Image Sorting Utility

Greg · 12-02-2007, 01:39 PM

I have in mind a utility that would be really boffo for cleaning out my over-burdened snapshots folders. It's a relatively simple algorithm but unfortunately I don't know beans about programming for Windows.

Goal: Move all unused images out of a snapshots folder.

Process

Query user for what snapshots folder to clean out. (Source Folder)
Query user for target folder where the unused snapshots will move (Desination Folder)
Read all the .xml files in the Source Folder. Make a list of all .jpg files referenced.
Read the directory listing for the Source Folder. Make a list of all the .jpg files in the folder.
For each .jpg file in the folder, check to see if it is in the list of files that are used. If so, do nothing. If not, move the file and its thumbnail to the Destination Folder.

That's all it would take. When the routine was done, the Snapshots folder would contain only pictures that are used in family photo albums.

That would be a great help to me because I have so many pictures that I took to illustrate a story cluttering up my Snapshots folders. It takes a couple of minutes just to open a family photo album in the game and Photoshop takes even longer to read the directory every time I try to open an image file in one of those directories.

Zirconia Wolf · 12-02-2007, 04:14 PM

I second the motion!

I am soooooo tired of having copies of every friggen picture I've used floating around in the "group" snapshots bin!

Deleting them one at a time takes forever!

Miros1 · 12-02-2007, 04:22 PM

This might be doable... Probably easier in Java than C++, any preferences?

Greg · 12-03-2007, 12:53 AM

Neat! It would be really cool if you could write it, Rose!

As for Java vs. C++, I bow to your superior wisdom. I don't even know what the discriminators might be.

Miros1 · 12-03-2007, 03:07 AM

Java has a nicer XML library, or seems to.

Greg · 12-03-2007, 12:16 PM

I think from the user's point of view, it doesn't matter. Java requires that the user have a compatible Java engine installed, but that's likely the case anyhow.

Greg · 12-18-2007, 12:33 AM

Hmm... have you given any more thought to this one, Rose?

Miros1 · 12-18-2007, 04:26 AM

Thought, yes, implementation, no. Hubby is having weird reactions to his meds requiring one ER visit and several emergency doctor visits on top of scheduled visits to about 5 doctores and Food Stamps insists I look for a job.

Greg · 12-18-2007, 11:58 AM

Egad! It's a shame he can't charge the doctors for providing them so much entertainment.

Miros1 · 12-18-2007, 12:10 PM

One doctor says she should give frequent flyer miles...

Greg · 12-19-2007, 02:38 AM

Good idea! Get enough points racked up and you can have a second appendectomy for free!

Greg · 03-28-2008, 11:29 AM

I haven't given up hope that some day, someone will write this one!

It ought to be relatively straightforward because you don't even have to deal with .package files. Mostly the challenge is to parse the XML in the photo albums.

Miros1 · 03-28-2008, 12:23 PM

Still thinking. I'm going to make the "final" changes to SimText today, then start on this one.

Sita · 03-28-2008, 04:41 PM

How is hubby now Rose? we're in much the same position, too many hospital consultants involving much travel and I am gonna have to find some paid work :P though how I am supposed to travel with him (blind and rather vulnerable, yeah?) to hospitals in other cities while holding down a job beats me.

Miros1 · 03-28-2008, 06:18 PM

Yep, I have to drive mine to zillions of doctor visits. Most are only about 5 miles away, but neither he nor my mom can see well enough to drive safely.

I'm off tomorrow, and no doctor visits, so I'll get SimText finished and Greg's image project started...

Greg · 03-28-2008, 06:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Miros1

Still thinking. I'm going to make the "final" changes to SimText today, then start on this one.

Hooray!

For me, it's not quite the desperate situation I had because my new machine is faster at reading the directories. That might be one of the advantages of Vista.

But it will would make it a lot easier to sort through all these pictures!

