Central Council Methods Committee

Method Collection Tabular Format Specification


1. Introduction
This is an informal description of the tabular format used in the Central Council machine-readable collections of Plain, Surprise, Delight, Treble Bob, Alliance, Treble Place and Hybrid methods, principles, differentials and blocks.


1.1 Scope
This specification covers the collections available on the World Wide Web.


1.2 Syntax
The syntax used in the figures is described in Appendix A.


1.3 Character set
The collections are encoded in the ISO 7-bit coded character set for information interchange (ISO/IEC 646:1991). The collections in zipped form on the World Wide Web use PC Carriage Return / Line Feed (“0d0a”x) line delimiters. The collections in text form on the World Wide Web use Unix New Line (“0a”x) line delimiters.


1.4 Organisation
Each collection comprises an introduction, tables and an alphabetical index.


2. Introduction
This is a free-format file which includes the copyright notice, a list of the constituent files, the scope of the collection, historical notes and conventions.


3. Table files
The first line of each file identifies the file as a production of the Central Council and shows the month of publication. Each file contains one or more method tables each preceded by heading and sub-heading lines.


3.1 Table heading
The heading lines identify the class, stage and hunt work of the methods in the table (figure 1). For Little, Alliance, Treble Place and Hybrid methods and for Treble Dodging methods with the treble dodging more than once in each position-pair, the hunt work is shown in parentheses. For Treble Place and Hybrid methods and for Alliance methods with the treble’s path not formed just from plain hunting and treble dodging, the work appears on the next line with the cardinal positions of the hunt bell above the corresponding place notation elements in the “Notation” and “hl” columns of the table. Each heading line starts with a capital letter.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|                                                                              |
| Table heading                                                                |
|                                                                              |
| >>---------------------------------------------| hunters |---------------->< |
|      |             |   |               |   |                     |           |
|      ---- false ----   ---- unnamed ----   ----| non-hunters |----           |
|                                                                              |
|                                                                              |
| hunters:                                                                     |
|                                                                              |
|      ---- palindromic -------------   ---- single-hunt ----                  |
|      |                            |   |                   |                  |
| >>---+----------------------------+---+-------------------+----------------> |
|      |                            |   |                   |                  |
|      |--- double symmetric -------|   |--- double-hunt ---|                  |
|      |                            |   |                   |                  |
|      |--- rotational symmetric ---|   |--- triple-hunt ---|                  |
|      |                            |   |                   |                  |
|      ---- non-palindromic ---------   |--- four-hunt -----|                  |
|                                       |                   |                  |
|                                       |--- five-hunt -----|                  |
|                                       |                   |                  |
|                                       |--- six-hunt ------|                  |
|                                       |                   |                  |
|                                       |--- seven-hunt ----|                  |
|                                       |                   |                  |
|                                       |--- eight-hunt ----|                  |
|                                       |                   |                  |
|                                       |--- nine-hunt -----|                  |
|                                       |                   |                  |
|                                       ---- ten-hunt -------                  |
|                                                                              |
|                                                 ---- Plain -----------       |
|                                                 |                    |       |
| >-----------------------------------------------+--------------------+-----> |
|     |                    |   |              |   |                    |       |
|     ---- differential ----   ---- Little ----   |--- Surprise -------|       |
|                                                 |                    |       |
|                                                 |--- Delight --------|       |
|                                                 |                    |       |
|                                                 |--- Treble Bob -----|       |
|                                                 |                    |       |
|                                                 |--- Alliance -------|       |
|                                                 |                    |       |
|                                                 |--- Treble Place ---|       |
|                                                 |                    |       |
|                                                 ---- Hybrid ----------       |
|                                                                              |
| >---| stage |--- methods ------------------------------------------------->< |
|                             |           |   |                   |            |
|                             |--- (a) ---|   ----| hunt work |----            |
|                             |           |                                    |
|                             |--- (b) ---|                                    |
|                             |           |                                    |
|                             ---- (c) ----                                    |
|                              See Note 1.                                     |
|                                                                              |
| hunt work:                                                                   |
|                                                                              |
| |-- ( ------| special path |----------------------------------------- ) ---| |
|         |                                                         |          |
|         |                            ---------------------------  |          |
|         |                            |                         |  |          |
|         |                            V                         |  |          |
|         ------ treble’s path -----------| cardinal-position |------          |
|            |                      |                                          |
|            --- hunt bell’s path ---                                          |
|                                                                              |
| special path:                                                                |
|                                                                              |
| |----- treble -------------------------------------------------------------> |
|    |                |                                                        |
|    |-- hunt bell ---|                                                        |
|    |                |                                                        |
|    --- hunt bells ---                                                        |
|                                                                              |
| >--------------------------------------------------------------------------> |
|    |                                                                  |      |
|    --------------------------------------- to --| ordinal-position |---      |
|       |                                |                                     |
|       --- from --| ordinal-position |---                                     |
|                                                                              |
| >--------------------------------------------------------------------------| |
|    |                                                                    |    |
|    |------ double ------- dodging --------------------------------------|    |
|    |  |              |                                                  |    |
|    |  |--- triple ---|                                                  |    |
|    |  |              |                                                  |    |
|    |  |--- 4-pull ---|                                                  |    |
|    |  |              |                                                  |    |
|    |  |--- 5-pull ---|                                                  |    |
|    |  |              |                                                  |    |
|    |  |--- 6-pull ---|                                                  |    |
|    |  |              |                                                  |    |
|    |  |--- 7-pull ---|                                                  |    |
|    |  |              |                                                  |    |
|    |  |--- 8-pull ---|                                                  |    |
|    |  |              |                                                  |    |
