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Written by PandMonium

Category: TNC

Published: 29 July 2009

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Tosec Naming Convention (2008-07-20)

TNC - the format explained

Introduction

TOSEC, or The Old School Emulation Center, is a group of people dedicated to the preservation of games and other programs for home computer and console systems. The main goal of the group is catalog and correctly rename all possible kinds of software images for those systems, to archive this TNC was created.
The TNC or TOSEC Naming Convention is the set of rules used by TOSEC renamers trying to provide a clear, concise and consistent naming scheme for cataloging any image of any system. This document serves to cover and describe the entire naming convention and how it should be used.

Revisions Table

Single Image Sets

Almost all sets are single image sets and so this is the standard used in most of the images cataloged by TOSEC members, the exception to this are the multi image sets like compilations, etc., which use the same or a very similar scheme for the name of each image within the compilation, with some extra properties to distinguish the various images.
To be TNC complaint a Set must follow a well defined number of rules describing the image, currently the fields used in TNC are: title, version, demo, year, publisher, system, video, country, language, copyright status, development status, media type, media label, a group of dump info flags (cracked, fixed, hacked…), and finally the more info flag.
The format should look like this example:

With dump info flags relative to image modifications being ordered alphabetically first (cracked, fixed, hacked, modified, pirated, trained, translated) followed by the ones related with information about the dump process in the following order: overdump, underdump, virus, baddump, alternate, gooddump (!).
So if a set had all dump flags it would look like:

Although you should note that obviously no set can have all flags at the same time because some of them are incompatible with others (e.g. you can’t have a set marked as [o] and [u]at the same time, or [cr] and [!] etc.)
A final note that all flags used to classify the image are separated either with ( ) or [ ] for dump info flags and more info, also the fields marked with mandatory in the next chapters are required for the minimum use of TNC in renaming a file.
All entries marked "mandatory" are required for the minimum use of TNC in renaming a file, entries contained in parentheses "( )" or square brackets "[ ]" are flags used for classifying the image.

Forbidden Characters

Title

Mandatory

The name of the software program. This should match the official publisher's released title if known, or the name on the title screen if not known (there can often be differences between the two).
In cases where the title begins with the word "The", it should be moved to the end of the filename, and preceded by a comma. This same rule applies if the title is non-English, "De" for Dutch, "Die" for German, "Le/La/Les" for French, etc. etc. Don't do this if the title starts with "A"!

If you cannot make out any information regarding a title name, "ZZZ-UNK-{FILENAME}" is used in place of the unknown title. ie. "ZZZ-UNK-" is put in front of the filename. "ZZZ" to make sure these files are grouped together at the end of all lists, "UNK" for UNKnown.
Please note that we use a dash - instead of, like the Good-tools, an underscore _

Renaming a file to ZZZ-UNK- should be a last resort, and unrenamed files should not be prefixed with this simply to make the databases larger (i.e. to contain more files)
Only the so-called "Low ASCII" characters should be used. NO accents please. We know that this rule is kind of old-fashioned, but the fact is that many people will have problems with these characters.

Version

Version information is considered an extension of the filename. It should be included in all cases where it is known. There are no parentheses involved, and the format should (generally) be "v x.yy ", with x being the major, and yy the minor revision. If the program uses a different approach, use that instead.

Version Flag Samples

Demo

This field is used if a software title is a demonstration version. This is the only case where there should be a space between a closing and the following opening parenthesis!

Demo Flag Possibilities

Demo Flag Samples

Year

Mandatory
The year the program was released or, if this is unknown, the on-screen release year (like with the title, these may differ). If no exact year is known but the decade can be determined, use (199x) if from the 1990's, (197x) from the 1970's, etc. If no information is available, use (19xx) or (20xx) until a year can be determined.
If more complete information is known, then this can be shown using the format YYYY-MM-DD.
Also note that 19xx-MM and 19xx-MM-DD are allowed when only month or month and day are known, this can happen in things like magazines and other monthly publications where year is unknown.

Year Flag Samples

Publisher

Mandatory

The publisher field contains the company name of the software's publisher. If this is unknown the developer's company name or programmer's name can be used.
In cases where none of these are known, a dash (-) is used. If more than one name is required, separate names with a space hyphen space (" - ")
As a general rule, do not include extra company notations such as Ltd, PLC, Inc. unless they are absolutely necessary in the company name.
If individual person names need to be used, these should be entered in the format "Surname, First name" or "Surname, Initials".

Publisher Flag Samples

System

This field is reserved for collections that require multiple system support, such as Amiga, which could require (A500), (A1000) etc., to address compatibility issues.

