simadb_cli — simadb_cli is a command line interface editor for the sima user DB.
simadb_cli --add_similarity=similarity_string [
--check_names
] [
--dbfile=db_file
] [
--reciprocal
] [
--hostnamempd_host
] [
--portmpd_port
]
simadb_cli --remove_artist=artist [
{ -d db_file | --dbfile=db_file }
] [
{ -r | --reciprocal }
]
simadb_cli --remove_similarity="main artist,similar artist" [
{ -d db_file | --dbfile=db_file }
] [
{ -r | --reciprocal }
]
simadb_cli --view_artist= [
{ "artist name"-d db_file | --dbfile=db_file }
]
simadb_cli --view_all
simadb_cli {
{ -h | --help }
| --version }
This manual page documents briefly the simadb_cli commands.
simadb_cli is a command line interface to get and edit users similarities database used with MPD_sima. The default database file (see the section called “FILES”) can be overridden if you want.
Consider reading the section called “A WORD ABOUT SIMA DATA BASE” to understand the structure and relation of similarities within the database.
Here follows some simple examples on how to deal with similarity database.
Pay attention, the following examples set one-way similarities in the DB! Read more about it in the section called “A WORD ABOUT SIMA DATA BASE”.
Adding a similarity between two artists. In the following example "Pelican" will point to "Russian Circles" with a match score of 88% (ie. "Russian Circles" 88% similar to Pelican, not reciprocal), it will also check against MPD the presence of both artists in the music library.
simadb_cli --add "Pelican,Russian Circles:80" --check_names
Similarity string use comma "," as artists separator and semi colon ":" for artist/similarity score separator, cf. the section called “SIMILARITY FORMAT”.
Adding a similarity between multiple artists. In the following example "Rage Against The Machine" will point to "Tool" and "Audioslave" as similar artists and controls artists names are actually in MPD music library.
simadb_cli --add "Rage Against The Machine,Tool:70,Audiosalve:80" --check_names
Viewing similarit(y|ies) for an artist. In the following example we are looking for entries for "Rage Against The Machine"
simadb_cli --view_artist "Rage Against The Machine"
The program follows the usual GNU command line syntax, with long options starting with two dashes ("-"). A summary of options is included below.
-h, --helpPrint help and exit.
--versionPrint version and exit.
-a similarity_string, --add_similarity=similarity_stringAdd similarity to the database.
For more details about the similarity_string see the section called “SIMILARITY FORMAT”.
-c, --check_namesUse with --add_similarity in order to check artists names used in similarity_string. simadb_cli will control presence of artists names in MPD library.
-d db_file, --dbfile=db_fileUse the specific file db_file as database.
Default is too use XDG_DATA_HOME (see the section called “FILES”).
-r, --reciprocalUse with an editing options in order to edit reciprocal similarity as well. --add_similarity and --remove_{artist|similarity} are supporting reciprocal edition.
N.B: this option has to appear after the editing option on the command line.
See the section called “A WORD ABOUT SIMA DATA BASE” for further information about reciprocity notion.
--remove_artist=artistUse to remove an artist entry (as main artist) with its associated similarities. To remove artist where it appears as a similar artist use the --reciprocal option.
--remove_similarity="main artist,similar artist"Use to remove a single similarity between a main artist and an associated similarity. Give the main artist first, use comma (",") to separate it from similar artist.
Use of --reciprocal is possible here, see the section called “A WORD ABOUT SIMA DATA BASE”.
This option is useful in case you want to remove only a specific similarity between two artists, to remove completely an artist use --remove_artist instead.
-v "artist name", --view_artist="artist name"Get entries for "artist name" in the data base (print to stdout).
--view_allGet all entries in the data base (print to stdout).
-P mpd_port, --port=mpd_portUse the specific port number mpd_port on MPD server.
Default is 6600.
-S mpd_host, --hostname=mpd_hostUse the specific host mpd_host as MPD server.mpd_host can be an IP or a fully qualified domain name as long as your system can resolve it.
Default is localhost.
${XDG_DATA_HOME}/mpd_sima/sima.dbSQLite DB file. Usually XDG_DATA_HOME is set to ${HOME}/.local/share.
The similarity_string has to be formatted following a special pattern in order for simadb_cli to extract similarity relations between artists names. Usually a similarity entry is defined as a main artist, lets say main_art, followed by a list of similar artists which you want to be related to that main_art, each artist of that list with a specific similarity value, a match score, quantifying the similarity relation with the main_art. The match score value is an integer in [0 ,100] with 100 corresponding to a perfect match.
similarity_string is then to be formatted as follow:
main_art,first artist:<score>,second artist:<score>
Each artist group are separated with commas (",") and inside each group the artist name and the match score is colon (":") separated. Obviously the first artist group, as the main artist, does not have a match score.
Lets see how it works with an example. I consider "Led Zeppelin" to be similar to "Tool" with a match score of 25, I also want to have "Audioslave" related to "Led Zeppelin" with a score of 20. Then the similarity_string will be the following:
Led Zeppelin,Tool:25,Audiosalve:20
See the section called “A WORD ABOUT SIMA DATA BASE” for more details about how similarities are handled
The similarity database is defined from the point of view of a main artist which is declared related to a list of similar artists. That means when you define main_art to be similar to sim_art A and sim_art B the reciprocal won't be true, sim_art A and sim_art B are not similar to main_art. At least this is the default behavior when you edit entries with simadb_cli, this is also the way last.fm is working concerning similar artists. This documentation is using that particular terminology to specify which kind of artist we are dealing with : "main artist" or "similar artist".
The --reciprocal option allows to add reciprocal relation where sim_art A and sim_art B become respectively the main_art. Using --reciprocal you will then edit two more entries in the database. To summarize here is what you'll end up with in your data base adding similarity with this string main_art,sim_art A:34,sim_art B:45.
simadb_cli --reciprocal --add_similarity=main_art,sim_art A:34,sim_art B:45
main_art similar to sim_art A:34 and sim_art B:45
sim_art A similar to main_art:34
sim_art B similar to main_art:45
Without the reciprocal option you would have add only the first similarity. Usually using the reciprocal option is the desired behavior, at least what users have in mind when thinking of similarity relation between to artists but keep in mind that it may lead to have MPD_sima more sensible to loop over the same two artist (ASSERTION TO BE CONFIRMED).
The maintainer would be more than happy to here from you, don't hesitate to send feedback on the forge, via the upstream BTS, the forum or the chat room, all available on the forge at http://codingteam.net/project/sima.
XMPP users are welcome to join the dedicated room at sima@conference.codingteam.net.