INTRODUCTION

LEECHMP3 is a set of REXX programs that automates the process of converting audio CDs to MP3 files and store them in folders. There are 3 folders levels:
  1. Category (folk, rock, blues, classical...)
  2. Artist (artist name)
  3. Record (all the record's tracks)
The folder are built according to the info found in the CDDB database to which the program connects when starting the process.
In the record folder, each track is identified by its full name, using OS/2 extended attributes to mask the real name of the MP3 file.
At each folder level, a playlist is built allowing you to hear all the tracks that are in thsi folder and its subfolders.

A utility programs allows you to save all your folders on a CD, which can be usefull if you have a portable cd player supporting MP3 format, or such a player in your car for example.

 

What do I need?

LEECHMP3 needs several additional components that are all freeware:
  1. You need at least a HPFS formated unit where to store the CD database.
  2. A CD grabber to read the cd and convert it into WAVE format:

    I use LEECH cause of its excellent dijittering capabilities and of its ease of use. You can download it here

  3. A MP3 encoder to convert WAV files into MP3 format:

    I use LAME which probably is the best one and runs under OS/2. A version of LAME is provided in the package, but you'll need to download EMXRT to have it running. After installing EMXRT, you must install EMXFIX03 to have EMX runtime aht the most appropriate level.

  4. A CDDB client program to connect to a CDDB server and retrieve the CD information:

    The QUERYCDDB program is included in the package, but comes from a very nice Chris Wohlgemuths package called AUDIO-CD-CREATOR that you can download from Chris Wohlgemuths Home Page On his page, you will also find the source code of this nice package and older versions of CDRECORD/2.

  5. A MP3 player:

    You should use Z! from DINK HOMEPAGE because the ZPLAY program coming with LEECHMP3 uses it to play either MP3 files or playlists.

  6. If you want to transfer your songs database on a CD, you will also need to install CDRECORD/2. You can find several versions on Chris Wohlgemuths Home Page but the latest one is here.
    CDRECORD/2 is not so easy to install, so carefully follow instructions.
    if CDRECORD/2 is not installed, the corresponding entry in the LEECHMP3 folder will not be installed.

 

INSTALLATION

  1. Unzip LEECHMP3.ZIP in a temporary directory (if you read this, it should already be done).
  2. Download and unzip LEECH in the same tempo directory.
  3. Run the INSTALL program.
    It will ask you directories where to put programs and database.
    For the CD database, the program automatically determines the HPFS unit where you have the more free space, you may choose another one.
    if you have the Z! MP3 player installed, the program will ask you if you want to associate it to MPL and .MP3 files thru the ZPLAY program that comes with LEECHMP3. This program determines if the input file is a .MP3 file or a playlist (.MPL file) and passes it to Z! with the appropriate parameters.
    Note that Z! must be installed in a directory figuring in the path variable of your config.sys file.
  4. All needed objects should now be created, you only have to open the LEECHMP3 folder and play.

 

Load a new record

This is the main LEECHMP3 program. It will do the following:

Read the CDID from the cd and pass it to the CDDB client to retrieve category, artist name and track titles from a CDDB server.
The CDID is an identificator that should be unique for each audio CD, it is the key for CDDB. But the CDDB may be incomplete or contain errors, or you may not be connected to internet.
If the CDID provided matches several entries in the CDDB, the QUERYCDDB program will ask to choose one of them.
If nothing is retrieved from CDDB for any reason, LEECHMP3 will ask you if you want to continue loading the CD. If the answer is yes, the CD will be placed in the 'UNTITLED' category and the tracks will have no title, but a track number, not very nice!
If info is correctly retrived, appropriate folders are created and the CD is loaded and converted to MP3.
After all this, the playlists are built so that you can hear all your CD at once.

 

My records

This is the entry folder where all your record folders are created.
Opening it, you will find one folder for each music category.
In each category, you will find folders for the artists and for each artist, the records you have already loaded.
After installation, the MY RECORDS folder is empty.

 

Rebuild playlists

After you have loaded some records, you may want to delete one. You may also find that the category in which CDDB placed the artist and record is not the one where you would have placed it! (CDDB sometimes has strange choices).
So you can delete a record, an artist, or move a folder to another place.
After this, the already created playliists may point to songs that don't exist anymore or that have been moved.
Simply double click on the REBUILD PLAYLISTS program and the playlists will again be acurate.

 

Save My records to CD using CDRECORD/2

This function will appear in the LEECHMP3 folder only if CDRECORD/2 was installed at the moment when you installed LEECHMP3. Note that CDRECORD.EXE and MKISOFS.EXE, part of the CDRECORD/2 package must be located in a directory figuring in the path variable of your config.sys file.
This program will save all the database on a CD. The database must not be bigger that the space available on the CD (about 682 MB).
On the CD, the tracks' long names won't be preserved, so you will see them with there physical filename.

 

EDIT LEECHMP3 CONFIGURATION FILE

This program allows you to edit the LEECHMP3 CONFIGURATION FILE using the system editor.
This file allows you to configure the following parameters: