Conference napalm::guitar

3097.0. "Entire OLGA guitar tab archives on your PC!" by ELESYS::JASNIEWSKI (Your mind is in here and mine is also) Wed Jun 28 1995 13:01

    
    	You may have the entire OLGA guitar tab archives on your PC! Please
    read the following. I have the required files on ELESYS::, which you
    may freely copy to your PC using NFT (block mode) or some such file
    transfer program. Just set the directory to elesys:: and copy a.zip,
    b.zip...z.zip and the winzip56.exe file. The whole archive requires 
    about 12.5 meg of disk space and is appx 8000 songs by various artists.
    Admittedly, it's pot-luck when looking for something specific and the
    correctness/completeness of any one song, but WoW! Not too shabby! ;')
    
    				* 	* 	*
    	
    
On the Internet, OLGA is maintained by systems (UNIX, VM) that allow for
long directory and file names, such as janes_addiction/classic_girl.tab.
This has created a real problem for PC users because MS-DOS only
allows for directory/file name to be 8 characters with a 3 character 
extension. This means that the file shown above would have to 
be renamed to a filename of fewer characters.  The directory name
would simply be unexceptable to DOS.  With the 8,000 or so songs
now in OLGA, this is an obvious problem for folks wanting to
keep and manage songs on their PCs.

The WINOLGA package gets around this problem by using a wonderful
shareware product called WINZIP to front end preformatted
alphabetical DOS zip archive files.  WINZIP does not mind long pathnames
(rolling_stones) as log as they are in a zip archive.  Therefore,
you can navigate in and out of these alphabetical zip files until
you get to the song you want to see, which is then displayed
on the Windows notepad.  
 
WINOLGA consists of these files:

INDEX
winzip56.exe
a.zip
b.zip
.
.
.
z.zip
read-or.die (this file)

Instructions:

1. create a c:\winolga directory and move all of the files listed
   above to this directory.

   *****************************************************************
   DO NOT, I REPEAT, DO NOT, UNZIP ANY OF THE .zip FILES, EVER.
   LET ME SAY IT AGAIN, DO NOT, I REPEAT, DO NOT, UNZIP ANY OF THE .zip
   FILES, EVER. NEVER, EVER, EVER.
   *****************************************************************   

2. Install winzip56.  

   c:\winolga> win winzip56

   You will be prompted for a few directory locations, etc.  Use
   the defaults.  Be sure to keep the file association 
   to 'notepad.exe'.

3. Use winzip to view the files.  

   As mentioned previously, the idea is to always keep the songs
   in a compressed alphabetical archive (such as a.zip).

   THE ONLY OPTIONS YOU SHOULD EVER USE IN winzip ARE THE 
   "Open" archive, "Close", and "View File".  Once
   again, NEVER unzip ("extract") the song
   zip files.  

   For example, select "Open" on r.zip in the winolga directory.
   Scroll through the list of band.zip files until you reach
   replacements.zip.  Select "Open" on this file.  Remember, never
   select "extract".  You should see a list of .crd and .tab files.
   Highlight androgynous.crd and click on "Open".  You will now
   be prompted for a viewer.  Select either "Internal ASCII Text
   Viewer" or "Viewer: c:\windows\notepad.exe".  The "notepad" selection
   is preferable because it allows you to print.  Do not select
   "Associated viewer" option.  The .crd files bomb with this.
   (See the NOTES section of this document.) 
   A Notepad session should be spawned displaying the text of
   See the NOTES section of this document. Read it, print it, 
   save it as another file, etc.

   While not required, you keep your sanity by closing archives
   when you are finished with them.

4. Register and pay for WINZIP if you use it. Easy access to 
   8,000 songs for $29 is a real bargain. 

NOTES

After you have become comfortable with this way of viewing
OLGA files, you might consider the following adjustments to the
the winzip program:

- The problem with .crd files is that winzip automatically calls
  up the cardfile.exe program when it sees the .crd extension.
  Even removing this association from the c:\windows\win.ini file
  doesn't cure this.  One good trick is to rewrite the cardfile.exe
  program with a copy of the notepad.exe.  Of course, this will
  disable cardfile.  I don't use cardfile.exe, so I don't
  care.

  c:\windows> copy cardfile.exe cardfile.old
  c:\windows> copy notepad.exe cardfile.exe

- You might also want to change the default archive directory
  to winolga to save a step.  

  To do this, select Options-->Directories-->Startup Directory
  and enter "winolga". 

- Read the winzip help files.  These documents will show you how
  you can update your *.zip files with "new_this_week" files
  easily. 

    If this is the same tab database I've been accessing from the net,
    I must say that I was TOTALLY dissappointed by it.
    
    Most of the stuff I've looked at is horribly inaccurate.  Sorta
    as if some beginning guitar player was trying to write out tab.
    
    THere's one song I wanted to get tab for - Sting's "Shape of My Heart"
    which has a simple-but-beautiful nylon string part - and there are
    3 versions of it in the database, all entirely different and all 
    inaccurate.
    
    I'll bet there's some goood stuff there too but... be warned that
    there's some folks loading up that database with a  lot of poor
    transcription work.

    
    	re .1
    
    	It is. I've been dissappointed by it too! TWYL&LTR is a good
    attitude to have toward it.
    
    	True - they're all "contributions from whomever", so mileage will
    vary, depending on who did what and when. I've noticed some people do
    better than others - and welcome corrections to their work.
    
    	 I've learned from just looking at the lyrics that I'm not the only
    one in the world who "hears their own words" at times ;') I'm sure the
    same kind of thing goes on with the music transcriptions.
    
    	Joe
    
    	

    
    	Hey Joe - thanks!  Btw, I stuffed the %.zip files on my VMS
    	node instead.  25,000+ blocks...  better there than my pc.
    
    	Tom
    

    
    I don't think one should have high expectations for OLGA. _Anyone_
    can submit a song to OLGA, there is no check for accuracy involved.
    
     I agree that some of the songs are way off mark, but then I've also
    seen some very accurate transcriptions.  I've found it useful for 
    getting lyrics to songs.  Even if I have to change a word or two that
    may be innacurate, it's still a lot faster than my having to type in 
    all the words myself. It's definitely hit or miss, sometimes you get
    lucky, sometimes you don't.   
    
      Larry