|    |  |--- 9-pull ---|                                                  |    |
|    |  |              |                                                  |    |
|    |  ---- 11-pull ---                                                  |    |
|    |                                                                    |    |
|    | --- and ---------------------------------------------------------- |    |
|    | |                                                                | |    |
|    | | --- , -------------------------------------------------------- | |    |
|    | | |                                                            | | |    |
|    | V V                                                            | | |    |
|    --------------------------------------| cardinal-position-pair |------    |
|          |                             |                                     |
|          | --- single ---              |                                     |
|          | |            |              |                                     |
|          --+------------+- dodging in --                                     |
|            |            |                                                    |
|            |-- double --|                                                    |
|            |            |                                                    |
|            |-- triple --|                                                    |
|            |            |                                                    |
|            --- 5-pull ---                                                    |
|                                                                              |
| non-hunters:                                                                 |
|                                                                              |
| >>---| stage |------- principles ------------------------------------------> |
|                  |                     |                                     |
|                  |--- differentials ---|                                     |
|                  |                     |                                     |
|                  ---- blocks -----------                                     |
|                                                                              |
|                                                                              |
| >--- ( ---| change-count |--- changes per lead) -------------------------->< |
|                                                                              |
| stage:                                                                       |
|                                                                              |
| |------- Minimus ----------------------------------------------------------| |
|     |                  |                                                     |
|     |--- Doubles ------|                                                     |
|     |                  |                                                     |
|     |--- Minor --------|                                                     |
|     |                  |                                                     |
|     |--- Triples ------|                                                     |
|     |                  |                                                     |
|     |--- Major --------|                                                     |
|     |                  |                                                     |
|     |--- Caters -------|                                                     |
|     |                  |                                                     |
|     |--- Royal --------|                                                     |
|     |                  |                                                     |
|     |--- Cinques ------|                                                     |
|     |                  |                                                     |
|     |--- Maximus ------|                                                     |
|     |                  |                                                     |
|     |--- Sextuples ----|                                                     |
|     |                  |                                                     |
|     |--- Fourteen -----|                                                     |
|     |                  |                                                     |
|     |--- Septuples ----|                                                     |
|     |                  |                                                     |
|     |--- Sixteen ------|                                                     |
|     |                  |                                                     |
|     |--- Octuples -----|                                                     |
|     |                  |                                                     |
|     |--- Eighteen -----|                                                     |
|     |                  |                                                     |
|     |--- Twenty -------|                                                     |
|     |                  |                                                     |
|     ---- Twenty-two ----                                                     |
|                                                                              |
| cardinal-position = 1, 2, 3, ...                                             |
|                                                                              |
| ordinal-position = 2nds, 3rds, 4ths, ...                                     |
|                                                                              |
| cardinal-position-pair = 1-2, 3-4, 4-5, ...                                  |
|                                                                              |
| change-count = number of changes per lead                                    |
|                                                                              |
| Note 1. The parenthetical letters indicate the symmetry of the place         |
|         notation of methods with two or more hunt bells, where (a) means     |
|         symmetric like Grandsire, (b) means symmetric like Plain Bob and     |
|         (c) means asymmetric.                                                |
|                                                                              |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                  Figure 1
3.2 Table sub-heading
The sub-heading line identifies the position, width and label of each column of the table (figure 2).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|                                                                              |
| Table sub-heading                                                            |
|                                                                              |
| >>--- No. --- Name --- Notation ---------------------------- lh -----------> |
|                                    |                    |                    |
|                                    --- hl ---------------                    |
|                                             |        |                       |
|                                             --- le ---                       |
|                                                                              |
| >--------------------------------------------------------------------------> |
|     |           |   |                |                                       |
|     ---- fch ----   ---- affected ----                                       |
|                                                                              |
| >--------------------------------------------------------------------------> |
|     |                                                    |                   |
|     ---- Tower bells -------------------------------------                   |
|                         |           |   |             |                      |
|                         --- Place ---   --- Society ---                      |
|                                                                              |
| >--------------------------------------------------------------------------> |
|     |                                                      |                 |
|     ---- Handbells -----------------------------------------                 |
|                         |              |   |            |                    |
|                         --- Hb place ---   --- Hb soc ---                    |
|                                                                              |
| >--------------------------------------------------------------------------> |
|     |           |   |            |   |              |                        |
|     ---- CCC ----   |--- PMM ----|   ---- RW ref ----                        |
|                     |            |                                           |
|                     |--- TDMM ---|                                           |
|                     |            |                                           |
|                     ---- MUG -----                                           |
|                                                                              |
| >------------------------------------------------------------------------->< |
|     |                |   |             |                                     |
|     ---- Symmetry ----   ---- Notes ----                                     |
|                                                                              |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                  Figure 2
3.3 Table body
The rows are arranged in place notation order.


