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Importing set list from Peeron
Not too sure where to put this exactly, but I saw the option to import a set list from Lugnet. I didn't use lugnet, but I did use Peeron. It has an option to export to a text file in a couple different formats. Most of them I tried to import and Brickset said they weren't text files. I finally got the closest thing to an error when it told me there was no valid data in the file. I am fairly decent at computers what I am hoping is one of 2 things :)
1) Could Brickset be extended to import inventory from Peeron? I could send the Peeron formatted text file to whomever
@Bluemoose,
@Huw, I don't know for sure.
2) Could someone send me a lugnet formatted text file, so I could convert my Peeron one to a format that would work here? It is worth it to me to go through that trouble, since I think it would be less trouble than inputting each set one by one. My collection is nothing compared to many Brickset users, but still large enough that I don't want to have to reinput it. :) Thanks in advance.
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I see the option to export to peeron, and CSV, Tab-delimited, etc. When exported from Peeron, the first couple rows look like this:
Quantity,Set Number,Set Name,Theme
1,10026-1,SE Naboo Starfighter,LEGO / SYSTEM / Star Wars / Ultimate Collector Series
1,4475-1,Jabba's Message,LEGO / SYSTEM / Star Wars / Classic
I tried using Tab delimited and then changed it to CSV to see if that worked, and no, it did not.
I assume you are looking for different column headers.
I just now finally signed up for Facebook... and the irony is that I got requests (rather old I bet).... from Todd Lehman, Suzanne Rich (whatever her last name now is), Dan Boger and Jennifer (formerly Boger) Finch.
I know that Admin Clark Stephens was adding items for the longest time to both sites... but what gives?
I knew 2 years ago that there was trouble in Peeron when I tried adding old LEGO catalogs (shipped them the image)... they never got posted... and I sent an inquiry several times and never got a reply. I even asked Dan's ex Jennifer... she forwarded the message to Dan... still no reply.
Rather sad really. And what is sadder about LUGNET is that Rene Hoffmeister took over... and we still have 2009 dates on the main page... no wait... there is a new 2011 date for a Canadian fan event... but it's like LUGNET and PEERON are slowly (over many years) dying.
I bet that the only reason Peeron is still around is because any Bricklink sellers that show sales on Peeron still generate some income for the site.
At least when poor Dan Jezek (owner of Bricklink) passed away last year, there were conttingency plans for it... but even there... does Dan J's mother own the site or Eric (can't remember his last name at the moment), the new "Admin"??
So many questions....
I keep hoping that the site will be sold or donated to one or more motivated individuals who can help to drag it back from the brink, give it a shot in the arm and address some of the maddening performance issues.....
As I believe, the most difficult part in each case is that nobody is intimately familiar with the code apart from the original author-- and in each case the original author has moved on in one way or another. There are some people that have ACCESS to the various codebases, but they don't really know it as well, and aren't very invested in it.
DaveE
BTW is Suzanne still on Facebook? ;-)
Also... I'm a good acquaintance of Clark Stephens... who seems to be the guy trying to spend at least some spare time on the LUGNET and PEERON database.... a task that probably overwhelmes him.
Much of Peeron parts inventory is in Brickllink... and much of their set inventory is in Bricklink, Brickset and parts elsewhere.
But it's the catalogs that bother me. It seems that PEERON has a stagnant catalog database... we need to somehow get a complete catalog library out there somewhere. Bricklink doesn't store it.. and all the other sites only have a handful of catalogs of specific years.
There are about a dozen AFOLs I know... that have an accummulation of about 200 LEGO catalogs... going back to day one. Somewhere there needs to be a central repository of LEGO catalogs. Peeron is not up to the task.
And getting back to LUGNET... one doesn't get a warm fuzzy feeling about LUGNET when the front banner page still lists the major news as 2009 items.... mercifully the Canadians got a 2011 item added at the top. I like Rene Hoffmeister and all... but I bet it's next to impossible to manage 2 major websites... let alone 1....
Cheers,
Gary Istok
P.S. Dave, tell Suzanne Gary says HI!!
... and wouldn't you know it... the first item in LUGNET I've viewed in at least 2 weeks... and it mentions your wife.... so at least the LUGNET software for marital names works correctly! ;-)
And I am now up to snuff on both.... (Finch and E****... )
Cheers,
Gary Istok
I think Gary meant 'Much of Peeron parts inventory functionality is in Bricklink...'
I'd be willing to license them them in some way so that Dan can invest in Peeron's infrastructure, or take over the Peeron website's functionality completely.
