New Fun Schema
This page documents the proposed database schema for the "New Fun" release, i.e. the first release of the new web site that will go into production. It is not set in stone, but is nearing its final form. At some point, we will declare a soft schema freeze, after which only minor changes (such as adding a column that doesn't affect table relationships or major display options) will be allowed.
A few notes on database vs code names:
Table names are lower case with underscores. Model class names are capitalized with no spaces or underscores. It should be obvious which model fits which table.
All foreign keys end in _id in the database, but do not have that suffix in the code. So wherever you see something like issue_id in this table, expect to see issue in the code. This is because in the code you get an object, not just an ID.
Tables are prefixed with an application name, which does not appear in the model class name. The main app name is currently usually core, which is arguably a lousy name. I'm contemplating changing it to data but I'm not sure about that. It can't be gcd because that is the name of the overall project. Currently, the only other application is migration, which is for tables that exist only to assist in migration of data from old to new forms.
Publisher (core_publisher)
The Publisher table is unusual in that it stores several distinct types of entities, all of which fall under the general umbrella of "Publisher". Several of them may play multiple roles, which is the primary reason for keeping them in one table. Each type of publishing entity is represented by a proxy model in the Django code. Except as noted, publishers are connected to each other via the PublisherRelationship table described further down. Before going through the fields, here is the list of proxy models and their definitions:
MasterPublisher
This is the legacy notion of a top-level publisher, linked at the series. Defined by setting is_master = 1. The nature and future role of master publishers is very much a matter of debate.
Imprint
This is the legacy notion of an imprint, effectively a hodge-podge of anything and everything that did not fit as a MasterPublisher. These are linked at the series level, and will be retained only until they can be migrated to the other fields, after which they will be dropped from the application. Something is an imprint if its parent field is not NULL (relationships between new publisher entries do not use the parent field).
PublishingCompany
An actual corporate entity of some sort involved in publication. These are linked at the issue level and defined as having is_company = 1.
Brand
A marketing brand involving a particular logo or set of closely related logos. These are linked at the issue level and defined as having is_brand = 1.
The Publisher Table
Column | Type | Description | Usage Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Core publisher data fields: | |||
id | int(11) auto_increment | DB-generated primary key. | |
name | varchar(255) NOT NULL | Name of the publishing entity. Different for each type. | Master publishers use names chosen for easy recognition. Brand names are based on the logos that denote them. Publishing company names should be exactly as found in the indicia that reference them (minor variations, such as "Co." vs "Company" may be harmonized). Imprints have arbitrarily complicated garbage for names that mash together all of the above. Don't even try to figure it out. |
country_id | foreign key to core_country | The country from which the publisher operates. | |
year_began | int(11) | Year (by cover date) of first publication. | |
year_ended | int(11) | Year (by cover date) of last publication, if any. | |
url | varchar(255) | The URL for the publisher's website. | Should be a complete URL, including the protocol (i.e. "http://") |
notes | longtext | Space for arbitrary notes. | |
Type flags. A row may have more than one set to true. | |||
is_master | tinyint(1) | Defines which rows appear in the MasterPublisher proxy model. | |
is_company | tinyint(1) | Defines which rows appear in the PublishingCompany proxy model. | |
is_brand | tinyint(1) | Defines which rows appear in the Brand proxy model. | |
Change tracking fields: | |||
created | date | Row creation date. | |
modified | date | Last modified date. |
Series (core_series)
Column | Type | Description | Usage Notes |
---|---|---|---|
id | int(11) auto_increment | DB-generated primary key. | |
name | varchar(255) NOT NULL | A name used for a series. | The name may come from the cover, the indicia, common usage or any other source. |
Column | Type | Description | Usage Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Core series data fields: | |||
id | int(11) auto_increment | DB-generated primary key. | |
language_id | foreign key to core_country | The language in which the series is written. | Currently there is no facility to record multi-lingual comics. |
format | varchar(255) | legacy format field | This field will be retained only until its contents have been migrated to the issue and sequence-level format fields. It's contents are a mess of at least five different sorts of data (including size, binding, paper stock, coloration and frequency of publication). |
year_began | int(11) | Year (by cover date) of first publication. | |
year_ended | int(11) | Year (by cover date) of last publication, if any. | |
notes | longtext | Space for arbitrary notes. | |
tracking_notes | mediumtext | Notes about how a given series is continued in or continued from another series. | Largely replaced by the core_series_tracking table, after most data is migrated this field will only be used for tracking notes where one end of the relationship is not and cannot be in the database (tracking from a newspaper or web comic, for instance). |
has_gallery | tinyint(1) | True if there's a cover gallery to display for this series. | |
open_reserve | int(11) | Integer field. | How many issues of this series are open for reservation. |
Change tracking fields: | |||
created | date | Row creation date. | |
modified | date | Last modified date. | |
modification_time | time | Last modified time. |
Issues
Many columns one might expect to find in the issue table are in the table mapping issues to series.
