If you do not yet know what .shn or .md5 files are, get an orientation at these two sites:
If you are looking for the music itself, browse these resources:Additional volunteers maintain the database of shn entries for each trade-friendly band. The people responsible for a given band may be listed on the individual pages for the band. You can contact admins if you have info they could use for their pages.
If a band is not covered in the shn info db, either it is not known trade-friendly, or else no one has yet volunteered to track the shns for the band. Any responsible person may do so, and it may be done as a team effort. Contact Tom if interested.
Still more volunteers may maintain the show/setlists in the master db at http://db.etree.org. Tom and/or the SHN admin for a band can assign those volunteers.
The shn info db at http://db.etree.org/shncirc
is connected to the master db via the performance dates. Multiple shn sets
may exist for each date, but not all show dates might have a shn set. Only
shows that are circulating publicly in Shorten format- through etree.org,
public mailing lists, or other means- will be listed in the shn info db.
1. Artist Listing
The table of SHN tracking lists contains only bands that are known trade-friendly. If a tradable band is not listed, no one may have volunteered to track shn info yet, and/or none of the band's music may be circulating in shn format yet.
To access a tracking list, click on the band's name. This will take you to the table for most recent year for the band. See section B below for more info.
2. SHN Info Message Board
Link: http://boardserver.mycomputer.com/list.html?u=toma42&f=3
Below the table of lists is a link for a message board for questions, discussion or announcements about the shn info db. If you have a question, please check whether it is covered in this document or earlier on the message board before posting.
3. Other External Links
The list of resources toward the bottom of the main page includes links to some external shn tracking lists that are not in the db.
4. Searching SHN Listings
Link: http://db.etree.org/search_shninfo.php
The SHN Listing Search Page is not currently linked on the main shn
info page, but still useful (it's actually linked from the trade db page).
Searches can include numbers and text strings from parts of shn entries,
and/or parts of corresponding show db entries. When shn hits are returned,
the "Date" link will come from the show db, and the "SHN Detail" link from
the shn db.
Data for each band is listed on separate pages by year. After clicking on a band at the main page, you will be taken to the band's most recent year. Here is what you will see:
1. Date Jump
At the top of each table, you can jump to different years for the band. Only years that have shn information will be listed.
2. Header/Footer
Above and below the body of each shn info table are header and footer areas, which are tailored by the individual shn admin. The admin may give his name and contact info here, or add band-specific or any other links as he wishes.
3. SHN Info Table (Band/Year)
On the shn tables, each circulating shn set will have an entry. Separate shn sets for the same performance date have their own distinct entries. See section C below for a detailed breakdown of a typical entry.
If a date is not listed, it may not have a shn version circulating for it yet. Alternatively, the admin may not have any knowledge of a given shn, or had the chance to create an entry yet. Feel free to give the admins a hand by sending usable info to them, if you have it. Also, please remember they are unpaid human volunteers with real lives. :)
4. Gutter
Below the footer of every shn info table, Tom has placed a "Return to
SHN Artist Listing" link, http://db.etree.org/etree_shnlist.php,
which will take you back to the main shn info page. Below that are links
for the trader database (db.etree.org) and etree.org.
Here is a step-by-step across a shn info table, from left to right.
1. Show Date
Each shn set is associated with a numerical perfomance date, in mm/dd/yy
format. For uncertain dates, ?? may be used (example: 05/??/68).
If you click on the date link for a given shn entry, you will be taken
to the details page, which includes the info file for the shn set. See
section D below for more info.
2. Venue
The name of the venue is taken from the main show db.
3. Circ Date
The circulation date is the approximate date that the shn set was seen in public circulation, typically through etreeing, mail trees, or offers on public mailing lists. Looking at the circ date may help you judge whether something might easy or hard to find, or whether you'll have a better shot finding it through etree vs. trade.
This column is formatted as text, not as numerical data. A tip for searching by circulation date is given at the top of the SHN Listing Search Page: http://db.etree.org/search_shninfo.php
4. #s/a
This numerical column stands for "Number of shn discs needed, versus number of audio discs needed." If no number is available, there will be a zero. The #s value is useful for people who archive their shns as data discs. However, since few people mention how many shn discs a show requires, that column is often full of zeroes.
