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how_datvault_works

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How DATVault Works

DATVault acts as an indexing, updating, and delivery service for DATs. DATVault is designed to be flexible and it does not force you to organize your DATs in any specific way.

DATVault JSON Files

DATVault works by detecting special JSON files in your DatRoot. Each DAT you would like to manage has its own corresponding JSON file. Each file provides info about the DAT version you currently have.

The DATVault JSON files contain the following keys:

  • name: Included for backward compatibility.
  • group: The group the DAT belongs to. Used for filters.
  • system: The name of the system.
  • date: The date the DAT was was last updated on the DATVault server.
  • dateCreated: The date the DAT was first added to DATVault. Used for the configurable “New” filter.
  • version: The version of the DAT.
  • datURL: The download filename for the current DAT.
  • cueURL: The download filename for cue pack of the DAT (if applicable).
  • datName: The file name of the current DAT.

Example DATVault JSON for MAME:

{
   "name":null,
   "group":"MAME",
   "system":"MAME ROMS (listxml)",
   "date":"11/10/2021 2:28:56 PM",
   "dateCreated":"9/7/2021 1:19:26 PM",
   "version":"V0.237",
   "datURL":"MAME V0.237 ROMS (listxml).zip",
   "cueURL":"",
   "datName":"MAME V0.237 ROMS (listxml).dat"
}

The information in the JSON file is compared against the DATVault repository to determine if there are updates available to download. If the JSON file you have does not match the latest version available by DATVault, then the corresponding DAT has an update. When you update a DAT, the JSON file is also updated.

🛈 NOTE:
DATVault will download any updates into the same directory that contains the respective JSON file. Any existing DATs for that system will have a .old extension appended to the end of the filename.

Now that you understand how DATVault works at a high level, refer to the next section to get started using DATVault.

how_datvault_works.1638111420.txt.gz · Last modified: 2021/11/28 05:57 (external edit)