System Flag Samples

Video

The video field is only used in cases where the images cannot be classified by countries or languages, but for example only the PAL or NTSC video formats they were released in.

Video Flag Samples

Country

This field is used to classify the country of origin. Some systems will have a standard country, and this should be omitted from the individual entries and a comment should be placed in an included text file or comment field of a .dat to reflect this.

In the case of two countries being required, both are given separated by a hyphen:
Ex: (De-GB) Released in Germany and the United Kingdom
Ex: (De-Fr) Released in France and Germany
Ex: (Eu-US) Released in Europe and the US

Country Flag Samples

Language

The language used in game.
Some systems will have a standard language, and this should be omitted from the individual entries, for example, Atmos Oric is predominantly a French system, so in an Atmos Oric database only non-French software would need this field entering. Typically, English only titles do not require marking as such.
In cases of more than two languages or countries being required, (Mx) is used to represent multiple languages, where x is the number of languages.
Ex: (M3) for 3 languages
Ex: (M4) for 4 languages
Ex: "Legend of TOSEC, The (1986)(Devstudio)(M3)"

In the case of two languages being required, both are given separated by a hyphen:
Ex: (en-fr) Contains English and French versions
Ex: (es -pt) Contains Spanish and Portuguese versions
Ex: (de-fr) Contains Deutsch and French versions

When 2 languages are in use they should be alphabetically ordered, if one is English then it always comes first [eg. (en-xx)].

Language Flag Samples

Copyright Status

This field is used to denote the copyright status of software if applicable. If the software has been made available to the Public Domain by the copyright holder or is Freeware or Shareware etc., this is the place to note it.

If a Shareware title is registered, -R is appended to the field. This can also be used for Cardware and Giftware titles.

Copyright Status

This field is used to denote the copyright status of software if applicable. If the software has been made available to the Public Domain by the copyright holder or is Freeware or Shareware etc., this is the place to note it.
If a Shareware title is registered, -R is appended to the field. This can also be used for Cardware and Giftware titles.

Copyright Status Flag Possibilities

If an item of software is classified by the author as a kind of copyright status not included above, this can be marked in the [more info] field.

Copyright Status Flag Samples

Development Status

This field is for marking alpha, beta, preview, prototype or pre-release versions of software titles.

Development Status Flag Possibilities

Development Status Flag Samples

Media Type

This field is used if the software spans more than one CD/GD-ROM/DVD, diskette, tape or file. Note that apart from the normal possibilities (Disk, Disc, Tape …), “Side x of y” is also allowed.

Media Type Possibilities

For example, where there are 9 or less disks, the format of "(Disk x of y)" is used, if there are 10 or more disks then (Disk xx of yy) should be used, there can also be the case where more than one volume is grouped in a single image, so something like (Part 1-2 of 3) is also allowed.
In cases where double sided tapes or disks are involved, the "Side A/B" entry is also included.

Media Flag Samples

Media Label

If the disk label is required, this field should contain it. This field is always the last flag using ( ) brackets, just before the [ ] flags.
This is mainly used when a "Save Disk", "Program Disk", "Scenery Disk" etc. might be requested by the software when running. For example, (Disk 2 of 2) is not useful by itself when the program asks you to "Insert Character Disk".

Media Label Flag Samples

Dump Info Flags

This is the 'alphabet soup' used to describe the nature, quality and condition of the particular image of the software (not the software as a whole). This is where images that are bad, alternates, cracks, hacks, trainers, fixes, translations, etc. are noted.
Note: These flags use square brackets [ ]
As noted at the start of Single Image Sets chapter, the order of those flags is important and should be kept correct, in few lines that order should always be:

Please note that wherever "Group" is used in the above table, the alteration could also be done by single persons, but renamers should be aware that taking the group they're in (if known) is always better.

Cracked – [cr]

Copy protection removed.
The variants are:
[cr] – Cracked
[cr Cracker] – Cracked by Cracker (group or person)

Fixed – [f]

Hack added for extra functionality.
The variants are:
[f] – Fixed
[f Fix] – Fix added
[f Fixer] – Fixed by Fixer (group or person)
[f Fix Fixer] – Fix added by Fixer (group or person)

In cases where there is more than one Fix or Fixer, they can be separated like the group names in other dump flags, for example, [f Fix1 group1 + Fix2 group2] – fix1 was made by group1 and fix2 was made by group2.