3.4 General columns
With the exception of the first three or four columns (“No.”, “Name”, “Notation” and “hl”) to which some special rules apply, each column starts in the same position as its label on the sub-heading line and, with the exception of the last column which extends to the end of the line, extends to two positions before the label of the next column. The position between the columns contain spaces.


3.5 Special columns
The “No.” column starts in first position although its label on the sub-heading line is in the second position. To accommodate arbitrarily long method names, if either the last position of the “Name” column or the position between the “Name” and “Notation” columns in a row does not contain spaces then the method name continues to the end of the line and “Notation” and all subsequent columns appear on the next line. So that the “Notation” and “hl” columns taken together may provide the notation of a method with a symmetrical place notation up to and including the half lead, the position between these two columns may contain a full stop instead of a space.


3.6 Column alignment and format
Note columns are left-aligned unless otherwise stated.


i. “No.”
Right-aligned, leading zero suppressed index number which is only significant within the particular edition of the particular collections.


ii. “Name”
Method name and selected terms. The selected terms are “Differential” for differential hunters and the classes Bob, Little, Place and Slow Course. Other classes are specified in the table headings.


iii. “Notation”
For palindromic methods the place notation is given up to and excluding the half lead place. For palindromic methods the entire place notation is given. The symbols in figure 3 are used for bell numbers above nine. Note that the letter I is not used because of its potential confusion with the number one.
Figure 3
ten0
elevenE
twelveT
thirteenA
fourteenB
fifteenC
sixteenD
seventeenF
eighteenG
nineteenH
twentyJ
twenty-oneK
twenty-twoL
iv. “hl”
The notation of the half lead for methods with symmetric place notations.


v. “le”
The notation of the lead end for methods with Plain Bob type symmetric place notations.


vi. “lh”
For methods with Plain Bob lead heads, the lead head produced is given by a code from figure 4. Lead heads for single-hunt methods are in the top left and bottom right hand sections, codes a - f and p - q are for seconds place lead ends and codes g - m and r - s for lead ends with no internal places. Lead heads for double-hunt methods are in the top right and bottom left hand sections. For methods with non-Plain Bob lead heads the actual lead head is given.
Figure 4
MinimusMinorMajorRoyalMaximusDoublesTriplesCatersCinques
a134213526413527486135274960813527496E8T0ga12534125374612537496812537496E80g
b-156342157382641573920486157392E4T608hb-1275634127593846127593E4068h
c--17856342*1795E3T20486jc--129785634*j
c1---190785634219E7T5038264j1c1---12E90785634j1
c2----1ET907856342j2
d2----1T0E89674523k2
d1---1089674523108T6E492735k1d1---120E8967453k1
d--18674523*18604T2E3957kd--128967453*k
e-1645231648273516482039571648203T5E79le-12674531268493751268403E597l
f1423142635142638571426385079142638507T9Emf124531246375124638597124638507E9m
p-12536412537486125374960812537496E8T0rp13524135274613527496813527496E80r
p1---12970583641297E5T30486r1p1--1795836241795E302846r1
q1---128069473512806T4E3957s1q1--18694725318604E29375s1
q-124635124638571246385079124638507T9Esq142531426375142638597142638507E9s
vii. “fch”
The letter(s) give details of the internal falseness, with the tenors together, of that method. The notation is that used by Roger Baldwin in his classification of the 120 false course-heads, slightly extended for Royal and Maximus methods. In this classification, the groups of false course-heads, tenors together members only, are shown in figure 5.
Figure 5
BCDEFGHIKLMN
243652563432546
46253
32465
43265
32654
45236
56423
63542
53462
63425
54632
65324
53624
65432
26543 ) L1

