CDpedia is not a bad tool, but currently it is not well suited for music other than pop (e.g., jazz, classical, Hindustani, etc). Here's where I think it could use major improvements.
(1) Database structure.
The basic CDpedia entry is a CD with one or more tracks (CD > Tracks). This cannot accommodate multi-CD sets, or most classical music. The entry should be a Set, containing one or more CDs, each containing one or more Grouping, each containing one or more Tracks (Set > CDs > Groupings > Tracks). While for the basic pop album, Set = CD = Grouping, this would accommodate multi-CD sets, as well as most classical music (Grouping = Movement). Note the "Grouping" level corresponds to the "Grouping" field of iTunes' version of the ID3 tag.
Each of these levels should contain, as a _minimum_, fields for performer (artist), title, composer, and comments. This would satisfy both classical music requirements (where composer is paramount), as well as others, e.g., serious jazz fans, who need to enter such items as performers and recording venue on a per-track basis (not possible at present).
(2) Customisable import template/filters.
The databases CDpedia currently accesses are no good for classical music, or many non-Western artists and recordings. CDpedia should come with a user-customisable import template or filter (cf. EndNote), to allow it to retrieve data from other web sites, such as public or specialised libraries.
(3) AppleScript support.
I'm told that Apple has made it relatively easy for developers to add AppleScript support to their apps. I don't know how true that is, but good AppleScript capability can enhance enormously the value of an application. Good examples are BBEdit, InDesign, and, of course, iTunes. Thanks to its comprehensive support for AppleScript, I can use iTunes to extract audio with cdparanoia, encode to MP3 with lame, or encode to FLAC -- none of which would be possible otherwise. AppleScript support would not only add to CDpedia a macro language, but would also allow for better integration with iTunes and other scriptable apps.
There are other, smaller issues (e.g., proper support for Macs with more than 1 CD/DVD drive), but I think these three are the most important ones.
CDpedia: Major Improvements Needed
Thank you for the detailed feedback; it helps us make the program better. There are for the most part features we would like to add. It is true that the addition of AppleScript support can be simple for some applications, unfortunately CDpedia is not one of them yet. CDpedia also has a plug-in architecture, that you might not be aware of, that allows the addition of new search sites to the program.[/i]
> CDpedia also has a plug-in architecture, that you might not be aware
> of, that allows the addition of new search sites to the program.
Yes, but here's what "Plug-ins for the Pedias" says:
"If you would like to create your own plug-ins,
it helps if you know a bit about Cocoa already".
I'm sorry, but that's not a user-customisable filter. I'm a computer
user, not a programmer -- I'm simply not interested in learning Cocoa. I
mentioned EndNote for a reason; its filters are used to import
bibliographical data from a variety of on-line sources, and require no
programming skills to customise.
> of, that allows the addition of new search sites to the program.
Yes, but here's what "Plug-ins for the Pedias" says:
"If you would like to create your own plug-ins,
it helps if you know a bit about Cocoa already".
I'm sorry, but that's not a user-customisable filter. I'm a computer
user, not a programmer -- I'm simply not interested in learning Cocoa. I
mentioned EndNote for a reason; its filters are used to import
bibliographical data from a variety of on-line sources, and require no
programming skills to customise.
