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README
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README
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MOVIE DATABASE v3.4
===================
This file is extracted from the main documentation file (docs/INSTRUCTIONS) and
contains basic information on the package. See the file docs/CONTENTS for a
description of all the files in the package.
See section 12 in the INSTRUCTIONS file for troubleshooting information.
Contact the IMDb via http://www.imdb.com/contact if you're still having
problems *after* reading the documentation.
1. INTRODUCTION
===============
The Internet Movie Database is an international operation whose
objective is to provide useful and up to date movie information *freely*
available on-line, across as many systems and platforms as possible. It
currently covers over 150,000 movies with over 2,100,000 filmography entries
and is expanding continuously.
The database includes filmographies for actors, directors, writers, composers,
cinematographers, editors, production designers, costume designers, producers
and a miscellaneous catch all section; plot summaries; character names; movie
ratings; year of release; running times; movie trivia; quotes; goofs;
soundtracks; personal trivia; alternative names; certificates; color
information; country of production; genres; production companies; sound mix;
reference literature; filming locations; sequel/remake information; release
dates; advertising tag lines; detailed technical data; alternative versions;
laserdisc availability; and Academy Award information.
The database aims to capture any and all information associated with movies
from across the world, starting with the earliest cinema, going through to the
very latest releases and even movies still in production. Many thousands of
movies are covered completely from the major actors to the minor bit players
and crew members. All the information comes from the users of the database so
please continue to support it and help it to grow. The database is updated
weekly and is available over the world wide web, an e-mail interface or for
local installation on Unix, Amiga and MS-DOS machines.
In its eight year history the IMDb has grown from a small informal project to a
major Internet resource. The WWW interface to the database is one of the most
popular and well-known sites of any class on the web. It is frequently cited
as a model for how to create and organise a major web site and has received
numerious awards and honours over the years.
The movie database frequently asked questions list contains more information
on the whole movie database project and the different ways to access it. A
copy is included in the package, alternatively send an e-mail message with the
subject:
HELP FAQ
to <mail-server@imdb.com> and the movie mail-server will send a copy back. The
database is available via an e-mail interface and on the World Wide Web and
full details are given in this FAQ.
1.1 Requirements
================
This version requires a Un*x like operating system, an ANSI C compiler and
approximately 150Mb of disk-space for the full standard version. The package
includes support for compressed database files using 'compress' or 'gzip',
bringing the requirements down to 30Mb of disk-space. There are options to
reduce the space further by discarding some of the databases that you might
not be interested in, so disk-space requirements can be as low as 20Mb.
You will need an ANSI compatible C compiler to compile the programs. If one
wasn't supplied with your machine, I recommend the GNU C compiler 'gcc'.
You can pick up a source code distribution of 'gcc' from ftp.gnu.ai.mit.edu
in pub/gnu which can be installed on a wide range of machines. NOTE FOR
USERS OF SUN MACHINES: the standard Sun C compiler is *not* ANSI compliant
so you will need a copy of 'gcc' to install this package.
An Amiga version is also available both on AMINET (under biz/dbase) and from
the main anonymous FTP sites (see later)
An MS-DOS interface to the same data, but based on different software is also
available from the FTP sites.
1.2 Installation
================
(1) The database software is available from the FTP sites:
uiarchive.cso.uiuc.edu in /pub/info/imdb/tools/moviedb-3.4.tar.gz
ftp.funet.fi in /pub/culture/tv+film/lists/tools/moviedb-3.4.tar.gz
ftp.fu-berlin.de in /pub/misc/movies/database/tools/moviedb-3.4.tar.gz
sunsite.mff.cuni.cz in /MultiMedia/Movies/Database/tools/moviedb-3.4.tar.gz
(2) get the file using anonymous FTP and unpack by typing:
gzip -cd moviedb-3.4.tar | tar -xvf -
this will install the software in the directory moviedb-3.4, 'cd' into
the directory to continue.
(3) since the package includes a program to automatically get the data files
from the FTP site (and to keep them up to date), you need to give the
package your e-mail address to use as the password for FTP. Edit the
file Makefile and change the following line:
LFETCHOPT = -auto
to
LFETCHOPT = -auto -user <address>
where <address> is your e-mail address.
(4) follow the comments in the Makefile for further changes that might be
required for installation on your system. In particular, don't forget to
set CC and/or CFLAGS to enable ANSI compatible compilation.
Also, pay close attention to the variables which describe how to handle
the compressed list files (ZLISTCATCOM etc.) and how to enable support
for compressed database files (ZDBSCATCOM etc.)
The variables AUTOUNCOMPRESS and KEEPLISTS affect the amount of disk
space used by the package if your resources are limited. Please refer
to section 12.2 for more information.
(5) to compile all the programs, fetch the list files and create the
databases run:
make install
See section 12 if anything goes wrong with this process.
NOTE: the database generation process does require quite a bit memory
and processing power to run. I've arranged to have ready made data
files available on the FTP sites for people who have problems generating
them locally. See section 12.1 for more details.
(6) the search programs will be installed in the moviedb-3.4/bin directory,
therefore you need to either add this directory to your path or run
all the programs from this directory.
The package is now installed and you're ready to try it out, see the next
section for a quick introduction.
Section 12.2 has details on the one line command that you can use to ensure
the database is always up to date with respect to the FTP site.
If you do not have direct access to anonymous FTP or you have some special
configuration requirements, see section 12 for more details on a customized
set-up procedure and on fixing general problems.
1.3 Quick Introduction
======================
If any of these commands fails to work, see section 12 for details of
potential problems and how to resolve them.
The database supports many different kinds of queries and I refer you to the
rest of this manual for more information. This section is provided as a
very simple introduction to searching:
To generate a filmography for a particular person including any personal
trivia, use:
list -name <name> -full
where <name> is in "<surname>, <first name>" format.
Examples:
list -name "Hitchcock, Alfred" -full
list -name "Hamilton, Linda" -full
list -name "Grant, Cary" -full
To search for all the data on a particular movie (plot summary, year of
release, rating, cast, crew and trivia), use:
title -t <title> -full
Examples:
title -t "Vertigo" -full
title -t "Aliens" -full
title -t "Jurassic Park" -full
The remainder of this document describes the search programs and maintenance
process in more detail. All the programs in the package output a brief usage
description if run with no arguments.