Rommer: Wrangle your ROMs

Rommer is a tool for managing collections of binary ROM files.

Installation

Make sure you have Python 3.6+ and SQLite3 available.

git clone git://github.com/ctrueden/rommer
cd rommer
python setup.py install

As usual with Python programs, you probably want to be inside a virtual environment before installing—or else install for the current user only via:

python setup.py install --user --prefix=

Usage

1. Import DATs to the Rommer database:

   rommer import /path/to/my/dat-files
   

2. Scan your ROMs to generate a report on what matches:

   rommer report /path/to/my/rom-files
   

Use rommer -h for a list of available commands. For help with a specific command, use e.g. rommer import -h.

Rommer's database is stored at ~/.config/rommer/rommer.db by default. You can set the ROMMER_CONFIG environment variable to override it.

Why Rommer

There are a lot of similar great tools available already! So why Rommer?

My personal requirements for this kind of tool are:

1. Command-line driven
2. Cross-platform
3. Free and open source
4. Simple to install and use

Let's see what else is available:

Tool	Cross-platform	Open source	Command line
Clrmamepro	❌	❌	❌
Romcenter	❌	❌	❌
Romulus	❌	❌	❌
RomVault	❌	✅	❌
SabreTools	➖	➖	❌
ROMba	✅	✅	➖

Of these, ROMba comes closest to meeting my needs. But:

• Installation is complex.
• It imposes a specific storage mechanism for managed ROMs.
• The "command line" functionality is actually a web shell.
• I don't want my ROM management tool running as a server.

So I wrote my own thing. Maybe it helps someone else too?