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https://github.com/novoid/move2archive

Managing event-related files in a folder hierarchy like "<ARCHIVE>/2013/2013-05-17 Event name/"
https://github.com/novoid/move2archive

file files personal-information-management pim shell

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Managing event-related files in a folder hierarchy like "<ARCHIVE>/2013/2013-05-17 Event name/"

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* m2a.py



This script moves items (files or directories) containing ISO datestamps

like ~YYYY-MM-DD~ into a directory stucture for the corresponding year.



You define the base directory either in this script (or using the

command line argument ~--archivedir~). The convention is, e.g.:



#+begin_src bash

/2011

/2011/2011-12-20 Meeting Friends at Barleys

/2011/2011-12-20 Meeting Friends at Barleys/Tom with Beer.jpeg

#+end_src



This script extracts the year from the datestamp of each file and

moves it into the corresponding directory for its year:



#+begin_src bash

m2a 2010-01-01_Jan2010.txt 2011-02-02_Feb2011.txt

#+end_src

... moves ~2010-01-01_Jan2010.txt~ to ~/2010/~

... moves ~2011-02-02_Feb2011.txt~ to ~/2011/~



OPTIONALLY: you can define a sub-directory name with option ~-d DIR~. If it

contains no datestamp by itself, a datestamp from the first file of the

argument list will be used. This datestamp will be put in front of the name:



#+begin_src bash

m2a  -d "2009-02-15 bar"  one two three

#+end_src

... moves all items to: ~/2009/2009-02-15 bar/~



#+begin_src bash

m2a  -d bar  2011-10-10_one 2008-01-02_two 2011-10-12_three

#+end_src

... moves all items to: ~/2011/2011-10-10 bar/~



If you feel uncomfortable you can simulate the behavior using the ~--dryrun~

option. You see what would happen without changing anything at all.



For the complete usage help, please use the ~--help~ option.



- *Target group*: users who are able to use command line tools and who

  are managing photographs and other event-related files in folder

  structures.

- Hosted on github: https://github.com/novoid/move2archive



** Why



There is no integrated software solution for managing photographs

that will (a) provide you all of the features you will ever want, (b)

be available for a long period of time, and (c) provide a

future-prove, platform-independent work-flow.



This is the reason I came up with this method of organizing archive

files (photographs, scanned PDF files, memories, ...) in such a

folder structure.



** Installation



Get it from [[https://github.com/novoid/move2archive][GitHub]] or install it via «pip install move2archive».



** Interactive Use

:PROPERTIES:

:CREATED:  [2022-01-06 Thu 11:34]

:END:



If you are using =m2a= in an interactive way, you need to know the

following behavior difference when you (1) provide a target directory

and (2) when no specific target directory is provided by you.



Let's use two example files:

- =2020-07-13T13.55 xkcd about PIM.png=

- =2022-01-06 screenshot of my editor.png=



Now let's assume those two files are the only PNG files in the current

directory and the following command line you're using: =m2a *png=



First, let's take a look at the version (1) where you select or enter

a target directory to file to.



*** Selecting a Target Directory



When asked "Please enter directory basename:" in the interactive

prompt you're entering "some images".



This will result in *both* files moved to the one target directory

where the oldest date-stamp is used to determine the year:



- =/2020/2020-07-13 some images/2020-07-13T13.55 xkcd about PIM.png=. 

- =/2020/2020-07-13 some images/2022-01-06 screenshot of my editor.png=. 



This is because the files are grouped together to be filed to the same

spot when one single target directory is given.



A handy feature of =m2a= is that it suggest existing folders in the

=archivepath=. So if you already do have a folder like

=/2020/2020-07-13 interesting stuff/= and you call =m2a=

with any file that starts with =2020-07-13...=, it shows a prompt

like:



: One matching target directory found. Enter "1" if you want to use it:

:  [1]  2020-07-13 interesting stuff



In the case you want to re-use this directory as the target directory

for the current files , you simply enter =1= to the prompt and the

files are moved to that directory. Isn't that handy?



Now, let's compare with (2) when no target directory is given in the

next section.



*** Not Selecting a Target Directory



This time, you do not enter anything in the target directory prompt

and you do not select a proposed target by entering a numeric

shortcut.



