Help needed - sorting clones

[MrArcade]

I have a request that I think many byoac'ers are either already looking for, or would appreciate once it was offered.

My request is a utility that will allow roms to be sorted logically and moved.

[jcroach]

Ditto.  I'd like to be able to do this also.  Except I'd move many of mine into the trash.  I'd keep back-up discs, but I'd toss the adult games, unplayable games, games in languages I don't understand and the ones I will never have the desire to play.

P.S.  What's this "Mame Content Manager"?

[RayB]

Maybe the solution isn't moving files at all, but using a front-end that is intelligent enough to hide clones.

[MrArcade]

Maybe the solution isn't moving files at all, but using a front-end that is intelligent enough to hide clones.

This would not help achieve the goal of lowering the hd space required by the roms folder.

[MrArcade]

Ditto.

[jcroach]

Ditto.

[JoyMonkey]

There's a few different ways of doing this. You could use something like SortInfo to give you a list of clone roms, then turn that list into a BAT file that will move the roms someplace. This is how I make the Horizontal/Vertical/Clone rom sorters on my site.
Here's the batch file for moving all your clone roms into a seperate directory: http://mame.joymonkey.com/cmove.html

The same could be done with adult games, all you need is a list of the roms you want to move (I believe these are listed in catver.ini or something similar)

[cdbrown]

JoyMonkey,

From your site:
Note:
Not all parent roms are working and in some cases you may require a clone to play a game (example: astorm does not work but there is a working clone of it called astormbl). I am in the process of sorting out which clones like astormbl should not be moved with cmove.
The batch file does not COPY roms, it MOVES them. So running CMOVE will move your clone roms and leave all your parent roms untouched in your roms folder.

That is exactly what MrArcade wants to be done - move the clones of working parents, but keep the necessary working clones of non-working parents.  If this can be done that would be awesome.

Cheers
-cdbrown

[MrArcade]

bump

[screaming]

Have you tried Buddabing's ListGen utility?  This is the sort of thing it was built for..

Anyway, I ran the listgen utility against a .92 version of MAME and came up with 193 roms that are not clones and are categorized by catver as 'Unplayable'.

Code: [Select]

select romname
  from gamedata
 where isclone=0
   and catver_category like '%Unplayable%'
;

  ...Which, of course, doesn't match your 600 so I wonder where the discrepancy is?  Where di you come up with your figure?

  Okay, so using ListGen, I came up with 8 roms out of that 200 that are parents that are not playable and have a clone that are playable:

vr
jchan
bcstry
senkyu
titlef
wwally
landbrk
zeroteam

Here's the simple SQL I used:

Code: [Select]

select cloneof
  from gamedata
 where isclone=1
   and catver_category <> 'Unplayable'

intersect

select romname
  from gamedata
 where isclone=0
   and catver_category like '%Unplayable%'
;

I know this isn't exactly what you're looking for, but it'll get you 80% there and my gf's standing over my shoulder giving me the "evil eye" since I'm supposed to be getting dressed to go out 

If you can't figure it out by the time I get back I'll see what I can do to get you 100% of the way there.

-Steve

[screaming]

Okay, I'm back safe and sound

Check out the ListGen output of this SQL:

Code: [Select]

SELECT a.romname, ' is playable and is a clone of ', b.romname, ' which is not playable'
  FROM gamedata a, gamedata b
 WHERE a.isclone = 1
   AND a.catver_category <> 'Unplayable'
   AND b.isclone = 0
   AND b.catver_category = 'Unplayable'
   AND a.cloneof = b.romname
   ;

-Steve
P.S. By the way, deleting parent ROMs won't work if you have merged/split sets and if you don't, you'll save a whole lot more disk space by converting to split sets than you would by deleting parent ROMs that are unplayable.

[MrArcade]

I can name a few off the top of my head that are not on your list, and the parent is not playable and a clone is...

Choplifter
Alien Storm

MrArcade

Have you tried Buddabing's ListGen utility? This is the sort of thing it was built for..

Anyway, I ran the listgen utility against a .92 version of MAME and came up with 193 roms that are not clones and are categorized by catver as 'Unplayable'.

Code: [Select]

select romname
 from gamedata
 where isclone=0
 and catver_category like '%Unplayable%'
;

 ...Which, of course, doesn't match your 600 so I wonder where the discrepancy is? Where di you come up with your figure?

 Okay, so using ListGen, I came up with 8 roms out of that 200 that are parents that are not playable and have a clone that are playable:

vr
jchan
bcstry
senkyu
titlef
wwally
landbrk
zeroteam

Here's the simple SQL I used:

Code: [Select]

select cloneof
 from gamedata
 where isclone=1
 and catver_category <> 'Unplayable'

intersect

select romname
 from gamedata
 where isclone=0
 and catver_category like '%Unplayable%'
;

I know this isn't exactly what you're looking for, but it'll get you 80% there and my gf's standing over my shoulder giving me the "evil eye" since I'm supposed to be getting dressed to go out

If you can't figure it out by the time I get back I'll see what I can do to get you 100% of the way there.

-Steve

[screaming]

I can name a few off the top of my head that are not on your list, and the parent is not playable and a clone is...

