This script is an update from the original earliest release date from discogs script written by yhsiugs. With his permission I have updated the script and started a new thread. Would like to thank Hagar and Cotto for their comments and testing in version 2.0, and to others for suggestions for the current version....
Would also like to thank crap_inhuman for his input into the PHP server side code
Download:
http://earliestrelease.com/ERDVersions/EarliestDate4.4.0.206.mmip
What's New:
Version 4.4.0.206 - February 19, 2016
-Add option to clear Discogs Keys on main UI
-Add option to switch API service on Main Page
-switch searches changed API on previously selected/playing song
-options greyed out when both services have been checked
-Minor UI Changes - don't hide choices just disabled
-Change rate limit for Discogs to 3/s
-Use only first artist if multi-artist
-Change Discogs API calls to HTTPS
Version 4.3.2.195 - August 14, 2014
- Changed Discogs Oauth date requirement to October 14, 2014
- Fix object required if oAuth process cancelled by user choice
- Fixed error in install.ini file
Version 4.3.1.194 - August 13, 2014
- removed from memory - built from wrong source
Version 4.3.0.193 - August 8, 2014
- Add support for oAuth and the search endpoint for Discogs
- Add checks for artist and track tags
- Changed installation directory constant to {gsf} to work around MM {lsf} bug and portable mode
- Moved location of MMIP file to a server that supports PHP
Version 4.2.0.191 - July 17, 2014
- Add option to exclude bracketed text in search
- Add checks for valid JSON, this included a fix to a logic error and increase in wait time for API responses
- Cleaned up the UI a bit more. Buttons now hidden instead of disabled if not applicable
- Force users to Musicbrainz on August 15th, 2014 due to Discogs requirement for oAuth for the database/search endpoint after that date
Version 4.1.0.185 - February 9, 2014
- Fix bug where web searches would fail if main panel in MM was not a music node (eg. web node)
- Updated option page
Version 4.0.1.184
- Fix bug due to malformed API calls with double quote in search string
Version 4.0.0.183 - January 13, 2014
- Uses JSON endpoints for all Discogs API calls
* Special thanks to eepman for supplying the working JSON parser for vbscript. His work based on http://demon.tw/my-work/vbs-json.html#code
- Fixed lookup fail for artists with trailing ", The"
- Add web search option for 45cat.com as per fizzjob
- Add options to apply the earliest date found album name to Original Title, or if one desires Album
- Cleaned up the UI and code some more....
Version 3.0.1.164 - January 29, 2013
- Bug fixes
- Fixed object required bug due to malformed URL requests
- Fixed rate limits for Discogs and MusicBrainz not respected if no results found
Version 3.0.0.163 - January 24, 2013
- Added option to search MusicBrainz (MB searches are extremely fast and is the default on install)
- Added option to search by selected song(s)
- Added options to control displayed results
- Added option to use specific year (e.g. 9999) for searches with no results
- Added Play Next/Start Search button to UI
- Apply to album option moved to UI
- Searches Master releases from Discogs for results (allows for wider search)
- Added option to select number of Discogs Masters to search
- Each Master searched requires a call to the Discogs API, each call is seperated by 1 second to respect Discogs API terms.
- Added progress bar for multiple selection searches
- Results are sorted automatically (earliest to latest)
- Search performed only on music
- Added timing to respect API terms for Discogs and MB
- Various minor bug fixes
Version 2.0.0.123 - July 3, 2012
- Update panel look and feel
- New Option Sheet
- Added option to use 'Date' field instead of default 'Original Date'
- Added option to update entire album/series
- Added option to use Month/Day if available
- Added option to search only if selected date field is empty - can force search by clicking results dialog
- Added logic so automatic DB updates occur only if the selected date field is blank, and only for single songs
- Fixed bug where the previously searched song results were presented when panel made visible, not the currently playing song
- Fixed bug where auto-updates would not be applied if search date = earliest date found
- Fixed bug where artists with leading "The" would return zero results
- Use UpdateAll method to update DB, and tags as per user selection
- Results dialog shows name of album as well as artist and title and date
- Results header displays the number of results found and the total number of possible Discogs results. Will give some indication of usefulness.
- Current search info can be clicked to open a web page to your favourite music web service, using default web browser.
Usage
- Back-up your database!
- Install Earliest Release Date
- Play A Song or Select Song(s) using MM
- Script will present a list of release dates for the currently playing song (user selectable up to 50)
- If panel is not visible after install click on View, then Earliest Date
Options:
Tools-->Options-->Library-->Earliest Date
- Search Earliest Date Using:
Self Explanatory. Can select either MusicBrainz or Discogs. Default on install is MusicBrainz.
- Maximum number of discogs masters to search
User selectable from 1 - 100 only if Discogs search enabled. Default on install is 15. The initial Discogs search searches for Master releases. For each master release the script will make another call to the API to search for the earliest date in the releases for that master. Each call to Discogs takes 1 second.
- Exclude Bracketed Text
Removes the brackets and any text in between to perform the seach for the earliest release date. Helps to find dates for those songs tag with (Live) (12") (Feat...) etc.
Regular parenthesis, square brackets, and curly braces are removed.
- Use 'Date' Field
Self explanatory. Script will update the "Date" Field instead of the "Original Date" field with the earliest date found from Discogs. (Default is OFF for 'Original Date')
- Include the Release Month/Day (if available)
If the month and/or day of the release is available from Discogs the script will display those values and use them for updates to the database. If this option is selected then a release date with a day and or month of release is more significant than one without. For example a release date of Dec 31, 2011 has priority over Dec 2011 and this has priority over a release date of 2011. (Default is ON)
- Search Discogs only if preferred date field is empty
Self Explanatory. Discogs search will only occur if the date field one chooses to use is empty. If this option is selected users can force a search by clicking on the results dialog that is presented in the panel. (Default is OFF)
- Search by selected song(s)
Allows user to search by selected songs in the main window. By turning this option on Automatic DB updates will be forced on too. (Default is OFF)
- Automatically update DB with earliest date found
If checked the database (and tags if the option is set) are updated automatically without user intervention. The script will pick the earliest date available for you. Automatic updates are forced if searching by selected songs.
- Automatically update only if preferred date found is earlier
If selected will only update DB if the preferred date found is earlier than any existing value. (Default is OFF)
- Use specified value for the preferred date if no results found
Allows user to select a value between 1000 and 9999 to use as a year if a search for the earliest date finds no results. Can be because there are no dates for that song, tags are incorrect, or internet connection is down. Default is OFF and "9999".
- Result Display Settings
Controls how the results are shown. Because the dates found are now automatically sorted from earliest to latest the number of radio buttons displayed can be kept to a minimum. User is allowed to select between 1 and 50 results displayed. Default is 5.
User is also allowed to choose what information is displayed. Default is Artist - Album - Song along with earliest date. Artist, Album and Song can be turned off if so desired. Minimum test displayed is the Earliest Date.