Miros1 · 03-28-2008, 09:56 PM

Could be one of the things they actually got right in Vista. Win98 was horrid at redisplaying changed directories; that's why I wrote SimText's One Click Install. XP is better, but you can still move stuff around too fast and get lag.

Greg · 03-29-2008, 08:04 PM

It might be! I have noticed that my machine spends most of its idle time working on its index. It appears that there are little background elves that snoop through all the files any time they think you're not looking, tidying up here and there.

rdanner3 · 05-23-2008, 01:31 AM

What I do for screenshots in most games (including The Sims 2):

I use an external screen-capture program (my current is PaintShop Pro 9 (Jasc Software) mainly because I own a copy of it.) One advantage of the larger screen-captures is the ability to shrink stuff down without problems. Much easier to do that than to deal with the fact that too many games that do support screen capture also put their logo in the worst possible place. (and Sims 2 including the version number in the upper right corner is a tad annoying, though I know how to edit it out. Usually.)

Making screen captures this way also allows me to take captures of programs that don't support screen captures, too.

I think the impetus for Microsoft to make indexing work right was Google Desktop. (unlike most people who seem to loathe it, I depend on it. Still not sure what makes it keep crashing of late.) I've seen it do a better (and worse) job of indexing locally than Windows Indexing Service, too. (one problem with it in XP is that it can prevent defragmentation from running due to it pulsing the HDD all the time.)

12-02-2007, 01:39 PM	#1
Greg Da Guy Wut Owns Dis Joint Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 3,566	Image Sorting Utility I have in mind a utility that would be really boffo for cleaning out my over-burdened snapshots folders. It's a relatively simple algorithm but unfortunately I don't know beans about programming for Windows. Goal: Move all unused images out of a snapshots folder. Process Query user for what snapshots folder to clean out. (Source Folder) Query user for target folder where the unused snapshots will move (Desination Folder) Read all the .xml files in the Source Folder. Make a list of all .jpg files referenced. Read the directory listing for the Source Folder. Make a list of all the .jpg files in the folder. For each .jpg file in the folder, check to see if it is in the list of files that are used. If so, do nothing. If not, move the file and its thumbnail to the Destination Folder. That's all it would take. When the routine was done, the Snapshots folder would contain only pictures that are used in family photo albums. That would be a great help to me because I have so many pictures that I took to illustrate a story cluttering up my Snapshots folders. It takes a couple of minutes just to open a family photo album in the game and Photoshop takes even longer to read the directory every time I try to open an image file in one of those directories. __________________ Who are all these people and what do they know?

12-02-2007, 04:14 PM	#2
Zirconia Wolf Reticulated MoonBat Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: My trusty computer in Issaquah WA, USA. Posts: 848	I second the motion! I am soooooo tired of having copies of every friggen picture I've used floating around in the "group" snapshots bin! Deleting them one at a time takes forever! __________________ Long Live All Wild Canines! Leader Of The Moon-Bat Revolution!

12-03-2007, 12:53 AM	#4
Greg Da Guy Wut Owns Dis Joint Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 3,566	Neat! It would be really cool if you could write it, Rose! As for Java vs. C++, I bow to your superior wisdom. I don't even know what the discriminators might be. __________________ Who are all these people and what do they know?

12-03-2007, 12:16 PM	#6
Greg Da Guy Wut Owns Dis Joint Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 3,566	I think from the user's point of view, it doesn't matter. Java requires that the user have a compatible Java engine installed, but that's likely the case anyhow. __________________ Who are all these people and what do they know?

12-18-2007, 12:33 AM	#7
Greg Da Guy Wut Owns Dis Joint Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 3,566	Hmm... have you given any more thought to this one, Rose? __________________ Who are all these people and what do they know?

12-02-2007, 04:22 PM	#3
Miros1 Goddess for Life Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: NY State Posts: 3,303	This might be doable... Probably easier in Java than C++, any preferences?

