Automated Photo Sharing with Photocrumbs

Productivity Sauce
Using a simple Bash script and a cron job, you can turn Photocrumbs into an automated photo sharing bot. This way, you can drop multiple photos into a separate directory, and the script/cron job combo will publish them one-by-one at specified intervals (e.g., hourly, daily, etc.). The basic version of the Bash script is simplicity itself:
#!/bin/bash FILE=$(ls *.{jpeg,jpg,JPG,JPEG} | head -1) mv $FILE /var/www/photocrumbs/photos/
The script uses the ls and head tools to obtain the name of the first photo in the current directory. The script then copies the photo to the photos directory inside the Photocrumbs installation. To set up the script, create a text file and paste the code above into it. Save the script under the photobot.sh name, and make it executable using the chmod +x photobot.sh command. Next, you need to create a cron job that will run the script at a specified schedule. Use the crontab -e command to open the crontab file for editing and add the following job to it (replace path/to/dir with the actual path to the directory containing the script and the photos):
daily cd path/to/dir ./photobot.sh
This job will run the script once a day, but you can specify any other schedule. Of course, this basic script can be improved in a number of ways. For example, you can add a condition which aborts the script if there are no photos in the directory:
#!/bin/bash FILE=$(ls *.{jpeg,jpg,JPG,JPEG} | head -1) if [[ -n "$FILE" ]]; then mv $FILE /var/www/photocrumbs/photos/ else exit 0 fi
Since Photocrumbs can pull descriptions from accompanying .php files, you can tweak the script to generate a .php file with predefined text for each photo.
#!/bin/bash FILE=$(ls * | head -1) TEXT="Monkey loves banana" if [[ -n "$FILE" ]]; then PHP_FILE="${FILE%%.*}".php echo $TEXT > $PHP_FILE mv $FILE /var/www/photocrumbs/photos/ mv $PHP_FILE /var/www/photocrumbs/photos/ else exit 0 fi
Another variation of the script grabs a random line from the text.txt file and uses the obtained text as a description of the published photo:
#!/bin/bash FILE=$(ls * | head -1) if [[ -n "$FILE" ]]; then TEXT=$(shuf -n 1 text.txt) PHP_FILE="${FILE%%.*}".php echo $TEXT > $PHP_FILE mv $FILE /var/www/photocrumbs/photos/ mv $PHP_FILE /var/www/photocrumbs/photos/ else exit 0 fi
Of course, this technique is not limited to Photocrumbs: you can easily adapt the script to work with any other photo sharing application that publishes photos by pulling them from a specific directory.
comments powered by DisqusIssue 270/2023
Buy this issue as a PDF
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Find SysAdmin Jobs
News
-
OpenMandriva Lx 23.03 Rolling Release is Now Available
OpenMandriva "ROME" is the latest point update for the rolling release Linux distribution and offers the latest updates for a number of important applications and tools.
-
CarbonOS: A New Linux Distro with a Focus on User Experience
CarbonOS is a brand new, built-from-scratch Linux distribution that uses the Gnome desktop and has a special feature that makes it appealing to all types of users.
-
Kubuntu Focus Announces XE Gen 2 Linux Laptop
Another Kubuntu-based laptop has arrived to be your next ultra-portable powerhouse with a Linux heart.
-
MNT Seeks Financial Backing for New Seven-Inch Linux Laptop
MNT Pocket Reform is a tiny laptop that is modular, upgradable, recyclable, reusable, and ships with Debian Linux.
-
Ubuntu Flatpak Remix Adds Flatpak Support Preinstalled
If you're looking for a version of Ubuntu that includes Flatpak support out of the box, there's one clear option.
-
Gnome 44 Release Candidate Now Available
The Gnome 44 release candidate has officially arrived and adds a few changes into the mix.
-
Flathub Vying to Become the Standard Linux App Store
If the Flathub team has any say in the matter, their product will become the default tool for installing Linux apps in 2023.
-
Debian 12 to Ship with KDE Plasma 5.27
The Debian development team has shifted to the latest version of KDE for their testing branch.
-
Planet Computers Launches ARM-based Linux Desktop PCs
The firm that originally released a line of mobile keyboards has taken a different direction and has developed a new line of out-of-the-box mini Linux desktop computers.
-
Ubuntu No Longer Shipping with Flatpak
In a move that probably won’t come as a shock to many, Ubuntu and all of its official spins will no longer ship with Flatpak installed.