Understanding Downloadable file naming convention

[jewettg]

So I have been going through various Amiga Software archives, looking for software and games to play with on my Amiga. I find myself at a loss to figure out some of these naming conventions used on these sites, and why there are between 2 to 10 different disk images name about the same but vary slightly with other words or codes.

Example:
Workbench v3.1 rev 40.29 (1993)(Commodore)(beta)(Disk 1 of 6)(Install)[m]
Workbench v3.1 rev 40.29 (1993)(Commodore)(beta)(Disk 2 of 6)(Workbench)[m][b not bootable]
Workbench v3.1 rev 40.29 (1993)(Commodore)(beta)(Disk 3 of 6)(Extras)
Workbench v3.1 rev 40.29 (1993)(Commodore)(beta)(Disk 4 of 6)(Storage)
Workbench v3.1 rev 40.29 (1993)(Commodore)(beta)(Disk 5 of 6)(Locale)
Workbench v3.1 rev 40.29 (1993)(Commodore)(beta)(Disk 6 of 6)(Fonts)
Workbench v3.1 rev 40.42 (1994)(Commodore)(beta)(Disk 1 of 6)(Install)
Workbench v3.1 rev 40.42 (1994)(Commodore)(M10)(Disk 1 of 6)(Install)[!]
Workbench v3.1 rev 40.42 (1994)(Commodore)(M10)(Disk 1 of 6)(Install)[a]
Workbench v3.1 rev 40.42 (1994)(Commodore)(M10)(Disk 1 of 6)(Install)[a2]
Workbench v3.1 rev 40.42 (1994)(Commodore)(M10)(Disk 1 of 6)(Install)[a3]
Workbench v3.1 rev 40.42 (1994)(Commodore)(M10)(Disk 1 of 6)(Install)[m drive definitions]
Workbench v3.1 rev 40.42 (1994)(Commodore)(M10)(Disk 1 of 6)(Install)[m drive definitions][a]
Workbench v3.1 rev 40.42 (1994)(Commodore)(M10)(Disk 1 of 6)(Install)[m]
Workbench v3.1 rev 40.42 (1994)(Commodore)(M10)(Disk 2 of 6)(Workbench)[!]
Workbench v3.1 rev 40.42 (1994)(Commodore)(M10)(Disk 2 of 6)(Workbench)[a]
Workbench v3.1 rev 40.42 (1994)(Commodore)(M10)(Disk 2 of 6)(Workbench)[a2]
Workbench v3.1 rev 40.42 (1994)(Commodore)(M10)(Disk 2 of 6)(Workbench)[a3]
Workbench v3.1 rev 40.42 (1994)(Commodore)(M10)(Disk 2 of 6)(Workbench)[m]
Workbench v3.1 rev 40.42 (1994)(Commodore)(M10)(Disk 2 of 6)(Workbench)[m2]
Workbench v3.1 rev 40.42 (1994)(Commodore)(M10)(Disk 3 of 6)(Extras)[!]
Workbench v3.1 rev 40.42 (1994)(Commodore)(M10)(Disk 3 of 6)(Extras)[a]
Workbench v3.1 rev 40.42 (1994)(Commodore)(M10)(Disk 3 of 6)(Extras)[a2]
Workbench v3.1 rev 40.42 (1994)(Commodore)(M10)(Disk 3 of 6)(Extras)[m]
Workbench v3.1 rev 40.42 (1994)(Commodore)(M10)(Disk 4 of 6)(Storage)[!]
Workbench v3.1 rev 40.42 (1994)(Commodore)(M10)(Disk 4 of 6)(Storage)[a]
Workbench v3.1 rev 40.42 (1994)(Commodore)(M10)(Disk 4 of 6)(Storage)[a2]
Workbench v3.1 rev 40.42 (1994)(Commodore)(M10)(Disk 4 of 6)(Storage)[m]
Workbench v3.1 rev 40.42 (1994)(Commodore)(M10)(Disk 4 of 6)(Storage)[m2]
Workbench v3.1 rev 40.42 (1994)(Commodore)(M10)(Disk 5 of 6)(Locale)[!]
Workbench v3.1 rev 40.42 (1994)(Commodore)(M10)(Disk 5 of 6)(Locale)[a]
Workbench v3.1 rev 40.42 (1994)(Commodore)(M10)(Disk 5 of 6)(Locale)[a2]
Workbench v3.1 rev 40.42 (1994)(Commodore)(M10)(Disk 5 of 6)(Locale)[m]
Workbench v3.1 rev 40.42 (1994)(Commodore)(M10)(Disk 6 of 6)(Fonts)[!]
Workbench v3.1 rev 40.42 (1994)(Commodore)(M10)(Disk 6 of 6)(Fonts)[m doscopy]
Workbench v3.1 rev 40.42 (1994)(Commodore)(M10)(Disk 6 of 6)(Fonts)[m doscopy][a bamcopy]
Workbench v3.1 rev 40.42 (1994)(Commodore)(M10)(Disk 6 of 6)(Fonts)[m icons]
Workbench v3.1 rev 40.42 (1996)(ESCOM)(M10)(Disk 1 of 6)(Install)
Workbench v3.1 rev 40.42 (1996)(ESCOM)(M10)(Disk 1 of 6)(Install)[m]
Workbench v3.1 rev 40.42 (1996)(ESCOM)(M10)(Disk 1 of 6)(Install)[m2]
Workbench v3.1 rev 40.42 (1996)(ESCOM)(M10)(Disk 1 of 6)(Install)[m3]
Workbench v3.1 rev 40.42 (1996)(ESCOM)(M10)(Disk 2 of 6)(Workbench)
Workbench v3.1 rev 40.42 (1996)(ESCOM)(M10)(Disk 2 of 6)(Workbench)[b not bootable]
Workbench v3.1 rev 40.42 (1996)(ESCOM)(M10)(Disk 2 of 6)(Workbench)[m files deleted]
Workbench v3.1 rev 40.42 (1996)(ESCOM)(M10)(Disk 2 of 6)(Workbench)[m2]
Workbench v3.1 rev 40.42 (1996)(ESCOM)(M10)(Disk 2 of 6)(Workbench)[m3]
Workbench v3.1 rev 40.42 (1996)(ESCOM)(M10)(Disk 3 of 6)(Extras)
Workbench v3.1 rev 40.42 (1996)(ESCOM)(M10)(Disk 3 of 6)(Extras)[m]
Workbench v3.1 rev 40.42 (1996)(ESCOM)(M10)(Disk 3 of 6)(Extras)[m2]
Workbench v3.1 rev 40.42 (1996)(ESCOM)(M10)(Disk 4 of 6)(Storage)
Workbench v3.1 rev 40.42 (1996)(ESCOM)(M10)(Disk 4 of 6)(Storage)[m]
Workbench v3.1 rev 40.42 (1996)(ESCOM)(M10)(Disk 4 of 6)(Storage)[m2]
Workbench v3.1 rev 40.42 (1996)(ESCOM)(M10)(Disk 5 of 6)(Locale)
Workbench v3.1 rev 40.42 (1996)(ESCOM)(M10)(Disk 5 of 6)(Locale)[a]
Workbench v3.1 rev 40.42 (1996)(ESCOM)(M10)(Disk 5 of 6)(Locale)[m]
Workbench v3.1 rev 40.42 (1996)(ESCOM)(M10)(Disk 5 of 6)(Locale)[m2]
Workbench v3.1 rev 40.42 (1996)(ESCOM)(M10)(Disk 6 of 6)(Fonts)
Workbench v3.1 rev 40.42 (1996)(ESCOM)(M10)(Disk 6 of 6)(Fonts)[a]
Workbench v3.1 rev 40.42 (1996)(ESCOM)(M10)(Disk 6 of 6)(Fonts)[m]
Workbench v3.1 rev 40.42 (1996)(ESCOM)(M10)(Disk 6 of 6)(Fonts)[u]
ZZZ-UNK-Workbench v1.3 (198x)(Commodore)(Disk 2 of 2)(Extras)[m]
ZZZ-UNK-Workbench v1.3 (198x)(Commodore)(Disk 2 of 2)(Extras)[m2]
There are obviously 6 disks that make up a Workbench installation disk set. What the heck does [m], [a], [a2], [!], [m files deleted], or [m drive definitions] mean?

