RomSieve user guide

RomSieve audits, filters, deduplicates and reorganizes large collections of ROMs, disk images and optical media images. It understands the three main preservation naming standards:

Standard Typical content
TOSEC (TOSEC Naming Convention, TNC) Retro computers (Amiga, Atari ST, Amstrad CPC, C64, ZX Spectrum...) and vintage consoles
No-Intro Cartridge consoles (NES, SNES, Mega Drive, Game Boy, GBA, N64...)
Redump Optical media (PlayStation, Saturn, Dreamcast, Amiga CD32...)

It also sorts MAME arcade sets (non-merged or merged), with a MAME DAT (see MAME DATs).

It reads your files, identifies them (by their name, and by their checksum when you give it a DAT catalog), applies your filters, keeps the best release of each game if you ask for it ("1G1R", 1 Game, 1 ROM), and builds a clean folder tree in a destination of your choice. Every sort can be simulated first, and every real sort can be undone.

RomSieve main window

The window

The column on the left follows the steps of a sort:

  1. Collection: the naming convention, the DAT file and the source.
  2. Selection: what to keep, on two pages, Filters then Languages and 1G1R. A click on Selection always opens Filters.
  3. Output: the destination, the transfer mode, conflicts, the directory tree and the playlists.
  4. Results: the statistics banner, the simulation table and the log, over the whole height of the window.

Under a step, a short line tells what is missing or what changed: No source chosen, Source not found, DAT not found, No destination chosen, Overlaps the source; for Results, the number of files of the last run ("22 files"), Running… during a run, or "22 files, out of date" when a setting changed since the simulation. With a DAT but no source, Collection shows DAT only, no source, a mere information: the DAT is enough to export the filtered DAT of the catalog (Export menu), but simulating or sorting needs a source.

The Simulate (Dry-Run), Start Sorting, Undo Last Sort and Export buttons, with the sentence that sums up the next sort and the progress of a run, stay at the bottom of the window, whatever the step shown. Starting a simulation or a sort shows Results; the Change the settings button leads back to the last settings step, and the results stay available from the Results step.

Contents

  1. Installation: download, first launch, where RomSieve stores its files.
  2. Quick start: your first simulation and your first sort, step by step.
  3. Naming conventions and DAT files: how files are identified.
  4. Destination and transfers: folder patterns, transfer modes, conflicts, playlists.
  5. Filters: dumps, modifications, demos, re-releases (TOSEC, No-Intro and Redump settings).
  6. Languages, regions and 1G1R: keep one release per game, in your languages.
  7. The simulation table: statuses, search, manual 1G1R choices, successive simulations.
  8. Exports: reports, DAT of your collection, missing ROMs and fixdat, filtered DAT of the catalog.
  9. Safety, purge and undo: what RomSieve never does, and how to go back.
  10. Command line: romsieve-cli for scripts, NAS and scheduled tasks.
  11. Settings and profiles: preferences window (language, theme, updates), advanced options, saved options, named profiles.
  12. Troubleshooting: common questions and problems.

In a hurry?

  1. In the Collection step, choose the Source (your unsorted files) and, optionally, a DAT file matching your collection.
  2. In the Output step, choose the Destination (an empty folder).
  3. Click Simulate (Dry-Run) and look at the table: nothing is written to disk.
  4. When the result suits you, click Start Sorting. If you change your mind, Undo Last Sort.