36245 ) L2
42563 )
23564
23645
25463
26435
34562
46325
54263
62345
23654
25436
32456
43256
34265
42365
24356
53426
63452
24635
25364
24563
26345

-
36542
46523
56243
62543

-
34526 ) K1
46352 )
52346 )
64253 )

54362 ) K2
64325 )

-

-
35462 ) N1
43625 )
53264 )
62435 )

35624 ) N2
45632 )
52634 )
65234 )
OPRSTUabcdef
36524
46532
52643
65243
54326 ) P1
64352 )

56342 ) P2
64523 )
35642
45623
56234
62534
34625
45362
52364
64235
24536
24653
25346
26354
36452
43526
53246
62453
34256 ) U1
35426 )
42356 )
43652 )
52436 )
63254 )

35264 ) U2
42635 )

-

-

-

-

-

-
53642
56432
63524
65423

-

-

-
32564
32645
45263
46235

-
23465 ) a1

23546 ) a2
26453 )
25643
26534
35246
36254
42536
42653
34652
45326
54236
62354
36425
43562
52463
63245
54623
56324
64532
65342

In-course false course-heads are shown in each case above the line, while the out-of-course false course heads appear below the line. The groups designated by small letters contain only out-of-course false course-heads.

In Major, the groups including both in-course and out-of-course false course-heads, and which are designated by capital letters, always occur as complete groups. Their presence is indicated in the tables by a single occurrence of the corresponding letter. In Royal and Maximus, the in-course and out-of-course components may occur separately, and for these categories of methods, the in-course and out-of course false course-head groups are shown separated by a slash.

A further consideration in Royal and Maximus is that certain of the groups defined above, K, L, N, P, U and a can subdivide. The subdivisions, indicated by K1, K2, L1, L2, N1, N2, P1, P2, U1, U2, a1 and a2 are also shown above.

Following the accepted convention, methods having no in-course false course-heads have been designated as cps (“clear proof scale”), although these methods will usually have out-of-course false course-heads.

The 24 groups of false course-heads with tenors together also contain tenors parted members. The 3 additional groups of false course-heads with no tenors together members are shown in figure 6.

Figure 6
XY (gamma)
257643 374652 627534 723645
265743 437625 632754 724653
276354 457632 635742 736425
276435 475623 657423 746532
346752 526734 672453 762354
367245 546723 673245 763542
367524 564732 675324 764235
267534 364752 625743 724635
275643 367542 635724 726534
276453 376425 637425 734652
675423 764532
Z (delta)
457623 546732 672354 763245

The notation is due to Edmund Shuttleworth, simplified by John Leary. When assessing the suitability of a composition with tenors together courses only, the presence of any of X, Y, Z against the method may be ignored. However if a composition has tenors parted courses, the presence of any of these additional groups must be considered. Note that the groups of false course-heads containing only out-of-course tenors together members (a - f) must be taken into account, even if the composition uses Bobs only, because these groups contain in-course tenors parted members.

viii. “affected”
Indicates how the fch groups are to be interpreted for a method with non-Plain Bob lead-heads by listing the three bells affected by a bob in the plain course. This is sufficient to indicate which fch group should be designated as group U, and once that is done the assignment of the other groups can be done to match.


ix. “Tower bells”
Date of first peal on tower bells of the form DD.MM.YYYY or “Spliced” right-aligned if first rung in Spliced or “Touch” right-aligned if first rung in a touch. DD and MM are leading zero suppressed.