..or in this case, I wanted to download and try to play this Monty Python game (being a huge Monty Python fan):
Monty Python's Flying Circus (1990)(Virgin Mastertronic)[cr Angels - Genesis].zip
Monty Python's Flying Circus (1990)(Virgin Mastertronic)[cr Angels - Genesis][a].zip
Monty Python's Flying Circus (1990)(Virgin Mastertronic)[cr PDX].zip
Monty Python's Flying Circus (1990)(Virgin Mastertronic)[cr PDX][t +2 PDX].zip
Monty Python's Flying Circus (1990)(Virgin Mastertronic)[cr PDX][t +2 PDX][a].zip
Monty Python's Flying Circus (1990)(Virgin Mastertronic)[cr PDX][t +2 PDX][a2].zip

But once again, 6 different versions, all with various codes and words in the filename? What do they mean?

 

[miggymad]

Monty Python's Flying Circus (1990)(Virgin Mastertronic)[cr PDX][t +2 PDX][a2].zip

This is an easy one to answer ... Reading from left to right :

Name of game
Year the game was released
Game company
cr = Cracked game
PDX = Paradox (cracking group)
t +2 = 2 option trainer (probably infinite time and lives)
a2 = disk number 2 in the set

Also if you look at your list of Workbench disks - the 40.42, 40.68 are just different version releases and the end letter/number combo means all the disks with that in [ ]'s are part of the set.

e.g. all with [m] at the end belong together, all [m1]'s belong together, all [m2]'s together , etc.. So 6 disks with [m2] make a complete set. of version 40.42 Workbench disks.

Once you get the hang of it, it becomes second nature