---------------------------------
----==== Official.FLAC.Standard.Rules v3.0 ====----
---------------------------------
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| INTRODUCTION |
| After 4 years of enjoying the FLAC scene and with ruleset wording |
| misinterpretations, it is time to revise and add/update some rules. |
| |
| NOTE: The definitions of these keywords are to be interpreted as follows: |
| MUST=obligatory (release not allowed if rule not followed) |
| SHOULD=suggested (release allowed if not followed) |
| CAN+MAY=optional (release allowed if not followed) |
| |
| Unless clearly stated in a specific rule or note, capitalization in |
| this ruleset is considered as informative. |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| GENERAL |
| 1.1 A release MUST contain an SFV, NFO, and JPG proof. |
| .1 A release MAY contain other relevant JPG files. |
| .2 A release MAY contain CUE and LOG files if it is from a CD source. |
| .3 Valid filetypes are: .cue, .flac, .jpg, .log, .m3u, .nfo and .sfv. |
| 1.2 Valid media sources are: BLURAY, CD, DVD(A), HDDVD and VINYL. |
| .1 A release MUST not mix sources. |
| 1.3 Trackfixes are not allowed, bad quality rips require a complete repack |
| and MUST include the ADDITIONAL type tag: -REPACK- (rule 4.6). |
| 1.4 The following are reasons for a bad quality rip: |
| .1 One or more tracks from the release are incomplete or contain skips. |
| .2 The tracks are distorted and constantly clipping (eg. vinyl rips). |
| .3 The tracks contain a constant hiss which was avoidable (eg. vinyl |
| rips). |
| .4 Low sound, mono rips (from stereo sources) and other factors easily |
| heard by the human ear. |
| 1.5 The maximum directory and filename length is 128 characters. Directories |
| and filenames MUST only contain valid characters: a-z A-Z 0-9 _ . - () |
| 1.6 All physical mediums (including mixed CD(s) / e.g. DJ-Mixes) MUST be |
| ripped as separate tracks according to the TOC (Table Of Contents) |
| on the medium. The only occasion where the physical medium is released |
| as one single track is when there is only one track on the medium. |
| NOTE: Lossless data compression excludes the possibility of the introduction |
| of padding, all lossless audio file formats are inherently gapless. |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| DUPES |
| 2.1 A release MUST include all audio tracks. Releasing just the bonus tracks |
| or some other subset of tracks is not allowed. Similarly, a BONUS DISC |
| cannot be released by itself, but MUST be released as a complete release.|
| 2.2 A release MUST not be identical to a previous release, except |
| ADVANCE/PROMO releases (Rule 7.2). |
| 2.3 A release is not identical to a previous release if: |
| .1 The previous version has a different mastering. |
| .2 The previous version has a different tracklist. |
| .3 The previous version has a different version of a track. |
| 2.4 A release MUST not be a collection of discs that have already all been |
| individually released. For example, releasing a 2CD that combines a |
| CD and EP after they have both been indivually released is not allowed. |
| Boxsets of COMPLETE Discographies or REMASTERED Album Series are |
| excluded from this rule. |
| 2.5 A release MUST not have all its tracks included in one previous release. |
| Examples: a CDS cannot be released after a CDM that includes all the |
| tracks on the CDS. An album cannot be released after a boxset that |
| includes all the tracks from that same album. A CDM or CDEP cannot be |
| released after a release has been reissued with all tracks. |
| 2.6 All sources MUST follow the above dupe rules as well as the following |
| source specific rules: |
| .1 BLURAY cannot dupe any other source, except HDDVD. |