This will result in each file moved to its corresponding yearly archive directory:



- =/2020/2020-07-13T13.55 xkcd about PIM.png=

- =/2022/2022-01-06 screenshot of my editor.png=



*** On the Difference of Behavior



The reasoning behind this different behavior between a specific target

directory is provided and not is that you can use =m2a= to file away a

larger group of files to their yearly archive folders without the need

of filing each one individually or writing a loop command. 



However, when you do provide one single target directory, this is used

for all files, independent of their date-stamp (using the oldest

date-stamp).



This might irritate at first but makes perfectly sense if you think

about it or the alternatives.



** Bonus: integrating into Geeqie (or similar file browsers)



I am using [[http://geeqie.sourceforge.net/][geeqie]] for browsing/presenting image files. For quickly

moving files to their folders, I mapped this script to ~m~. This way,

I can go through new image files and move event-related photographs

very quickly.



Using GNU/Linux, this is quite easy accomplished. The only thing that

is not straight forward is the need for a wrapper script. The wrapper

script does provide a shell window for entering the tags.



~vk-m2a-wrapper-with-gnome-terminal.sh~ looks like:

#+begin_src bash

#!/bin/sh



/usr/bin/gnome-terminal \

    --geometry=157x56+330+5  \

    --hide-menubar \

    -x /home/vk/bin/m2a --pauseonexit "${@}"



#end

#+end_src



In ~$HOME/.config/geeqie/applications~ I wrote a desktop file such

that geeqie shows the wrapper script as external editor to its

image files:



~$HOME/.config/geeqie/applications/m2a.desktop~ looks like:

#+begin_src bash

[Desktop Entry]

Name=m2a

GenericName=m2a

Comment=

Exec=/home/vk/src/misc/vk-m2a-wrapper-with-gnome-terminal.sh %F

Icon=

Terminal=true

Type=Application

Categories=Application;Graphics;

hidden=false

MimeType=image/*;video/*;image/mpo;image/thm

Categories=X-Geeqie;

#+end_src



In order to be able to use the keyboard shortcuts ~m~, you can define

them in geeqie:

1. Edit > Preferences > Preferences ... > Keyboard.

2. Scroll to the bottom of the list.

3. Double click in the ~KEY~-column of ~m2a~ and choose

   your desired keyboard shortcut accordingly.



I hope this method is as handy for you as it is for me :-)



* Related tools and workflows



This tool is part of a tool-set which I use to manage my digital files

such as photographs. My work-flows are described in [[http://karl-voit.at/managing-digital-photographs/][this blog posting]]

you might like to read.



In short:



For *tagging*, please refer to [[https://github.com/novoid/filetags][filetags]] and its documentation.



See [[https://github.com/novoid/date2name][date2name]] for easily adding ISO *time-stamps or date-stamps* to

files.



For *easily naming and tagging* files within file browsers that allow

integration of external tools, see [[https://github.com/novoid/appendfilename][appendfilename]] (once more) and

[[https://github.com/novoid/filetags][filetags]].



Moving to the archive folders is done using [[https://github.com/novoid/move2archive][move2archive]].



Having tagged photographs gives you many advantages. For example, I

automatically [[https://github.com/novoid/set_desktop_background_according_to_season][choose my *desktop background image* according to the

current season]].



Files containing an ISO time/date-stamp gets indexed by the

filename-module of [[https://github.com/novoid/Memacs][Memacs]].



Here is [[https://glt18-programm.linuxtage.at/events/321.html][a 45 minute talk I gave]] at [[https://glt18.linuxtage.at/][Linuxtage Graz 2018]] presenting the

idea of and workflows related to appendfilename and other handy tools

for file management:



[[https://media.ccc.de/v/GLT18_-_321_-_en_-_g_ap147_004_-_201804281550_-_the_advantages_of_file_name_conventions_and_tagging_-_karl_voit/][bin/2018-05-06 filetags demo slide for video preview with video button -- screenshots.png]]



Other projects with similar features:



- https://github.com/velvet-jones/imgfiler/



* How to Thank Me



I'm glad you like my tools. If you want to support me:



- Send old-fashioned *postcard* per snailmail - I love personal feedback!

  - see [[http://tinyurl.com/j6w8hyo][my address]]

- Send feature wishes or improvements as an issue on GitHub

- Create issues on GitHub for bugs

- Contribute merge requests for bug fixes

- Check out my other cool [[https://github.com/novoid][projects on GitHub]]



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