Cardisc Files and my Web Project

["bradley artigue" <brad_artigue@domain.elided>]

Hello,

Like many of you I use the Cardisc CD and, like some of you, run Windows XP. 
  I'm not sure if the people who make Cardisc are still in business and I've 
always wanted to reorganize how the data is accessed.  So, being a software 
developer by trade, I've started writing a little code that organizes the 
file structure.  I'm also developing a very simple web-based front end for 
the images.

Here is the idea:  I'm not seeking to develop a complex front end.  99% of 
the time I pull up the contents for the shop or engine manual and go to the 
section I want to view.  That is the idea for the front end, basically 
reproduce the table(s) of contents for each book and provide links to the 
sections, then display the pages (images) in the browser window.

I have the 82-89 Cardisc and that's what the project targets.  I have 
developed a rather complex spreadsheet that extracts the booklet name, 
section number, and page number from the Cardisc file naming scheme.  The 
spreadsheet creates a script file (which I can give you if you wish) that 
creates folders for each "book."  My file naming convention works like this: 
  a three letter code for the book name - a two digit section number - a 
three digit page number.

So O84-00-006 is the sixth page of the 1984 Owner's Manual.  SMA-40-041 is 
the 41st page of section 40 (Electrical System) of the Service Manual.  And 
so on.  In the case of the service manual and some of the other guides the 
naming structure follows the page numbering exactly; in the case of owner's 
manuals (where there is no section number), you can follow along by page 
number (section # is always 00).

This script works right now, provided you put the files in the directory 
location I specify and have already converted the .PIC files to .JPG (easy).

That's really the hard part, I'm developing the web front end as well.  
Sorry but I can't put the thing online or give you the .JPGs to do it 
yourself b/c Cardisc is copyrighted.  But I can provide you with the scripts 
to organize the files and (ultimately) the HTML to get to the files through 
a web browser.

If you want to try the batch file that copies the converted JPGs to the new 
file structure send me an email.  I'll post another note when the HTML is 
done and tell you how to link it up to the images.

Hoping this helps,

Brad

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