Some examples of fixes (complete list of all used fixes will be provided later):
NTSC = Fixed for NTSC
copier = Fixed for gamecopiers
save = hiscore save function added

Note: Renamers must try to use fixes already used before if they fit for the situation, this means that if “copier” is already defined there is no need to use “copier” in one set and “gamecopier” in another (if they represent the same thing, off course).

Hacked – [h]

General hack, some examples are adding some intro or changing/adding some text.
The variants are:
[h] – Hacked (general hack)
[h Hacker] – Hacked by Hacker (group or person)

Modified – [m]

General hack. (?)
The variants are:
[m] – Modified (general hack)
[m Modification] – Modification added
[m Modifier] – Modified by Modifier (group or person)
[m Modification Modifier] – Modification added by Modifier (group or person)

This flag is similar to Fix [f], the same rules apply.
Note: Renamers must try to use modifications already used before if they fit for the situation.

Pirated – [p]

Non-licensed release.
The variants are:
[p] – Pirate version
[p Pirate] – Pirate version by Pirate (group or person)

Trained – [t]

Trainers added, the ROM has been hacked adding up extra functionality that lets you use cheats in game.
The variants are:
[t] – Trained
[t Trainer] – Trained by Trainer (group or person)
[t +x] – x denotes number of trainers added
[t +x Trainer] – Trained and x number of trainers added by Trainer (group or person)

Translated – [tr]

Translated from its original language to other, if it is a partial translation, not fully complete, “-partial” should be appended to the language code. Also note that the language codes used in this flag are the same used in language flag.
Some of the variants are:
[tr] – Translation
[tr language] – Translated to Language
[tr language-partial] – Translated to Language (partial translation)
[tr language Translator] – Translated to Language by Translator (group or person)
[tr language1-language2] – Translated to both Language1 and Language2.
[tr language1-partial-language2-partial Translator] – Partially translated to both Language1 and language2 by Translator (group or person).

Note: Translator name is not allowed if language isn’t identified too ([tr Translator] not allowed).

Over Dump – [o]

Too much data was dumped, making it bigger than it would be expected / needed.
The variants are:
[o] – Overdump (too much data dumped)

Under Dump – [u]

Not enough data dumped.
The variants are:
[u] – Underdump (not enough data dumped)

Virus – [v]

Virus infected image.
The variants are:
[v] – Virus (infected)
[v Virus] – Infected with Virus
[v Virus Version] – Infected with Virus of Version

A list of all virus used in current TOSEC db will be provided later, renamers should try to use always the same names, for example don’t use “VirusXPTO1”, “virusxpto1” or “Virus XPTO1” in different images for the same virus.

Bad Dump – [b]

Incorrect data dumped, probably this image will not work properly, or at all.
The variants are:
[b] – Bad dump (incorrect data dumped)
[b Descriptor] – Bad dump (including reason)

Some examples of descriptors:
corrupt file = Image contains a corrupt file
read-write = Image has a read/write error

A list of all currently used descriptors will be available later, the same thing said to Virus flag applies here so please try to use an already defined descriptor if it fits your needs, don’t invent new ones when it is not needed.

Alternate – [a]

An alternate version of the software with small differences like the readme files, etc.
The variants are:
[a] – Alternate version
[a Descriptor] – Alternate (including reason)

Some examples of descriptors:
highscore = Only a highscore table entry is different from a non [a] image
readme = Only a readme file is different from a non [a] image

Known Good Dump – [!]

Verified good dump.
The variants are:

[!] – Verified good dump

Dump Flags Samples

In case where multiple images exist that need the same dump info flags, the flag is numbered as follows:

There is no [n1], so, for example, you will need to have a [b] for a [b2] to exist. When dealing with flags that can relay more information, be sure to not add numbers if it is not necessary to remain unique. If, for example, the Cracking Group can be used to distinguish between different files, use that instead:

A dump info flag can only be used once (except in the case of compilations). So, if something was hacked by PDX, then hacked again by TRSi, do not use:

Instead, use one of the following, depending on how the program was altered.

Note: When various groups or person names are used in the same flag, them must always be separated using “ - “ or “ + “, according to each case, never with &, “-“ or “+”!

More Info

This field contains any miscellaneous information about the image that is not covered by any of the prior flag fields. Notes in the [more info] field should be lowercased unless capitalization is necessary.
Note: These flags use square brackets [ ]
Note: This should always be the last flag.
Note: It is possible for a file to have more than one [more info] flags, although commas can be used to separate items also.
Examples include, but are not limited to:

Also, please keep in mind that this flag is not to be used to specify the system this game/ application should be run on, in general. It's ok to use this for exceptions or minimal system specs though.