12-03-2007, 03:07 AM	#5
Miros1 Goddess for Life Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: NY State Posts: 3,303	Java has a nicer XML library, or seems to.

12-18-2007, 04:26 AM	#8
Miros1 Goddess for Life Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: NY State Posts: 3,303	Thought, yes, implementation, no. Hubby is having weird reactions to his meds requiring one ER visit and several emergency doctor visits on top of scheduled visits to about 5 doctores and Food Stamps insists I look for a job.

12-18-2007, 11:58 AM	#9
Greg Da Guy Wut Owns Dis Joint Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 3,566	Egad! It's a shame he can't charge the doctors for providing them so much entertainment. __________________ Who are all these people and what do they know?

12-18-2007, 12:10 PM	#10
Miros1 Goddess for Life Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: NY State Posts: 3,303	One doctor says she should give frequent flyer miles...

12-19-2007, 02:38 AM	#11
Greg Da Guy Wut Owns Dis Joint Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 3,566	Good idea! Get enough points racked up and you can have a second appendectomy for free! __________________ Who are all these people and what do they know?

03-28-2008, 11:29 AM	#12
Greg Da Guy Wut Owns Dis Joint Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 3,566	I haven't given up hope that some day, someone will write this one! It ought to be relatively straightforward because you don't even have to deal with .package files. Mostly the challenge is to parse the XML in the photo albums. __________________ Who are all these people and what do they know?

03-28-2008, 12:23 PM	#13
Miros1 Goddess for Life Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: NY State Posts: 3,303	Still thinking. I'm going to make the "final" changes to SimText today, then start on this one.

03-28-2008, 04:41 PM	#14
Sita Solar Max Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: England Posts: 371	How is hubby now Rose? we're in much the same position, too many hospital consultants involving much travel and I am gonna have to find some paid work :P though how I am supposed to travel with him (blind and rather vulnerable, yeah?) to hospitals in other cities while holding down a job beats me.

03-28-2008, 06:18 PM	#15
Miros1 Goddess for Life Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: NY State Posts: 3,303	Yep, I have to drive mine to zillions of doctor visits. Most are only about 5 miles away, but neither he nor my mom can see well enough to drive safely. I'm off tomorrow, and no doctor visits, so I'll get SimText finished and Greg's image project started...

03-28-2008, 09:56 PM	#17
Miros1 Goddess for Life Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: NY State Posts: 3,303	Could be one of the things they actually got right in Vista. Win98 was horrid at redisplaying changed directories; that's why I wrote SimText's One Click Install. XP is better, but you can still move stuff around too fast and get lag.

03-29-2008, 08:04 PM	#18
Greg Da Guy Wut Owns Dis Joint Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 3,566	It might be! I have noticed that my machine spends most of its idle time working on its index. It appears that there are little background elves that snoop through all the files any time they think you're not looking, tidying up here and there. __________________ Who are all these people and what do they know?

05-23-2008, 01:31 AM	#19
rdanner3 Herald of the Dawn Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Central Alabama, US Posts: 53	What I do for screenshots in most games (including The Sims 2): I use an external screen-capture program (my current is PaintShop Pro 9 (Jasc Software) mainly because I own a copy of it.) One advantage of the larger screen-captures is the ability to shrink stuff down without problems. Much easier to do that than to deal with the fact that too many games that do support screen capture also put their logo in the worst possible place. (and Sims 2 including the version number in the upper right corner is a tad annoying, though I know how to edit it out. Usually.) Making screen captures this way also allows me to take captures of programs that don't support screen captures, too. I think the impetus for Microsoft to make indexing work right was Google Desktop. (unlike most people who seem to loathe it, I depend on it. Still not sure what makes it keep crashing of late.) I've seen it do a better (and worse) job of indexing locally than Windows Indexing Service, too. (one problem with it in XP is that it can prevent defragmentation from running due to it pulsing the HDD all the time.)