Introduction

Welcome to the online method database at methods.ringing.org, a collection of methods for change ringing. If you don't know what change ringing is, you'll find plenty of information on Roger Bailey's site.

What is here?

The point of this web site is to give access to a database. The database lives on methods.ringing.org and users can get to it through these pages. Computer programs can also access the database directly. In the database are methods; currently, we have all the methods rung, as listed on the Methods Committee web site in their method collections. In the future we may also add collections of unrung methods.

So why do we need a new database?

All the methods which have already been rung are already available online, from the Methods Committee. Why bother setting up another web site to give access to the same information?

There are two main reasons why this site meets needs beyond those met by existing collections.

• The methods here are not stored in a set of flat files which you can download in their entirety; they are stored in a genuine database. This means that you can search for methods by name, class, place notation and many other criteria. You can search for methods which were rung before a particular year. You can search for methods whose entry has been updated since last time you looked. In the future, we hope to offer further abilities to search by symmetry type, to look for rotations of a given place notation, and other options.
• This database can be queried by other computer programs. For example, suppose that you are a ringer who is developing a web page which rings methods, or searches for compositions, or prints blue lines. You do not have to repeatedly download and keep copies of method collections. You simply write your program to ask this database whenever it needs to look up a method. On the other hand, suppose that you are writing a program that people will use at home while not permanently connected to the Internet. In that case, you can easily supply a short program which the user can run to connect to the database and download any new methods which have been added since last time they checked.

To search the database, go to the search page. For information on how to use the database from your own computer programs, see the section entitled For Programmers.