| .2 HDDVD cannot dupe any other source, except BLURAY. |
| .3 CD cannot dupe any other source, except BLURAY and HDDVD. |
| .4 DVD cannot dupe any other source. |
| .5 VINYL cannot dupe any other source. |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| ENCODING |
| 3.1 A release MUST be encoded using FLAC 1.3.1 (no alphas and betas allowed) |
| .1 A release MUST be encoded using the --compression-level-8 option. |
| .2 A release SHOULD be encoded using the --verify option. |
| .3 A release MUST NOT be encoded using --replay-gain or any kind of |
| option that changes the audio source quality. |
| 3.2 Encoding quality must be: |
| 44.100 Hz / 16 bit LPCM (2.0) for CD. |
| 96.000 Hz / 24 bit LPCM (2.0) for VINYL sources. |
| 3.3 DVD(A) encoding quality: |
| .1 Only LPCM uncompressed audio source is allowed. |
| .2 Channels, Bits per Sample and Sample Frequency, MUST be kept. |
| .3 A DVD release MUST contain all music tracks. Additional tracks (clips,|
| interviews etc.) are optional. If those extra tracks are not included |
| then a PROPER (with ALL tracks) or an additional release (extra tracks|
| only) is not allowed. |
| .4 The .nfo file MUST contain the following source information: |
| - Codec (LPCM) |
| - Bitrate (640kbps, 768kbps, 1536kbps...) |
| - Number of channels (Stereo, 5.1, ...) |
| 3.4 HDDVD/BLURAY encoding: |
| .1 The highest audio source MUST be used. |
| .2 Channels, Bits per Sample and Sample Frequency MUST be kept. |
| .3 Audio source choice priority starting from highest bitrate is: |
| - DTS-HD Master Audio |
| - Dolby TrueHD |
| - LPCM |
| .4 HDDVD/BLURAY video clip releases should be ripped as multiple tracks, |
| (eg: like any regular compilation CD release). |
| .5 HDDVD/BLURAY releases with multiple files, but all belonging to the |
| same playlist index MUST be encoded together in the same order as |
| the playlist index file indicates. |
| .6 HDDVD/BLURAY releases MUST contain all music tracks. Additional tracks|
| (clips, interviews etc.) are optional. If those extra tracks are not |
| included then a PROPER (with ALL tracks) or an additional release |
| (extra tracks only) is NOT allowed. |
| .7 The .nfo file MUST contain the following source information: |
| - Codec (DTS-HD Master Audio, Dolby TrueHD, LPCM) |
| - Bitrate (640kbps, 768kbps, 1536kbps...) |
| - Number of channels (Stereo, 5.1, 7.1) |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| RELEASE NAME |
| 4.1 The tag -FLAC- MUST be in uppercase in the release name and always |
| before -YEAR- and -GROUP tags. |
| 4.2 Release name MUST contain at least: Artist, Title, Source, Year, Group. |
| .1 ARTIST tag means performer, band, musician. MUST be a unique name. |
| (ie. no OST in place of artist). |
| If not possible to identify, the word "Unknown" can be used. |
| Compilations (eg: Soundtracks, Samplers) with various artists MUST use|
| the word "VA" at ARTIST field. Various Artists is considered 4 or more|
| different artists with single songs. |
| .2 TITLE tag means the title of album. It MUST be a unique name. |
| (ie. no Self-titled). If not possible to identify, the word "Unknown" |
| can be used. (Self name artist title MUST not be considered an unknown|
| title). |
| 4.3 Using CATALOGUE number in a release name is optional but recommended. |
| 4.4 Valid SOURCE tags: (Uppercase letters MUST be used) |
| .1 BLURAY (eg. 2BLURAY, 3BLURAY, etc.) |
| .2 HDDVD (eg. 2HDDVD, 3HDDVD, etc.) |
| .3 CD, CDS, CDM, CDEP, MCD, CDR, CDRS, CDREP |
| (eg. 2CD, 3CDS, 4CDREP, 84x3INCH_CDS etc.) |
| .4 DVD(A) (eg. 2DVD, 3DVD, etc.) |
| .5 VINYL, VLS, LP, MLP, EP, INCH_VINYL, FLEXI |
| (eg. 2VINYL, 3LP, 4INCH_VINYL, 3X5INCH_VINYL, 10x12INCH_VINYL etc.) |
