Practical Information
(The Structure of the Database Tables)


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The Tables give the typical structures of the Office. The Columns of the tables (the fields of the databases) and the conventions used in them are the following:
Column 1
The field NUMERUS contains a 5-digit number which identifies a liturgical 'point', i. d. a Tempus-Dies-Hora-Functio quadruplet. Each number of the basic row ends with O and so new additional records can be inserted between the lines depending on what the new sources require. The main numbers ending with O must, however, remain untouched as a requirement for collating files.
The numbers have no relation with the contents, they are prepared so as to reflect the usual arrangement of an antiphonary. Some numbers may prove unnecessary for a given source (having no special piece to the point, e.g. the set of antiphons is identical on Sunday and the subsequent weekdays). For the sake of a uniform treatment we have open lines for such records, too.
At the end of a group of chants there are sometimes numbers preserved for a greater choice of some sources.
The numbers given at a fairly early stage of the program serve merely technical purposes. Since it would have been complicated to change them, they have been retained with all their inconsistencies.

Column 2
The field TEMPUS marks the seasons identical with the 'sublibraries' of the system with the exception of NAT where the name is changed on January 5. The abbreviations are:

ADVTempus Adventus
NATTempus Nativitatis
EPITempus Epiphaniae et post Epiphanias
QuTempus Quadragesimae
PTempus Paschalis
AnnTempus per Annum

Column 3
The field DIES contains a maximum 5-character abbreviation for the day within the season on which the chant in question is sung. The abbreviations are:

1Ddominica prima
1f2feria secunda hebdomadae primae
1Sabbsabbato in hebdomada prima
4fin feriis hebdomadae quartae
die2in die secundo infra Octavam
D70dominica in Septuagesima (similiter D60, D50)
f4Cinferia quarta in die cinerum
QuTQuattuor Temporum
VigVigilia
OctOctava

and their combinations.

Column 4
The field HORA contains a maximum 5-character abbreviation of the Hour in which the chant in question is sung. The abbreviations are:

Nin matutinis horis, vel: in unico nocturno
N1in primo (etc.) nocturno
Lin laudibus
I,III,VI,IXin prima, tertia, sexta, nona hora
V1in primis vesperis
V2in secundis vesperis
Cin completorio
CCin completorio secundo dominicae una cum feriis subsequentibus

For technical reasons the following are written in the same column:

Invinvitatorium
WSacversiculus sacerdotalis seu 'versus ad Laudes'
Commcommemoratio
Suffrsuffragium

Column 5
The field FUNCTIO contains a maximum 5-character abbreviation of the liturgical genre or role of the chant in question. The abbreviations are:

aantiphona unica super psalmos
a1antiphona prima super psalmos
aaantiphonae
Abantiphona super canticum Benedictus
Amantiphona super canticum Magnificat
Anantiphona super canticum Nunc dimittis
Ab+antiphona superaddita ad canticum
Aprocantiphona processionalis
Apantiphona "pro populo"
Rresponsorium prolixum
Vversus responsorii prolixi
R1responsorium primum nocturni
V1versus ad responsorium primum pertinens
R4 vel R+responsorium superadditum
rresponsorium breve
vversus responsorii brevis
Wversiculus
Hhymnus
Gr, Gr-Vgraduale, versus ad graduale
All-Vversus ad Alleluia

Column 6
The field INCIPIT contains a maximum 25-character string for the first few words of the chant in question. The spelling is normalized. The field INCIPIT also contains special signs instead of textual information:

?codices hic muti sunt
-consuetudo illa hujusmodi cantu caret
> vel: videsicut in loco notato
#lacuna (vel pars illegibilis) in codice
*conjectura
(...)hoc signo distinguuntur verba non ex textu ipsius cantus sumpta
(de psalterio)ex parte 'per annum' sive e psalterio
(de laudibus)antiphona de laudibus ipsius diei

The pieces which begin with the same incipit will be distinguished with dots and the first different word or with the words (minor) - (major) to a short and long form respectively.
In most cases the verses of the short responsories (responsorium breve) will not be indicated because they are always identical, i. e. the second half of the psalm verse in question.
In the single source files all the conjectures are carefully marked with an asterisk. After collating the sources, however, these points can eventually cleared. These conjectures will remain in the tables unmarked, especially when (i) the missing data can be unambigously reconstructed from the other sections of the manuscript or, (ii) when the lack of new information means that the piece in question must be taken from de psalterio / de tempore. (E.g. The same antiphon was sung to the canticle Nunc dimittis in most churches of Europe during the whole Advent. Since some rites prescribe a new item in this function for the second part of Advent a space has been left blank for it in the tables. In the case of all other sources we refer here to the first week without notes.)

Column 7
In the databases each record contains a MEMO field into which arbitrary remarks can be written. This field is not included in the published form of the tables but the content of it might have served as a basis for the commentaries.

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