Indexing Offline
1.1: What is indexing Offline?
In the old days, before there was an Online Interface to index comics for the GCD, all indexes had to be done offline. The offline versions of the indexes consisted of text files with tabs that were then compiled together and distributed. File-submission indexing let indexers prepare index files offline using spreadsheet or text editor programs, and submit these files to the GCD as e-mail attachments.
Indexing Offline, or Flat-File Indexing as it often was called, is currently supported on an issue basis.
1.2: How do I use it? How do I reserve comics to index Offline?
Use the Online Interface at http://www.comics.org as usual. If you want to index a comic, find out if the comic is available for indexing by searching the database. To use the Search bar at the top of any page, enter the name of the comic and search for “Series.” A tip is that it is often best to use only a simple part of the name, because this search is by exact match only. Thus, a search on “The Muppet Show Comic Book” will NOT return a series named “Muppet Show: The Comic Book.” A better search would be simply “Muppet Show” and then choose the appropriate series from the list returned. You should note that the GCD uses the official name of a publication as printed in its indicia or publication data within the book: this may not be the same as the name on the cover.
If you find the Series you wanted, look in the "Index Status Grid" on the Series page for the issue you want. If the issue you want to index is shown in white in the grid, then it should be available for you to make a reservation.
If you do not find the comic you want, one of the following may be missing:
- The Issue may be missing from the Series. See the Adding a Missing Issue page.
- The Series may be missing from the Publisher. See the Adding a Missing Series page.
- The Publisher may be missing from our database. See the Adding a Missing Publisher page.
If you have navigated to the series you wanted, you may reserve the issues you need by clicking through to them on the grid and then clicking the "Edit" button in the top right corner of any Issue page. All aspects of that issue are then available for you to index.
After you click on "Edit" for an issue you can always import a file with additional stories. If the issue has no stories attached you can also import a file with information for the whole issue.
1.3: What is the format for indexing Offline?
Note that while data is sometimes optional, the format for the data is not. And if a field is left blank you still have to include the empty field (i.e., have consecutive tabs) so the other fields match up (note that some software won't do this if you try to save a text file, so check carefully).
Many find software for word processing like Word from Microsoft or Writer from OpenOffice not that useful for preparing the flatfile due to the handling of tabs. Better suited are spreadsheets, e.g. Excel from Microsoft or Calc from OpenOffice, and an export of the spreadsheet into tab-separated files. Or one can use an editor which can explicitly show tabs while editing a simple text file.
The following table shows the function of the 11 fields for issue records.
- number
- volume
- indicia publisher
- brand
- publication_date
- key_date
- indicia_frequency
- price
- page_count
- editing
- ISBN
- notes
So the line would look like (here and in the following ^T represents a tab)
number ^T volume ^T indicia publisher ^T brand ^T publication_date ^T key_date ^T indicia_frequency ^T price ^T page_count ^T editing ^T ISBN ^T notes
The following table shows the function of the 16 fields for story records.
- Story Title
- Type
- Feature
- Page Count
- Script
- Pencils
- Inks
- Colorist
- Letterer
- Editor
- Genre
- Character Appearances
- Job Number
- Reprint info
- Short Synopsis of Story
- Notes
Story Title ^T Type ^T Feature ^T Page Count ^T Script ^T Pencils ^T Inks ^T Colorist ^T Letterer ^T Editor ^T Genre ^T Character Appearances ^T Job Number ^T Reprint info ^T Short Synopsis of Story ^T Notes
If you import a full issue the first line is for the issue followed by several lines for the story sequences.
An example for a whole issue import: (download example)
1 ^T ^T Bildschriftenverlag ^T ^T ^T ^T ^T 0.60 DEM ^T 36 ^T ? ^T ^T Informationen vom Bildschriftenarchiv.
^T cover ^T ^T 1 ^T none ^T ? ^T ? ^T ? ^T none ^T none ^T ^T ^T ^T from Turok, Son Of Stone (Gold Key, 1962 series) #30 ^T ^T
Das verlorene Tal ^T story ^T Turok ^T ? ^T ? ^T Alberto Giolitti ^T Alberto Giolitti; Giovanni Ticci (Assistent) ^T none ^T gesetzt ^T none ^T ^T ^T ^T from Turok, Son Of Stone (Gold Key, 1962 series) #30 ^T ^T
Ein Tag im Leben eines Dinosauriers ^T story ^T Junge Erde ^T ? ^T ? ^T Rex Maxon ^T Rex Maxon ^T none ^T gesetzt ^T none ^T ^T ^T ^T from Turok, Son Of Stone (Gold Key, 1962 series) #30 ^T ^T
Beute der Fleischfresser ^T story ^T Turok ^T ? ^T ? ^T Alberto Giolitti ^T Alberto Giolitti; Giovanni Ticci (Assistent) ^T none ^T gesetzt ^T none ^T ^T ^T ^T from Turok, Son Of Stone (Gold Key, 1962 series) #30 ^T ^T
If one just adds sequences to an issue the first line cannot be there, otherwise it is the same.
Several additional things to consider:
- on the issue line or on a story line
- If the Page_Count is uncertain please add a question mark '?' behind it
- on the issue line
- indicia publisher and brand have to exist for the publisher
- if there is no brand enter 'none' for that field
- on the story line