Lotus Elise Register

[sandsmuseum]

The revised Lotus Elise registry is up and running. The registry allows you to enter your Lotus Elise vehicle identification number (VIN), describe all the options, supply your car's build date, and check some boxes that characterize the manufacturing modifications. There is also room to enter a comment and attach a URL pointing to a picture of your car.

The new registry allows you to enter your car's information, edit the information later as you learn more about your car, and print a page with all the information. It is possible to display a current compilation of all the cars in the registry. There is a decode section that allows you to enter a VIN and see what all the fields mean. It is possible to see pictures that characterize all the changes. The registry attempts to accomodate 2005 and 2006 cars, with the new colors and options listed.

http://www.sandsmuseum.com/cars/elise/registry

Please try it out and let me know what you think. Suggestions are gratefully accepted. There are some bugs. Most are described on the front page. I will fix them as time allows. I hope the database is stable enough so no data will be lost. I still need some pictures that help illustrate some of the later changes. For example, I need pictures of the Exige wheels and the painted LSS wheels, and will provide credit to the person that supplies the pictures. I need more information about the changes in diffuser bolts pattern and dimples.

I will continue to enhance the registry and will add more running changes as I get more information. I will fix the way I handle color input after the 2006 cars start to ship and some other odd user interface issues. Again, see the front page for a list.

My thanks to cranium for the initial implementation and to apkom, andykeck, and TimMullen for preliminary testing. For those of you that are curious, I used php and MySQL to implement the registry. My original profession was software development and I used to be pretty good at it. However it has been a long time since I tried to issue the magic incantations and so sometimes the magic does not work quite right. The code is ugly... I will go back to doing my museum quality restorations of antique coin operated games now...

[Tyger]

Hey, some yoyo put in November 2005 as his build date! Computer should be able to catch stuff like that, no?

[andykeck]

Originally Posted by Tyger

Hey, some yoyo put in November 2005 as his build date! Computer should be able to catch stuff like that, no?

Hey! I'm that yoyo! Michael asked me to enter some data and give him feedback. I didn't particularly make an effort to be factual and in fact I'm not sure that's my correct VIN either. I understood that the test data was to be deleted before the Registry went live. If that's not the case, then I apologize for polluting the info pool.

Could that entry be deleted, please?

[Randy Chase]

Put me on the yoyo list. I accidently used 5 for the year code, so my July 04 build date is shown as July 05.

[Modern Wedgie]

Actually, its an error in the program. I just put in my info and it wouldnt allow me to set a year.

Thanks for putting this up. A registry is awesome! It's cool to see how everything has changed with the car.

A few extra things to add:
Set screw on shift knob
Star shield pattern change
driving light harness pre-wired
gas cap strap

[Modern Wedgie]

Originally Posted by Randy Chase

Put me on the yoyo list. I accidently used 5 for the year code, so my July 04 build date is shown as July 05.

You are no yo-yo. The 5 is right, since its '05 model year.

[sandsmuseum]

The whole reason I took on this project was because I made a mistake in the first version. I thought if I made it easy to edit the entries, you all could fix the errors yourselves, keeping the data up to date...

The one field I decided not to let you edit, because it is the column that gets indexed for those of you that understand databases, was the VIN field. Of course, that is the most difficult to enter reliably.

I hope you all will enter the check digit. Thanks to Tim, I now have the algorithm and will be checking it as well for data entry.

The offending entries in the registry have been removed. I will be happy to do it for other errors, and will not think badly of you for making the mistake. Been there and done that....

Michael

[Randy Chase]

Originally Posted by Modern Wedgie

You are no yo-yo. The 5 is right, since its '05 model year.

Ahh... then yes, it is a program error. Model year /= build date year.

[Randy Chase]

Color does not seem to be working.

[CALtd]

Better correct the radio spelling before AW catches it. It should be Acapulco.

[Tyger]

Originally Posted by andykeck

Hey! I'm that yoyo! Michael asked me to enter some data and give him feedback. I didn't particularly make an effort to be factual and in fact I'm not sure that's my correct VIN either. I understood that the test data was to be deleted before the Registry went live. If that's not the case, then I apologize for polluting the info pool.

Could that entry be deleted, please?

Sorry Andy, I wasn't trying to tick you off. I was just talking New-York speak. It's just a mild epithet where I come from. Anyway, I guess it got everyone's attention!
We all know the "model year" does not necessarily reflect the year a car is actually built. I assume that's one reason for including in the data base the actual month and year it was made. The user should be able to specify this, and the program ought not to rely on the model "year" to derive the build-date year.
Thanks, Michael, for automating the registry. I think it's a great idea to let the users change the data themselves.