In other words, only use the [more info] flag for 'special' cases, or use it for the system it needs at least (this could also be used in the case of Commodore Amiga with flags like [KS3.1], meaning Kickstart 3.1 is required).

Multi Image Sets

The multi image sets generally represent compilations and other kind of sets that have more than one software image, as you can imagine the single sets format doesn’t work when you want to describe and catalog a set with two different programs.
The idea is to use the standard TNC single image sets format for each of the images and group them together with “ & “.
The format for multi-program images is as follows:

Representing a set made of 3 images (Title1, Title2 and Title3) and all the corresponding flags grouped together using “ & “.

Some Multi Image Sets Samples

Global Flags

Using the above scheme for multi image sets may turn into a problem, large compilations or images with lots of flags or big names will end up having an enormous length, making it look bad and possibly hitting the maximum length for a filename (255 chars). A partial solution to these problems are the global flags.
In cases where there are identical multi-program images, use a dash - character as a separator after the last title entry in the image, followed by any dump info flags specific to the entire image.

If needed renamers can compress even more flags relative to all images and not only the dump info flags, please note that you should try to have at least year and publisher flags represented separately for each image.

If for any reason using this you can’t came up with a small enough length and are forced to compress it a bit more, you can also put the year and publisher after the dash if they apply for both, please note that this is should only be used as a last resort since it will generate some weird file names that are difficult to parse, the dash “-“ will appear between title (+ version) and year flag, using “ & “ to separate only titles, versions and possibly demo flags.

Please note that this is totally misadvised and is only used once or twice till now in all TOSEC sets, the use of this scheme makes it impossible to easily parse each image title name since & usage is generally allowed in other flags (like title), there is no way to know if for example “Tom & Jerry & Other” are 3 separated titles (Tom / Jerry / Other) or only 2 (Tom & Jerry / Other, etc.).

Current Problems & Issues

• Dump info flag – [f]: (also happens in [m] flag!)

Acceptance of both [f Fix] and [f Fixer] formats makes it impossible to easily know if in [f Text], the Text represents a fix or the fixer name. (accepted – use defined descript.)

• Separation of groups / publishers:

Separation using “ - “ and “ + “ may cause problems if there are cases of publisher/group names using “ - “, although this isn’t verified yet, probably its not a problem since almost all groups using “-“ or “+” don’t use spaces too, the problem now is the huge number of existing sets where renamers separated groups with only “-“, “+” or even “ & “ and “&”.

• Version flag (vx.yy):

This field can became problematic due to its weak format, it’s after the title and starts with “v” but if the version is made by a letter for example, and not started with numbers it may be ignored and treated as title or vice versa. Example: “Title 1 vA” is very hard or simply impossible to automatically know if vA is part of the name or version A.

• Media Label flag:

Media label flag is now independent from media type (as in, it can be used even when media type flag doesn’t exist) makes it possible for any typo or unidentified flag separated with ( ) brackets to be identified as media label (since media label is defined as any text between ( ) at the end of the ( ) flags, also other similar problem is the case of some image originally labeled as “Pt”, “de-fr”, “preview” or any other valid value for one of the flags that appear before media label. As expected those will be parsed wrongly. Example: “Title (19xx)(-)(preview)”, if preview is a media label it will obviously be parsed wrongly as development status flag.

• Dump info flag – [v]:

There is no standard defined on how to represent the virus version so that info could be separated, something similar to version flag should be used “Friday 13 v1.5” for example, instead of “Friday 13 1.5”. Also I suppose there could be more than one virus in one set so they must also be separated with “ - “.

• Multi image Sets:

Even that this is a complicated subject with no easy solution, the broken part is obviously the one already pointed earlier, about contracting all flags to the end having only titles put together with “ & “, this scheme should be avoided or a better solution (if one exists) to separate titles should be defined. Demo flag can also be a global flag?

• Groups order in flags! Important to define an order for crackers, virus, … grouped with “ - “, in cases order doesn’t matter they should be alphabetically to avoid having different versions. Ex: Title (19xx)(-)[h Ze – Hu] or Title (19xx)(-)[h Hu – Ze].
• Rule when more than 1 publisher is used? Avoiding (publ1 – publ2) and (publ2 – publ1)
• Flag descriptors! (a/b/f descriptors…), try use lowercases except when needed (ex. PAL)? First letter always capital? (issue: [a savegame] vs [a Savegame]). Re: lowercase

Which more flags accept descriptors not described in tnc? [m Modification Modifier] allowed???? Others???