View source for Wiki143:WikiProject Disambiguation/Database dump analysis

A [[Wikipedia:Database download|database dump]] is a backup of all Wikipedia pages, which can then be downloaded. Once downloaded, extensive analysis can performed on the dump (this can't be done by [[Screen scraping|scraping]] live from the servers because it creates excessive load).

Database dump analysis can help [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Disambiguation|WikiProject Disambiguation]] achieve its goals by providing editors with extra information.

==Currently run dump analyses==
*The [[Wikipedia:Disambiguation pages maintenance|Disambiguation pages maintenance]] report is refreshed by a dump occasionally. Generated by [[User:RussBlau|RussBlau]].
*Generated by [[User:Bo Lindbergh|Bo Lindbergh]] ([[Wikipedia:Disambiguation pages with links/Report|details]]):
**The [[WP:DPL|Disambiguation pages with links]] report. Status - updated every couple of months, as needed.
***[[Wikipedia:Disambiguation pages with links/from portals|From portals]], a variation on link repair
***[[Wikipedia:Disambiguation pages with links/from templates|From templates]], a variation on link repair
**[[Wikipedia:WikiProject Disambiguation/Malplaced disambiguation pages|Malplaced disambiguation pages]] report.
**Statistics, example: 
{| border=1 cellpadding=2
! rowspan=2 |
! colspan=2 | ∑
! colspan=2 | articles
! colspan=2 | categories
! colspan=2 | portals
! colspan=2 | templates
|-
! pages
! links
! pages
! links
! pages
! links
! pages
! links
! pages
! links
|-
! 2005-11-13
| align=right | 33102
| align=right | 412194
| align=right | 32166
| align=right | 410987
|
|
|
|
| align=right | 936
| align=right | 1207
|-
! 2005-12-13
| align=right | 34475
| align=right | 425520
| align=right | 34126
| align=right | 425120
|
|
|
|
| align=right | 349
| align=right | 400
|-
! 2006-03-03
| align=right | 39928
| align=right | 465726
| align=right | 38238
| align=right | 463507
| align=right | 578
| align=right | 836
| align=right | 429
| align=right | 495
| align=right | 683
| align=right | 888
|}

==Proposal: tracking down dab pages with suspect style==
At [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia_talk%3ADisambiguation&diff=36551744&oldid=36550599 WP:DAB] [[User:wangi|wangi]] expressed interest in using the dumps to  aid [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style (disambiguation pages)|dab page style]] (by tracking down suspect dab pages). One could argue that [[:Category:Disambiguation pages in need of cleanup]] is always plentifully stocked and that a dump analysis to find more troublesome dabs is unnecessary. But then again, who could have perceived the activity around [[Wikipedia:Disambiguation pages with links/from templates|From templates]] that resulted in completion of that report.

===Ideas===
;Image and template checks...
Dab pages are checked for: 
*Images
*Templates (other than dab templates naturally, including stubs templates etc)
:Images and templates indicate that a dab page is verging on article status. An expert can examine the dab and perform merging, start discussion etc.

;Talk page is a redirect?
*If a page has a dab template then it should have its own talk page. Due to page moves, often a dab's talk page redirects elsewhere (no redirect should be present). A listing of dab pages without their own talk pages would be helpful.

;Link checking...
*Check the ratio of wikilinks to number of lines for page. The idea being that the higher the value the more in need of cleanup a page is (generally).
*Check for [[Wikipedia:Piped link|piping]] of links. Generally piping should not be present on dab pages. Perhaps check the gross number of piped links
[[Category:WikiProject Disambiguation|Database dump]]