A good rule of thumb is that a typical 3 audio disc show might fit on 2 shn discs.
5. Md5s
This column contains md5s checksums for the shn files. Besides their use in checking file integrity, checksums also serve as handy identifying "fingerprints" for each shn set.
On the table, the md5s are typically listed by disc (such as d1, d2, d3), and pertain to the compressed shn files. In some cases you may also see additional checksums for the decompressed wav files themselves (such as d1wav, d2wav, d3wav); these provide an extra level of verification.
When clicking on a link in this column, you will see a page displaying
the checksums.
Example link: http://db.etree.org/md5view.php?md5key=2438
To obtain a copy of the .md5 file for yourself, click on the "Download This MD5" link. The file will be saved to your computer with filename "band-yyyy-mm-dd-linkname.md5".
6. Comments
Objective notes about a shn set are added to this column by the shn admin. These might include source details, names of people responsible for the seed, flaw notes, or pointers to additional info.
7. Public Comments
The final column shows how many public comments have been added about
a shn set by users. Comments can be viewed and added on the details page,
described in section D3 below.
After clicking on the highlighted "Show Date" in the left column of the table, you are taken to the details page for a shn set. Here is what you will see:
1. Recap of table entry
Underneath a series of links (explained below), you will see a recap of the table entry for the given shn set. Md5 links, admin comments etc are as described above.
Just above that is a link to go to the band/year table containing the entry. (Example link: http://db.etree.org/shnlist.php?artist=2&year=1995)
2. Info File
Below the table recap is an area containing the info file that typically accompanies the shn set. The info file has usually been written by the seed person who put the shns into circulation. Sometimes admins may make additions or corrections to the db copy of the info file, so that this copy may be slightly different from the .txt file circulating with the shn set.
By clicking on the "Download This Text File" link, you can save a copy to your own computer. The file will be saved with name "band-yyyy-mm-dd.txt".
Below the info file, you will see any public comments that may have been made about the shn set. These may be listeners' subjective comments about the quality of the recording, comparisons to other shn sets for the date, flaw notes, etc. You can jump to these comments by clicking on the "View comments about this SHN" link in the upper left of the details page.
To add your own comment, click on the "Add a comment about this SHN" link in the upper left of the details page. You do not have to be a "registered" user of db.etree.org to make a comment. (Example link: http://db.etree.org/shn_addcomment.php?shninfo_key=1297)
When typing a comment, you can include certain html tags. Allowed ones include tags for paragraphs, bold, italics, and links.
Please note that off-topic messages, trade requests, spam and flame wars may be deleted by the admin. If you need to withdraw an erroneous comment you made, contact the admin.
4. Trader DB links
In the upper right of the details page are links that tie the shn entry into the trading lists at http://db.etree.org.
a. Add this show to your list
Example link: http://db.etree.org/myshows_add2.php3?ref_shows=2332&ref_shninfo=1297
If you have a username at db.etree.org, you can add a particular shn set to your list easily by clicking the link. You will first be prompted for your username/password if you haven't entered it during the session yet.
You will then see a page to modify your new trade list entry, if desired. At the bottom right corner is a pull-down option for "Link SHN", that should show the beginning of the admin comments for the shn set you have selected. You can select "none" instead if you wish to create a date entry on your list, but not cross-reference the shn info. If there is more than one shn set for a date, those will also be options in the pull-down.
At the very bottom left is a button to "Add Show". Make sure to click this to add the entry to your list.
b. Add this show to your Want List
Example link: http://db.etree.org/addtowantlist.php?ref_shows=2332
If you have a username at db.etree.org, click this link to add the show to your personal want list there. The particular shn set will not be listed- just the show date.
c. List users with this show
Example link: http://db.etree.org/shn_lookupshow.php?shows_key=47605&shninfo_key=1345
Clicking this link takes you to a page with the show db details for the date (upper half of the page), plus a list of any db.etree.org traders who have cross-referenced the info for the particular shn set on their lists (lower half of the page).
This will not necessarily be a list of all traders having this show
date, but shows only the ones who have set up a link to the shn
db entry. To pull up a more complete list of traders possessing a given
date, search for the band/date from the pulldown at the top of the main
trading page, http://db.etree.org.