DB Column | Type | Description | Usage Notes |
---|---|---|---|
id | int(11) auto_increment | DB-generated primary key. | |
Basic issue information | |||
price | varchar(255) | Legacy price field. A decimal price followed by the ISO code, i.e. 0.10 USD | See Cover Price, but superseded by core_issue_price |
page_count | varchar(10) | Page count including covers but not inserts or dust jackets. | Should be decimal, but needs migration work. |
editing | mediumtext | Editor for the issue as a whole. | |
notes | mediumtext | Notes for the issue. | |
Date fields: | |||
publication_date | varchar(255) | Legacy field. Publication date of the issue as given in the indicia, but fully spelled out. | Published Date, but superseded by the other publication fields in this table. |
publication_year | int(11) | Year of publication. | |
publication_year_inferred | boolean | True if the indexer guessed or got the year from somewhere other than the item. | |
publication_month_id | foreign key to core_publication_month | The month or vaguely month-like part of the publication date. May be two months, may be a season, may be a value like "Holiday" | |
publication_month_modifier | enum('early', 'mid', 'late') | Can be applied to the selected month. | This cuts down substantially on the size of the drop down menu of "months". |
publication_month_inferred | boolean | True if the indexer guessed or got the month from somewhere other than the item. | |
publication_day | int(11) | Day of the month of the publication date, if any. | |
publication_day_inferred | int(11) | True if the indexer guessed or got the day for somewhere other than the items. This is not meant to be used for monthlies or other publications that should not have a publication day, only for weeklies or similar items that simply omitted the day from the cover or publication information. | |
Format fields: | |||
size_id | Foreign key to core_size | References a standard size (e.g. U.S. Golden Age) from a pre-defined set. | |
height | decimal(10,3) | Height in either inches or centimeters | |
width | decimal(10,3) | Width in either inches or centimeters | |
size_in_metric | boolean | This does not affect the standard sizes in the other table, which have their own metric flag. | |
interior_paper_id | Foreign key to core_paper | Paper stock of the interior of the publication. | |
cover_paper_id | Foreign key to core_paper | Paper stock of the cover of the publication. | |
binding_id | Foreign key to core_binding | How the publication is bound, although what that means remains a matter of some debate. | |
Field relating to sequences: | |||
sequence_count | int(11) | Number of stories linked to this issue. | |
Change tracking fields: | |||
created | date | Row creation date. | |
modified | date | Last modified date. | |
modification_time | time | Last modified time. |
DB Column | Type | Description | Usage Notes |
---|---|---|---|
id | int(11) auto_increment | DB-generated primary key. | |
volume_label_id | foreign key to core_label | Name of the field stored as "volume" for the given issue. It may be "volume" or some other term. | |
volume | varchar(255) | Volume number from the indicia. | |
descriptor_label_id | foreign key to core_label | Name of the field stored as "descriptor" for the given issue. It is most often "issue" but may be something else. | |
descriptor | varchar(255) | Issue number or other identifier from the indicia. |
Stories
The stories table has a number of unused columns that are duplicates of columns from the series and issues tables (they're known to be unused because in some cases the data does not match, and the versions shown on the Lasso site are the ones in the issue and series tables, not these). They were initially used for caching data to avoid expensive joins in the FileMaker days. Also, sequence 0 (which represents the front cover) is treated specially, with its page count, notes, reprints and editor fields being applied to the whole issue by the current UI implementation.
DB Column | Name in New Code | Description | Usage Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Core story data fields: | |||
ID | id | DB-generated primary key. | Since there is no story page, this field does not show up in any URLs in the Lasso implementation. |
Seq_No | sequence_number | Order of the story within the issue. | By convention, sequence 0 is the front cover, and some of its fields are considered to apply to the whole issue. Sequence Number |
Feature | feature | The name of the feature, if any. | Often but not always the name of the primary character. Some stories do not have a feature. |
Pg_Cnt | page_count | Number of pages. | Pages |
Notes | notes | ||
Reprints | reprints | Reprint information (both reprint from and reprinted in). | |
Type | type | Type of "story", or more accurately sequence. | Actual comic story vs text story vs ad vs letters page, etc. |
Fields for creator credits: | |||
Script | script | ||
Pencils | pencils | ||
Inks | inks | ||
Colors | colors | ||
Letters | letters | ||
Editing | editor | Rarely used except for sequence 0, as the editor for the book is typically assumed to have edited the whole book. However, this field can be used if individual stories have separate editors. | |
JobNo | job_number | Job Number | |
Fields related to content: | |||
Title | title | ||
Char_App | characters | ||
Synopsis | synopsis | ||
Genre | genre | ||
Field related to flat file management / distribution. See series/issues: | |||
InitDist | initial_distribution | Not Used | |
Fields relating to or copied from the issues table: | |||
IssueID | issue | Foreign key into the issues table. | |
Issue | issue_number | Not Used | Earlier indexes may have data in this field, but it is ignored. |
Pub_Date | publication_date | Not Used | Earlier indexes may have data in this field, but it is ignored. |
Key_Date | key_date | Not Used | Earlier indexes may have data in this field, but it is ignored. |
Price | price | Not Used | |
rel_year | rel_year | Not Used | |
Fields relating to or copied from the series table: | |||
SeriesID | series | Foreign key into the series table, duplicated from the issues table presumably to allow for direct stories <-> series joins. | Actually, it was used to help troubleshoot and QA the initial building of a relational database way back. Also use for statistics. |
Yr_Began | year_began | Not Used | Earlier indexes may have data in this field, but it is ignored. |
Pub_Name | publisher_name | Not Used | Earlier indexes may have data in this field, but it is ignored. |
Change tracking fields: | |||
created | created | Row creation timestamp. | |
Modified | modified | Date of last row change. | |
ModTime | modification_time | Time of last row change (24 hour). | |
LstChang | last_change | Date of some sort, but apparently unused? | Column has numerous values, but they do not line up with the values in the Modified column. Data got butchered through various ins and outs of flat files and between systems changing the date format. |