| 4.5 TYPE describes the difference in tracks, tracklist or year of this |
| release compared to another version. Difference in tracks usually is: |
| length, mixing, mastering, recording, number of channels. Difference in |
| tracklist usually occurs with specific presses, in different countries, |
| with different artists or different/more tracks for the same release |
| title. Different year reports to reissue releases (refer to rule 4.10). |
| Some releases need to be identified from the normal ones due to their |
| source nature. (eg: soundtrack compilation, magazine bonus CD, etc). |
| Therefore valid allowed TYPE tags are: |
| - Advance, Promo, Retail, Bonus, Mag, Split, OST, Digipak, |
| - Audiobook, Bootleg, Demo, Sampler, Whitelabel, Reissue, Remastered. |
| - <country> (eg: JP_Retail, US_Reissue) |
| - Ltd, Limited, Limited_Edition, Ltd_Edition, Tour_Edition, |
| - Deluxe_Edition, Special_Edition, Digipa(c)k, Digipa(c)k_Edition |
| - Clean, Explicit, Expanded_Edition, Collectors_Edition, Boxset |
| .1 TYPE can be a combination of the keywords featured in rule 4.5 using |
| the _ (underscore) space replacement. (eg. -Reissue_Limited_Edition-). |
| .2 When using EXPLICIT as TYPE it MUST show in the proofpic. |
| 4.6 Valid ADDITIONAL tags: (Uppercase MUST be used) |
| - DIRFIX, NFOFIX, READNFO, PROPER, REAL_PROPER, REPACK, REAL_REPACK. |
| .1 If an ADDITIONAL tag is used, the nfo MUST mention the release name |
| that it is replacing or updating. |
| .2 DIRFIX and NFOFIX are exempt from Rule 1.1. |
| .3 A DIRFIX can only be used to fix parts of the release name that do |
| not affect Vorbis tag contents. (i.e CATALOGUE and TYPE) |
| 4.7 LANGUAGE (LANG) MUST follow the ccTLD identifiers (2-chars): |
| (Capitalized letters MUST be used) |
| http://www.lingoes.net/en/translator/langcode.htm |
| 4.8 Mandatory release name formats: |
| - Artist-Title-SOURCE-FLAC-YEAR-GROUP |
| - Artist-Title-LANG-SOURCE-FLAC-YEAR-GROUP |
| - Artist-Title-LANG-TYPE-SOURCE-FLAC-YEAR-GROUP |
| - Artist-Title-(CATALOGUE)-LANG-ADDITIONAL-SOURCE-FLAC-YEAR-GROUP |
| - Artist-Title-(CATALOGUE)-LANG-TYPE-SOURCE-FLAC-YEAR-GROUP |
| - Artist-Title-(CATALOGUE)-LANG-ADDITIONAL-TYPE-SOURCE-FLAC-YEAR-GROUP |
| .1 Any spaces in ARTIST and TITLE should be replaced with _ (underscore).|
| If ARTIST or TITLE has . (dots) or - (dash), it SHOULD be |
| kept as close as they appear on the cover/booklet/physical medium, |
| but they do not have to be nuked if not. |
| .2 Brackets () in TITLE are only allowed if it is used in the album |
| title. The proof picture MUST clearly show this. |
| 4.9.1 Internal releases MUST be tagged GRP_iNT or GRP_INT. |
| .2 Internal releases MUST follow FLAC ruleset. |
| .3 Internal releases MUST not dupe an existing one that is 732 days old |
| or newer. |
| 4.10 YEAR tag MUST be the year when the record company/artist published it. |
| For non-original presses, the additional TYPE tag MUST be applied. |
| (example: release originally released in 1990, but rip is from 2000 |
| reissue, correct year would be 2000, with additional TYPE tagging). |
| NOTE: IF a YEAR can not be found on medium and/or cover it's allowed |
| to use 198x 199x 200x but it MUST be mentioned in the .nfo |
| 4.11 LANGUAGE tag is HIGHLY recommended for non-English releases. |
| If the vocals are non-English and the majority of them are best |
| described using one TLD country code abbreviation, then the most |
| appropriate TLD SHOULD be chosen and MAY be used as a tag in the |
| release name. |
| 4.12 Typos in releases (TITLE, ARTIST, YEAR etc.) leaving an invalid VORBIS |
| tag ARE NOT TOLERATED and require a complete REPACK. |
| .1 ARTIST and/or TITLE must not be translated to English from their |
| native language. English alphabet characters must be used to reflect |