x. “Place”
Location of first peal on tower bells.


xi. “Society”
Society for which first peal on tower bells rung.


xii. “Handbells”
Date of first peal on handbells of the form DD.MM.YYYY or “Spliced” right-aligned if first rung in Spliced or “Touch” right-aligned if first rung in a touch and table has no Tower bells column. DD and MM are leading zero suppressed.


xiii. “Hb place”
Location of first peal on handbells.


xiv. “Hb soc”
Society for which first peal on handbells rung.


xv. “CCC”
Right-aligned reference number used in earlier Central Council collections as described in the Introduction.


xvi. “PMM”
Right-aligned reference number used in the Collection of Plain Minor Methods.


xvii. “TDMM”
Right-aligned reference number used in Treble Dodging Minor Methods.


xviii. “MUG”
The code by which the 360 Plain Triples methods rung by the Manchester University Guild were published.


xix. “RW ref”
References to pages in The Ringing World of the form year/page or, for the years 1911 to 1916, volume/page preceded by the letter V, space separated. The century is omitted from years less than a hundred years ago.


xx. “Symmetry”
For non-palindromic methods indicates whether the method has double or rotational symmetry.


xxi. “Notes”
Notes.


4. Alphabetical index
The first line identifies the file as a production of the Central Council and shows the month of publication. There are “Name”, “Stage” and “No.” columns. The rows are arranged in alphabetical order of method name. If the method name is too long to fit in the “Name” column it continues to the end of the line and the “Stage” and “No.” columns appear on the next line.


APPENDIX A

The syntax used in the figures is described using the following structure: The syntax diagrams should be read from left to right and from top to bottom, following the path of the line. The following table shows the meaning of symbols which can appear at the beginnings or ends of syntax diagram lines.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| SYMBOL        | INDICATES                                                    |
|---------------+--------------------------------------------------------------|
| >>---         | the syntax diagram starts here                               |
|---------------+--------------------------------------------------------------|
| --->          | the syntax diagram is continued on the next line             |
|---------------+--------------------------------------------------------------|
| >---          | the syntax diagram is continued from the previous line       |
|---------------+--------------------------------------------------------------|
| ---><         | the syntax diagram ends here                                 |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Items that always occur appear on the horizontal line (the main path).

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|                                                                              |
| >>-------------required-item---------------------------------------------->< |
|                                                                              |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Items that may occur appear below the main path.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|                                                                              |
| >>------------------------------------------------------------------------>< |
|                |               |                                             |
|                --optional-item--                                             |
|                                                                              |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If one of several items may occur, they appear vertically, in a stack. If one of the items will always occur, one item of the stack appears on the main path.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|                                                                              |
| >>---------------choice 1------------------------------------------------->< |
|                |              |                                              |
|                --choice 2------                                              |
|                                                                              |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If none of the items may occur, the entire stack appears below the main path.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|                                                                              |
| >>------------------------------------------------------------------------>< |
|                |                   |                                         |
|                |-optional-choice 1-|                                         |
|                |                   |                                         |
|                --optional-choice 2--                                         |
|                                                                              |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A default, which is implied if no other choice occurs, appears above the main path.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|                                                                              |
|                --default-item--                                              |
|                |              |                                              |
| >>-------------+--------------+------------------------------------------->< |
|                |              |                                              |
|                |-choice 1-----|                                              |
|                |              |                                              |
|                --choice 2------                                              |
|                                                                              |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

An arrow returning to the left above the main line is a repeat arrow, and it indicates an item that may be repeated.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|                                                                              |
|                -------------------                                           |
|                |                 |                                           |
|                V                 |                                           |
| >>---------------repeatable-item------------------------------------------>< |
|                                                                              |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If there is a comma in the path of the repeat arrow, the items in a series are separated by commas.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|                                                                              |
|                -------- , --------                                           |
|                |                 |                                           |
|                V                 |                                           |
| >>---------------repeatable-item------------------------------------------>< |
|                                                                              |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A syntax fragment is delimited in the main syntax diagram by a set of vertical lines. The corresponding meaning of the fragment begins with the name of the fragment followed by the syntax, which starts and ends with a vertical line.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|                                                                              |
| >>-------------| fragment |----------------------------------------------->< |
|                                                                              |
| FRAGMENT:                                                                    |
| |--syntax items------------------------------------------------------------| |
|                                                                              |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This page is maintained by Tony Smith 15th May 2020