The relationships are as follows, as far as I know:
- Lugnet and Peeron share a set database
- Peeron has its own parts and inventory database
- BrickLink is entirely separate from every other site and appears to want to remain that way
- Brickset is independent of all these but attempts to tie them together through links and import/export functionality. Brickset currently imports a minifig database and a minifig-to-set cross-reference, and displays BrickLink minifig images when it doesn't have its own. It also has functionality to display BrickLink inventories but has not yet reached agreement with them to make them available to all. Only a handful of people, including you, can see them.
Also, for the record, BrickLink was not *supposed* to use Peeron inventories, but did in some instances. BrickLink itself isn't to blame, but specific BrickLink members are. At the time when BrickLink came out with inventories, they explicitly did not use Peeron data to keep their independence (there's more to that story, but I don't know all the details). Instead, they asked for submissions from BrickLink members, and each inventory submission gave them a credit on BrickLink (discount in BL fees, I think?)
However, you can take a guess as to what some BrickLink members did. They just manually took Peeron's data and re-entered it into BrickLink. I recall seeing the *exact* same errors in Peeron inventories and BrickLink inventories some years ago, proving the fact. I don't know how widespread the replication was (clearly some were independently inventoried), but it was there. I also heard reports of images having the same issues (IE copying Peeron data to BL), but I don't remember researching those myself-- that was just hearsay from my perspective (and not really surprising).
DaveE
I think TLG likes the existence of Brickset. It furthers their brand at no cost to them and Brickset plays nice. Can't hurt asking if they would mind helping Brickset out with permission to use some of their intellectual property in a limited fashion per their terms. Seek and you shall find, as the saying goes.
So John P. stopped contributing to Peeron , and had many of his same LEGO set inventories put into Bricklink. And in the case of any mistakes in his submitted Peeron inventories... they also got into Bricklink. Now granted this is just one scenario of how some errors made it into Bricklink that were previously on Peeron. I'm sure there are others...
And Drdavewatford... yes there are several ironies in Bricklink... such as those folks who want all Bricklink images either watermarked, or more protected. The absurdity there is that many images have been given by AFOLs to Lugnet and Peeron as well. And the image ownership issue cannot be at all easily settled with the existing image database. The Bricklink Admins know this, and to them image ownership is a non-issue.
As for the hardliners in Bricklink... some have been banished from posting. So there are now fewer curmudgeons left to protest the interlinking between Bricklink and other sites. As soon as things settle down again over there, the issue will be re-introduced.
From LEGO's perspective, I believe the only real roadblock might be cost of access. As I understand it, LEGO has a great database of sets and inventories stored electronically through the early-or-mid-1990's. But BEFORE then, records are sketchy, if extant, and would likely be in physical media. And that means having paid LEGO employees overseeing and coordinating the process of pulling up old stuff. But hopefully that's minimal, or someone in the company will be friendly enough to volunteer on their off-time :) Possibly-- although I think John's inventories were typically pretty accurate.
Didn't realize he was selling his collection, though! From the sounds of it, he had a pretty extensive vault of sets! I can only think of one other hobbyist who supposedly had a similarly complete collection.
DaveE
Also, like I mentioned, scripting the extraction of an element database from the element library in a LEGO design program is one way of addressing how to put together an part database easily. LDRAW could be used. They even have licensing information and author information embedded in each part file, which could be checked. I'm afraid, however, most people would opt for a license that precludes the sort of usage envisioned.
Actually, TLG does not object to scanning and use of their instructions when in good faith according to the Fair Play document. These days instructions include inventory pages. So, scan and process with some detection algorithms and OCR and you can automate the acquisition of both the inventory for the set and some pictures for the database. Just an idea.
http://www.bricklink.com/store.asp?p=legoman77
Read his splash page for info about what he sells on Ebay as well.
I have Dan and Jen on Facebook and have just asked them to read this discussion and perhaps provide input as to how we might move this forward, maybe by licencing their data or 'buying out' Peeron, because it's a great resource and I, and everyone here by the sounds of things, doesn't want to see it die.
People typically complain that BrickLink is difficult to find the elements they're looking for, and it doesn't have the same friendly cross-referencing tools that Peeron has. And of course everyone complains that Peeron is too slow, and some complain that its data isn't up to date.
A merging of the two (good data with a good interface) would certainly get used by the community, but it takes a while to get there. Initial usage would probably be pretty low until it became reasonably complete data-wise, or if it were tied into BrickSet, which has high enough usage to get visibility.
DaveE
http://www.peeron.com/inv/colors
It's not 100% up to date with the newest colours, but it's pretty good.
@rocao, Just been looking for a way of importing a list of sets into brickset, but get 'page not found' from that sample - is there an updated link somewhere? (Or is there another way of importing a list of sets?)
You could reward people with mentions, site badges and physical merch as rewards...