| artist and/or title names (ref to rule 1.5). |
| NOTE: CATALOGUE and TYPE are optional tags (except for rule 4.10). |
| When they are used, they MUST be placed in the correct order. |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| FILENAME |
| 5.1 Filename MUST at least contain: Track number, Track artist, Track title. |
| 5.2 All filenames (including SFV, NFO, JPG) MUST be lowercase. |
| 5.3 Track titles MUST be exactly the same as written on the backcover. |
| Tracklist containing all additional infos like featured artists or |
| remixers, if they are present, as long it does not exceed the maximum |
| filename length (see rule 1.5). |
| If additional information can be found printed on the covers and/or |
| booklet, it is encouraged to write them aswell. |
| .1 Releases with differences in tracklist because of different pressings |
| are not subjected to nukes or PROPERs. (i.e an Asian release tracklist|
| might miss description of featured artist(s) while a US release has |
| that description.) |
| .2 If the tracklist is written in more than two languages, the ripper is |
| free to write them both or just a single language. If one of the |
| languages is English then the English tracklist MUST be used. |
| NOTE: If the tracklist has changes, due to pressing errors for example, |
| it is encouraged to correct and explain them in the .nfo. |
| 5.4 Recommended filename formats: |
| - nr-artist-title.flac |
| - nr-artist-title_(remixer_or_featured_artist).flac |
| - a1-artist-title.flac |
| - b2-artist-title.flac |
| 5.5 Including -groupname in the filenames is allowed but not recommended. |
| 5.6 REPACKed releases MUST include a -repack suffix on each .flac file. |
| PROPER releases MUST include a -proper suffix on each .flac file |
| NOTE: -repack and -proper MUST be placed at the end of each .flac file. |
| 5.7 In VA releases the actual artist name MUST be before song title. VA |
| (Various Artists) is not a valid artist (01-va-song_title is |
| unacceptable). |
| .1 Excludes single audio track releases if it's a compilation of several |
| tunes produced/mixed/remixed by a single artist/producer. |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| VORBIS TAGS |
| 6.1 FLAC files MUST contain Vorbis comments. Vorbis comment field names |
| MUST be unique. Multiple comment fields are NOT allowed even though |
| the specification supports this. |
| 6.2 All FLAC files MUST have the following Vorbis comment field names and |
| corresponding field contents: TRACKNUMBER, ARTIST, TITLE, ALBUM, GENRE, |
| and DATE (format: YYYY). |
| .1 All FLAC files SHOULD also have the following Vorbis comment field |
| names and corresponding field contents: TOTALTRACKS, DISCNUMBER and |
| TOTALDISCS. |
| .2 The "vendor_string" field of the VORBIS_COMMENT metadata block MUST |
| be present indicating the correct lib FLAC version. Be aware that some|
| software removes this field by default. |
| .3 For VA releases the ARTIST field contents MUST have the corresponding |
| artist name not "VA". (Exempts rule 5.7.1) |
| .4 Adding SOURCE (CD/CDM/CDS/Vinyl/DVD) or TYPE to the ALBUM field |
| is NOT allowed. |
| 6.3 The FLAC picture block (METADATA_BLOCK_PICTURE) MUST be empty. Any cover |
| or booklet scans MUST follow Rule 9.5 |
| 6.4 Vorbis comment field contents use UTF-8 character encoding to allow easy |
| representation of any language. It is recommended to use UTF-8 in field |
| contents to ensure accurate tagging. Filenames MUST follow Rule 1.5. |
| 6.5 The GENRE field content MUST be the same for all the files in a release |
| and it MUST be one of the genres listed: |
| A Cappella, Acid, Acid Jazz, Acid Punk, Acoustic, AlternRock, |
| Alternative, Ambient, Anime, Avantgarde, Ballad, Bass, Beat, Bebop, |
