The FS9 library rebuild is now complete!

[Rami]

Good morning everyone,

I just wanted to let those who are combing through the FS 2004 library and uploaders know that the FS 2004 library will be undergoing some major changes between now and Christmas. I wanted to give those who are willing to donate to SOH after the new year another reason why they should continue giving to the best freeware website on the internet.

To this end, the Aircraft and Skins are being subdivided into the following categories...

http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforum...ks.php?catid=5

I will also be combing through these downloads, one at a time, to check for misinformation and/or missing pictures, filling in the gaps when possible. The FSX library has already received this treatment.

Please be patient while this is going on and understand the patience and endurance required to manually edit some five thousand files!

I promise the end result will be worth it.

[Hurricane91]

Hello Rami,

Many thanks to you and the others who invest their time and effort to maintain this site.

[Mick]

Wow, what a job you've taken on!

I have a glimmer of a clue about what's involved because I maintain and back up the Files, Links and Photo libraries for the Feline Vaccine Associated Sarcoma support group. We have nowhere near the amount of material that SOH has, but it's still a big, tedious job. A task like you're engaged in with the SOH library boggles the mind!

Thank you, more than I can say!

[Rami]

Wow, what a job you've taken on!

I have a glimmer of a clue about what's involved because I maintain and back up the Files, Links and Photo libraries for the Feline Vaccine Associated Sarcoma support group. We have nowhere near the amount of material that SOH has, but it's still a big, tedious job. A task like you're engaged in with the SOH library boggles the mind!

Thank you, more than I can say!

Mick,

Basically, it's doing the upload procedure for each entry. Correcting texts, adding pictures when necessary and available, and re-categorizing each entry, one at a time. If I could figure out a way to write a batch file that would include all the variables I need, I'd write one.

Plus, the other thing is I try to be accurate with my category placement, so I have to Google squadron numbers and deployment, especially for Vietnam and The Cold War. That eats up a lot of time.

In lieu of that miracle, it's just grunt work...and you hack at it until it is done.

[Rami]

Good morning,

I just wanted to pass along that I have passed the 50% completion barrier. I have 109 pages to go, but I started with somewhere in the neighborhood of 220 pages, with 20 entries to a page.

[Rami]

Hey guys,

I just wanted to pass along that the FS9 library rebuild is basically complete. It is not finalized quite yet, because there are probably some minor errors. Over the past three weeks, I have combed through some 9,000-plus files for FS9 and FSX, re-categorizing all of them. With regard to FS9, there are now numerous categories for aircraft and skins.

My main overriding principle in this was to "do no harm" when I chose to modify files. That being said, I tried to eliminate as many patches and fixes as possible to streamline the library, placing them in the original downloads to save you the trouble of having to "hunt" for them.

There were a good amount of duplicates in the library; this was not surprising when you remember that we had a multiple of users uploading files when the library was reconstituted a few years back. That inevitably was going to lead to some overlapping.

In addition, I made a concerted effort to unite files with their original uploaders. People like Jankees and Duckie are an example of this. The new library engine is extremely touchy with regard to capital and small letters; I played around with some user names to find correct matches, and also recognized older usernames of current members. (This includes SteveB / Stalin and lilduckfoot2 / Duckie)

The only exception to this is the FS9 scenery library. I quickly realized that I was out of my element with AFCAD updates and other such files, so I largely left them alone. I would appreciate it if those who uploaded these files consolidate them so that they are in one package if at all possible, rather than two.

I would also appreciate it over the next two weeks or so if you could double-check my work and hunt out any additional duplicates, giving me the file names and the URLs if possible!

Thanks,

[UncleTgt]

Cmon guys, no responses at all? No wonder he spends so much time with us down in the Basement

[KellyB]

This is one magnum opus!
I sometimes think I should do that on my pc, but it seems too daunting, let alone what you have accomplished for us here.

Many thanks for your continued work for us.

[Mick]

Woo-HOOO !!!

Great job!
Thank you for your efforts!

[Rami]

Good morning,

Thanks for responding! I thought it was a good idea prior to the SOH Donation drive to give all of you good reason to continue supporting the site. With that in mind, I got off my duff and decided that if I was going to do this, it would be done once, and it would be done right. (Or, as close to it as possible)

So enjoy!

[P51FAN]

Thank you Rami for all your hard work!

[jackryan172]

Thank you for your efforts!!!

[mrogers]

Thanks Rami, very much appreciated!