default, cdvolume will usually not be present in that case.)

playlist name number track1 track2 ...
    Define a playlist for the current CD. The name does not contain any whitespace; whitespace is converted to "_" on output and "_" is converted to whitespace on input. (See the BUGS section.) The number argument is the number of tracks contained in the playlist; the rest of the line is a list of track numbers. Playlists are ordered; see the playmode keyword above.

track [name]
    The name of a track. This delimits the start of a track's information. The name argument is optional; it will not be present unless the user has supplied a track name. This line may be divided into display lines with the "//" token. Additionally, a display line beginning with "+" indicates that the rest of the display line contains a replacement disc title (usually the name of a group of tracks, such as "Symphony No. 2" on a disc with more than one piece of music.) A display line beginning with "@" replaces the artist's name for the track. If "+" or "@" is the only character on a display line, workman(1) will use the title or artist from the previous track, searching backwards as necessary. If a display line is empty, the corresponding display line from the previous track is used.

continue
    The current track is a continuation of the previous one (e.g. the second movement of a symphony.)

dontplay track
    Don't play a track (specified by number) unless it's specifically requested by the user.

volume track volume
    The default play volume for track, specified by number. volume is a number from 0 to 32. See cdvolume above.

mark frame mark-id
    Define a mark. Marks with IDs other than START and END are currently ignored. Those two marks represent the start and end of the part of the CD to be repeated (as set from the Goodies popup) respectively. The frame value is an absolute frame number.

EXAMPLE
The first example is a .workmandb entry for a hypothetical disc. At least, I hope it's hypothetical.

    tracks 6 150 10341 20449 45117 100104 150100 1609
    cdname Amazing Accordion Tunes - The Early Years
    artist The Hemophiliacs
    track Polka 'Till the Sun Goes Down
    track I've Got Rocks In My Heart, Baby...
    track ...But I Still Get Stoned On You
    continue
    track You Never Know How Late It Is Until the Clock Strikes Blue
    track +The Big Exhibition//@Mussorgsky//IX. La Cabane//Allegro
    track +//@////Andante mosso
    continue

The third track is a continuation of the second. The fifth track is an excerpt from a larger work, originally written by someone else; it has a two-line track title. The sixth track is a continuation of the fifth; it uses the same title and artist, and the first line of the track title is the same, but the second is different.

The .workmanrc entry for the same CD might look like:

    tracks 6 150 10341 20449 45117 100104 150100 1609
    cdvolume 32
    playmode 1
    playlist Originals 3 2 3 1
    autoplay
    dontplay 4
    volume 3 20

The tracks line, naturally, is the same in both files, since it identifies which CD the entry is for. This CD plays at maximum volume in shuffle mode by default. It has one playlist with tracks 2, 3, and 1. When inserted, it will start up automatically. Track 4 is particularly unpleasant, so the user never wants to hear it. And track 3 should be played more quietly than the others.

SEE ALSO
workman(1)

BUGS
The playlist keyword is not well thought-out. The name should go at the end of the line, so it can contain whitespace or whatever else the user likes.

The file updating algorithm used by workman(1) leaves big holes (consisting of empty lines) in the database files. It makes an attempt to fill the holes when possible rather than growing the files.