| Big Band, Black Metal, Bluegrass, Blues, Booty Bass, BritPop, Cabaret, |
| Celtic, Chamber Music, Chanson, Chorus, Christian Gangsta Rap, |
| Christian Rap, Christian Rock, Classic Rock, Classical, Club, Club-House,|
| Comedy, Contemporary Christian, Country, Crossover, Cult, Dance, Dance |
| Hall, Darkwave, Death Metal, Disco, Dream, Drum & Bass, Drum Solo, Duet, |
| Easy Listening, Electronic, Ethnic, Euro-House, Euro-Techno, Eurodance, |
| Fast Fusion, Folk, Folk-Rock, Folklore, Freestyle, Funk, Fusion, Game, |
| Gangsta Rap, Goa, Gospel, Gothic, Gothic Rock, Grunge, Hard Rock, |
| Hardcore, Heavy Metal, Hip-Hop, House, Humour, Indie, Industrial, |
| Instrumental, Instrumental Pop, Instrumental Rock, Jazz, Jazz+Funk, |
| JPop, Jungle, Latin, Lo-Fi, Meditative, Merengue, Metal, Musical, |
| National Folk, Native American, Negerpunk, New Age, New Wave, Noise, |
| Oldies, Opera, Other, Polka, Polsk Punk, Pop, Pop-Folk, Pop/Funk, |
| Porn Groove, Power Ballad, Pranks, Primus, Progressive Rock, Psychedelic,|
| Psychedelic Rock, Punk, Punk Rock, R&B, Rap, Rave, Reggae, Retro, |
| Revival, Rhythmic Soul, Rock, Rock & Roll, Salsa, Samba, Satire, |
| Showtunes, Ska, Slow Jam, Slow Rock, Sonata, Soul, Sound Clip, |
| Soundtrack, Southern Rock, Space, Speech, Swing, Symphonic Rock, |
| Symphony, Synthpop, Tango, Techno, Techno-Industrial, Terror, |
| Thrash Metal, Top 40, Trailer, Trance, Tribal, Trip-Hop, Vocal, Unknown. |
| NOTE: Both Psychedelic and Psychadelic are correct and may not be nuked |
| if used. |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| ADVANCE/PROMO |
| 7.1 An ADVANCE or PROMO is not available at retail and is usually labelled |
| with some variation of the words Advance and/or Promotional. Having a |
| release before its retail date does not automatically make it an ADVANCE.|
| 7.2 ADVANCE and PROMO releases can always be duped by any retail release even|
| if the tracks on both releases are identical. |
| 7.3 ADVANCE and PROMO releases with voice overs, silence, or cuts on tracks |
| are not allowed. |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| BOOTLEG |
| 8.1 A bootleg is a release or recording that was not officially released by |
| the artist or record company (unofficial / unlicensed recordings). |
| 8.2 Conditions for bootleg releases are: |
| - There are no signs that the record company really released it. |
| - The artist or record company did not confirm the release as valid. |
| - The record company has no connection to the artist on the release. |
| - The record company does not exist and the release is not self-released.|
| - The release is not available at at least three retail stores. |
| NOTE: Currently valid retail stores (alphabetic order): |
| - www.amazon.com |
| - www.boomkat.com |
| - www.bestbuy.com |
| - www.cduniverse.com |
| - www.decks.de |
| - www.deejay.de |
| - www.hmv.com |
| - www.juno.co.uk |
| - www.sonymusicstore.com |
| - www.virgin.com |
| - www.ukdancerecords.com |
| - www.walmart.com |
| The shop itself must sell the record, not private sellers. |
| 8.3 Due to their unofficial nature, bootlegs might carry audio defects |
| (eg. skips, glitches, etc). If these audio defects are identified in the |
| nfo then a release cannot be considered invalid until there is a |
| valid one (eg. PROPER release clean of audio defects). |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| PROOF |
| 9.1 Releases MUST always contain a proof CAMERA picture in JPEG format. |
| 9.2 Proof camera pictures MUST contain both, medium(s) and cover together. |
| If there is no cover, a booklet or promo sheet or anything valid MUST be |
| included to prove that the ripper has the release. If the medium/cover/ |
