On Thu, Nov 12, 2009 at 12:31 PM, H. Langos <henrik-...@prak.org> wrote: > Hi there, > > Like most wikis of the linuxtv wiki is plagued with duplicate > and out-of-sync information. It is most apparent for devices, > their features, their hardware, and most of all their status > in regard to linux support. > > If you need an example of the mess take a look at > http://www.linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/TerraTec or > http://www.linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/DVB-T_PCI_Cards > and try to find devices where the information on the > page is consistent with the information on the device > specific page. > > I've collected and concentrated data on about 150 devices > (mostly DVB-T USB) in one place and experimented a lot > with "wiki template voodoo". The result is a kind of minimalistic > database application within the wiki (retaining the advantages > of the wiki, like mature history and undo function, > low entry threshold for new users....) > > Having _one_ article that holds the data means that there is > just one place to update and maintain while the information > can be shown in lots of articles (or inside the same article > with different levels of detail). > > That article can be thought of as one big table with columns > for attributes and rows for devices. > > Selection of columns is done by choosing the appropriate > table templates (there are currently three different ones > for different levels of detail). > > Selection of rows is done by passing selection > attributes and selection values. > > > It is roughly the equivalent of this sql statement: > SELECT a1,a2,a3... FROM datatemplate > [ WHERE s1 LIKE '%v1%' [ AND s2 LIKE '%v2%' > [AND s3 LIKE '%v3%' [AND s4 LIKE '%v4%' ]]]]; > > > Recently I expanded the "database schema" to contain > the host interface(s) and the supported broadcasting standard(s). > This way the same infrastructure can be used to hold information > on anything from PCIe DVB-S2 to ISA NTSC devices and even > fm radio devices. > > The current "database schema" is documented in > http://www.linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/Template:DVB-T_USB_Devices_ListData#Syntax_and_Semantics > > It is still geared towards DVB-T USB devices but I am sure > it can be expanded/modified with little effort to support > other types of hardware with the level of detail needed. > > What I'd like to get is > > A) Some feedback from users and developers in regard to > additional attributes needed or attributes (or > values) that can be merged. > > E.g. I don't have a clue > * if satelite receivers have special attributes, or > * if ANALOG-PAL /-NTSC /-SECAM should be listed separately or > * if it would make sense to include links from a device > straight to the linux kernel's driver blob via > kernel.org's gitweb. > > Please, keep in mind that the table is not there > to replace device specific pages with all their > detail but definetly should be part of the device's > page. > > B) Ideas about how to handle oem devices (clones). My > idea is to include them with just the "vendor" and > "device" attribute (so that users can easily find the > device in the table looking for the vendor) and to > use the "supported" attribute to indicate that this > device is just a clone of some other device. Problem > here is that you can't really link to that other > device directly or use data from that other device. > (Sorry, no sql JOIN operation on tables :-)) > > > Here are some examples of stuff that already works: > > Differnet views on same device in one article. > > http://www.linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/MSI_DigiVox_mini_II_V3.0 > http://www.linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/Pinnacle_PCTV_nano_Stick_(73e) > > > Selection on demodulator af9015 > > http://www.linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/Afatech_AF9015 > > > Selection on hostinterface USB and stadard DVB-T > (still a rather messy page as lots of old devices still > need to be merged/moved into the "database") > > http://www.linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/DVB-T_USB_Devices > > > Some more examples and experiments: > > http://www.linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/HLPlayground2 > http://www.linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/HLPlayground2/doubleselection > > > I hope the outlook of having just one place to update > will inspire and motivate developers and wiki users alike > to keep information on their device/driver up to date. > > cheers > -henrik
Hello Henrik, I have to wonder if maybe we are simply using the wrong tool for the job. Perhaps it would make sense to make a really simple web frontend to a simple database for devices. At least initially it would only really need two tables. Something along the lines of the following VENDOR_TABLE int vendor_id (index) text vendor name PRODUCT_TABLE int product_id (index) text product_name int bus_type (0=usb, 1=pci, 2=pcie) text usb id text pci id int vendor_id (links to vendors table) text full_article_page_url bool hardware_supports_dvb_t bool hardware_supports_dvb_c bool hardware_supports_atsc bool hardware_supports_qam256 bool hardware_supports_pal bool hardware_supports_ntsc bool hardware_has_mpeg_decoder bool hardware_has_ir bool linux_supports_dvb_t bool linux_supports_dvb_c bool linux_supports_atsc bool linux_supports_qam256 bool linux_supports_pal bool linux_supports_ntsc bool linux_has_mpeg_decoder bool linux_has_ir A simple db frontend like the above would allow users to search on most of the relevant properties they care about (seeing all devices by a single manufacturer, looking up devices by USB ID or PCI ID, looking for devices that support a certain standard, etc) I feel like the freeform nature of wikis just lends to the information not being in a structured manner. I don't doubt that a wiki can be mangled to do something like this, but a real database seems like such a cleaner alternative. Devin -- Devin J. Heitmueller - Kernel Labs http://www.kernellabs.com -- To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-media" in the body of a message to majord...@vger.kernel.org More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html