Tyler

[sandsmuseum]

In general, I will try and gather the bugs reported and fix them in batches. If there is the possibility of data loss, I will fix it immediately.

It is an interesting problem, determining if the year included in the build date is the same as the model year encoded in the VIN. Do we know this yet? Perhaps we will have to watch the transition from 2005 to 2006 to determine if they can be different.

Color is a problem. I wanted to separate out the 2005 colors from the 2006, since some of the colors are called the same but are modified, Storm Titanium for example. I was going to present only the 2005 colors to those with a 2005 VIN, but worried Lotus might start the changes before the VIN changed. Again, I was going to wait for the 2005 to 2006 transition.

I was curious why some of you are X'ing out the check digit in the VIN. I will implement a check on the whole VIN shortly and will be able to calculate it, as can others as the algorithm seems to be public knowledge. Should I not perform this check and allow people to hold the complete VIN private? It seems like anyone with page two of the service manual, with the VIN format, and the algorithm, can make up a full batch of correct VINs, including yours...

I will fix the spelling of Alcupolco, Alcapolco, Alcopolco. I do not feel bad about mispelling it so much as being inconsistent!

Other bugs gratefully, and hopefully gracefully, accepted,

Michael

Bugs will be gracefully accepted.

[MattG]

Crap! Michael, you did a great job with that website, unfortunately I did a poor job with data entry. I could swear I typed my VIN right, but apparently not...can you please delete VIN SCCPC11165HL30070?

Sorry...

[Tyger]

Originally Posted by sandsmuseum

I was curious why some of you are X'ing out the check digit in the VIN. I will implement a check on the whole VIN shortly and will be able to calculate it, as can others as the algorithm seems to be public knowledge. Should I not perform this check and allow people to hold the complete VIN private? It seems like anyone with page two of the service manual, with the VIN format, and the algorithm, can make up a full batch of correct VINs, including yours...

Yeh, that does seem silly, crossing out the "error check" digit. You can walk down the street here in NYC and get as many VI numbers as you could ever want. Not sure what good it does trying to keep them secret. Leaving out the check digit only ensures that no one can tell if an error was made entering the other digits.
Anyway, as has been noted before the only numbers that will vary are the model year and the last four (plus the "error check" digit).
Michael, maybe it makes sense to have users only input these six digits, keeping the rest constant? I've memorized my last four and model year, but I had to get out my registration to give you the rest of it. (I suppose I should memorize my check digit too!)

[Miguel]

If people don't want to give it is up to them, the only important thing is the year and the serial number for that year.

Granted that anyone could go and write VIN's down but this way they have an electronic way to do it, if they could cross reference with some other database (DMV's) they could find more information etc..

I'm not paranoid but it's understandable that some people are because identity theft happens.

I'll say to respect their inputs, if they made a mistake and want to change it then it will be ok.

[sandsmuseum]

Originally Posted by MattG

I could swear I typed my VIN right, but apparently not...can you please delete VIN SCCPC11165HL30070?

Sorry...

Done.

I was trying to figure out a way to prevent people from loading the registry with fake data. One was to limit the total number of additions to batches of 50 and allocate the next batch as the first fills up. t

The second way was to check the VIN for consistency with the format. Making sure the check digit is correct will make this a stronger security to bad data. Perhaps I will implement the check digit check but not make the results public. That will cut down on the errors in the VIN.

Thanks to Miguel for pointing out the cross reference possibility of a VIN in the database being checked with the DMV or other big brother information. I will leave the check digit alone, as entered. I do not worry too much about this since no name or other personal information is included in the database.

On the other hand, all the cross reference information is already in the DMV records and even the insurance records. All that exists in the Registry is the car information, which is probably as it should be.

Michael
Michael

[Randy Chase]

One thought... I would like the results to be listed as sorted by VIN.

[ChrisB]

Originally Posted by Randy Chase

One thought... I would like the results to be listed as sorted by VIN.

The check digit would make the sort kind of screwy. If some people are concerned about the check digit, why not require that it be entered so that the VIN can be checked for correctness, then entered in the database as an x. Then the complete VIN would not be accessible. This would then also make the VIN sort come out in an expected sequence.

[Modern Wedgie]

You also need to add Laser Blue to the 2005 color option.

[Tyger]

Originally Posted by ChrisB

The check digit would make the sort kind of screwy. If some people are concerned about the check digit, why not require that it be entered so that the VIN can be checked for correctness, then entered in the database as an x. Then the complete VIN would not be accessible. This would then also make the VIN sort come out in an expected sequence.

Why not just sort by the last 8 digits, starting with model year and ending with the serial number?