| booklet contains anything that may expose your identity, then that |
| part of image can be blurred or blackened. |
| 9.3 The proof picture MUST include a small piece of paper over the medium(s) |
| and/or the cover with GROUP name. |
| Artist, title and any other relevant info that proves release, must not |
| be hidden behind the piece of paper. |
| 9.4 GROUP tag must be photographed in the proof picture, software-edited |
| tags are considered invalid proof. Camera picture proof must not be |
| changed except to hide anything that might expose ripper (read Rule 9.2).|
| 9.5 Additional scans may be added but DO NOT count as proof. |
| 9.6 The resolution of the proof camera picture MUST be at least 640 width |
| and 480 height in JPEG format. |
| Artist and/or album/single title MUST be clearly readable. |
| 9.7 Proof fixes are NOT allowed, missing proof picture or bad resolution |
| requires a complete repack. |
| NOTE: EXIF metadata should be removed from JPEG files! Uniquely identifying |
| information such as the camera serial number and GPS coordinates can |
| pose a security threat if not removed, so this is very ESSENTIAL! |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| |
| CHANGELOG: |
| |
| 2011-10-03 first version (v1.0) |
| 2011-10-10 rule 1.10 with NOTE added to forbid single file+cue unless |
| source is single track with index. |
| 2011-10-10 rule 3.5.1 added (explanation for TYPE tag). |
| 2011-10-10 rule 3.8.1 added (explanation for ARTIST and TITLE tags). |
| 2011-10-10 rule 5.1 adjusted |
| 2011-10-10 rule 5.5 adjusted |
| 2011-10-10 rule 5.5.1 added |
| 2012-05-15 GENERAL section 1.0 splitted. |
| 2012-05-15 rule 1.3 adjusted |
| 2012-05-15 rule 1.4 adjusted and NOTES removed. |
| 2012-05-15 DUPES section created 2.0 |
| 2012-05-15 rule 3.1 adjusted |
| 2012-05-15 rule 3.2 encoding setting changed. |
| 2012-05-15 rule 3.3 DVD encoding audio settings. |
| 2012-05-15 rule 3.4 HDDVD/BLURAY encoding audio settings. |
| 2012-05-15 rule 4.1 adjusted |
| 2012-05-15 rule 4.2 adjusted |
| 2012-05-15 rule 4.4 adjusted |
| 2012-05-15 rule 4.5 adjusted |
| 2012-05-15 rule 4.6 adjusted |
| 2012-05-15 rule 4.7 adjusted |
| 2012-05-15 rule 4.10 adjusted |
| 2012-05-15 rule 4.12 adjusted |
| 2012-05-15 rule 5.3 adjusted |
| 2012-05-15 rule 5.4 adjusted |
| 2012-05-15 rule 5.6 created |
| 2012-05-15 rule 5.7 created |
| 2012-05-15 rule 6.1 adjusted |
| 2012-05-15 rule 6.2 adjusted |
| 2012-05-15 rule 6.4 adjusted |
| 2012-05-15 rule 6.5 adjusted |
| 2012-05-15 PROMO/BOOTLEG section splitted. |
| 2012-05-15 rule 8.4 created |
| 2012-05-15 ADVANCE/PROMO created. |
| 2016-06-15 rule 2.4 adjusted |
| 2016-06-15 rule 3.1 adjusted |
| 2016-06-15 rule 4.5 adjusted |
| 2016-06-15 rule 4.5.2 added |
| 2016-06-15 rule 4.6 adjusted |
| 2016-06-15 rule 4.6.3 added |
| 2016-06-15 rule 4.7 adjusted |
| 2016-06-15 rule 4.8.2 added |
| 2016-06-15 rule 4.10 NOTE added |
| 2016-06-15 rule 4.11 adjusted |
| 2016-06-15 rule 4.12 adjusted |
| 2016-06-15 rule 5.3 NOTE adjusted |
| 2016-06-15 rule 5.3.1 added |
| 2016-06-15 rule 5.3.2 added |
| 2016-06-15 rule 5.6 adjusted |
| 2016-06-15 rule 5.6 NOTE added |
| 2016-06-15 rule 5.7.1 added |
| 2016-06-15 rule 6.1 adjusted |
| 2016-06-15 rule.6.2.4 added |
| 2016-06-15 rule 6.5 adjusted |
| 2016-06-15 rule 6.5 NOTE adjusted |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| |
| Rules signed by: 2Eleven 86D ATMO BCC BriBerY c05 CMC CUSTODES dh dL |
| EMP FATHEAD FiH FrB FWYH GRAVEWISH HBFD JLM k4 LiTF LoKET |
| MAHOU Mrflac mwnd NBFLAC PERFECT psyCZ SCF SCORN SMASH |
| SPL TiLLMYDEATH VOLDiES WRE YARD |
| |
| FLAC rules V3.0 apply from 2016-06-15 00:00:00 CET (Central European Time). |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------+