eePageL (pagel)

In which input files is this field used?

In entries of DBI files

What should the field look like?

In the usual files (including w.dbi): fixed position, or [pagel:xxx]

What does the field contain?

The layout of the page(s) of a story.

The character for the average number of panels per tier was introduced for people who want to be very exact. It can be useful to list this for reprints of newspaper comics, where the page layout varies a lot.

You could ask the following questions:

Isn't a cover simply a 1-page illustration ("i") that happens to be on the cover of a comic? (Answer: it is, strictly speaking.)
What's the difference between a center fold ("f") and a 2-page illustration? (Answer: there is no real difference.)
What's the difference between "i" and "t"? (Answer: that's a matter of taste. If the illustration is dominant, it's an "i", otherwise it's a "t". To be decided by the indexer.)
What's the difference between "a" and "t"? (Answer: an article is about something, while a text piece contains a story with a plot. The distiction is arbitrary, sometimes.)
What to do with the irregular layouts? (Answer: previously, I used "3" if the number of tiers was usually 3. But we introduced the "s", meaning "strange layout".)
What about a single (daily) strip, printed on a text or game page? (Answer: we index it as "0q" pages, with the default-layout (= 4-tier).)

Which checks are done?

The page layout can be:

empty
digit
digit + letter
digit + letter + extensions
special
special + extensions
extensions

Where:

a digit is one of '1'-'9', indicating the number of tiers.
a letter is one of 'a'-'l', indicating the average number of panels per tier: a=1, b=2, etc.
special is one of the following:
- 'i' = illustration
- 'c' = cover
- 'f' = centerfold
- 't' = text
- 'a' = article
- 'g' = game or puzzle
- 's' = strange layout
- 'L' = landscape painting
- 'P' = portrait painting
- 'k' = newspaper strip (automatically filled in for items from the files y.dbs and z.dbs; should not be used anywhere else)
- 'M' = movie (automatically filled in for items from the file movies.dbs; cannot be used anywhere else)
If no special is given, the item is a "normal" story.
extensions is one or more of the following:
- '=' = printed sideways (only possible in DBI files)
- '?' = uncertain

The number of tiers is '4' by default, except when the special is non-empty, then it is '1'.
The number of panels per tier is 'b' by default (2 panels), except when the special is non-empty, then it is 'a' (1 panel).
If an item has more than 9 tiers per page and/or more than 12 panels per tier, it is to be regarded a "strange" layout ('s').

Which CSV field(s) use this field?

The field sideways in table inducks_entry
The field columnsperpage in table inducks_storyversion
The field kind in table inducks_storyversion
The field rowsperpage in table inducks_storyversion

This page was generated on 2007-12-13 by DVEGEN 4.8 © Harry Fluks 2003.
For more information contact Harry Fluks (hfl at inducks.org - replace the at)