Choplifter
Alien Storm

  In order for any kind of filtering tool in existance to work you need a criteria to search on. If your criteria is "Unplayable" from catver.ini or a driver status of "preliminary", either way once you have that criteria ListGen will sort/filter on it.

  Use ListGen, it's what you're looking for. If the catver.ini Unplayable flag is not generous enough, use MAME's driver status.

  Change

a.catver_category <> 'Unplayable' to a.status = 'good'

and

b.catver_category = 'Unplayable' to b.status = 'preliminary'

 and you should have your list.

  I've given you everything you need to get exactly what you're looking for.

-Steve

[MrArcade]

Well, I don't have listgen...and I don't know where to get it....

[screaming]

Well, I don't have listgen...and I don't know where to get it....

  Well fortunately for you, there was this feature implemented in Arcade Controls just yesterday that lets you do a "search" when you need to find information that you don't know off the top of your head.  Ironically, it's called "Search" and you can find the ultra secret URL to this "Search" feature by clicking on the very plain and not-so-obvious button up near the top of this page. It's tough, I know, but hey. Nobody said life was fair.

-Steve

[MrArcade]

Thank you for the polite advice.  I searched with yahoo and found nothing.  I will use the byoac search.

I guess I am just too nice, as I always try to put links to software I advise others to use.

[donnyj]

Well, I don't have listgen...and I don't know where to get it....

http://cpmaker.mameprojects.com/files/

much better, eh?

[screaming]

I guess I am just too nice, as I always try to put links to software I advise others to use.

  Normally I do, but in the time it took you to type "Well, I don't have listgen...and I don't know where to get it...." and for anyone to reply you could have easily searched AC, downloaded, installed, set up ListGen and had the game list you asked for almost a week ago.

  It just seems a little pointless to me. *shrug*

-Steve

[MrArcade]

OK, I have listgen.  I have set up the ini file, I have placed catver.ini in the listgen folder.  I get errors saying I am missing nplayers.ini and gameplay.ini.  Can I generate these files or do I have to d/l them.  I have mame092b.

When I use your sort info in filter.sql I get a blank output file.

[screaming]

OK, I have listgen.  I have set up the ini file, I have placed catver.ini in the listgen folder.  I get errors saying I am missing nplayers.ini and gameplay.ini.  Can I generate these files or do I have to d/l them.  I have mame092b.

When I use your sort info in filter.sql I get a blank output file.

  The nplayers.ini and gameplay.ini come inside the listgen zip file.. just keep them in the same folder as listgen.  When I unzipped ListGen for the first time on my PC, I just opened up listgen.ini and changed rompath and mamepath and I was good to go.

  If you put everything that came with ListGen in your MAME folder, change rompath to ".\roms" and mamepath to ".\" (without the quotes.. and assuming your MAME ROMs are in their default place: mame\roms).

  Okay, here's the deal. I've been having an ongoing discussion with Buddabing about his ListGen utility, and right now if you run that SQL then ListGen will crash.. at least until Buddabing adds a new option (sometime soon, I'm sure. He's quick!). That's okay though for your purposes, since all you really care about is a simple list of games. Even though ListGen crashes, there's a temporary file still available called result.tmp. Open that file up in a text editor and you will have what you're looking for.

-Steve
P.S. See? I'm a nice guy

[screaming]

When I use your sort info in filter.sql I get a blank output file.

  ...and to sum up, in your filter.sql:

Code: [Select]

SELECT a.romname || ' is playable and is a clone of ' || b.romname || ' which is not playable'
  FROM gamedata a, gamedata b
WHERE a.isclone = 1
   AND a.status = 'good'
   AND b.isclone = 0
   AND b.status = 'preliminary'
   AND a.cloneof = b.romname
ORDER BY b.romname
   ;

yeilds me 34 ROMs against MAME .92 that are clones, are playable, and have parent ROMs that are not playable. ... A lot of which are really clones for the same parent, like astorm, ddcrew, armwar, etc.. *shrug*

-Steve

[MrArcade]

Sweet, thanks!

It worked here.

[screaming]

By the way, you could do that all through SQL (just change the paths on the first line):

Code: [Select]

SELECT 'move c:\mame\roms\' || a.romname || '.zip c:\mame\old_cloneroms'
  FROM gamedata a, gamedata b
 WHERE a.isclone = 1
   AND a.cloneof = b.romname
   AND NOT (b.status = 'preliminary' AND a.status = 'good')
ORDER BY a.romname
   ;

  Rename your result.tmp file to moveclones.bat, run it,  and you're GTG (good to go, not golden tee golf !

  I'll start a webpage that we can all use to keep track of these helpful SQL statements.  I think that will come in handy!  What do you think?

sab

[Sprucemoose]

That would be very helpful Screaming.  Thats for your time and effort here. 

[jdsabin1]

Sweet, thanks!

It worked here.  I had to re-download listgen.  The link I got it from gave me a zip that did not contain the two files I was missing.  I found a different d/l.

Now I can delete all the clones and just move those back.

I have the same problem but can't find a different download. Can you point me to where you got the listgen.zip that has those two files?

Thanks!

[MrArcade]

I grabbed it here:

http://home.houston.rr.com/buddabing/LISTGEN.ZIP