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15. MythGallery.

MythGallery is a photo and slideshow application. MythGallery is a separate application, but it's dependent on MythTV being installed and operational.

15.1 Installation and prerequisites

MythGallery is a part of the mythplugins package. See MythPlugins for instructions on downloading the tarball.

There are a number of transitions available, some requiring OpenGL support. You will also need to install a TIFF library. Under Mandriva, you would perform the following command: 

# urpmi libtiff3-devel
Once you have satisfied the prerequisites for your distribution, install the application: 
$ cd ~/mythplugins-0.21
$ ./configure --disable-all --enable-opengl --enable-mythgallery
$ qmake mythplugins.pro
$ make
# su
# make install
# exit
$
The configuration for MythGallery is accessed through the main Setup option in mythfrontend. Make sure you set your pictures directory to wherever you're storing your photos.

The controls for MythGallery can be found in the README that comes with the application.

15.2 Using MythGallery

When you first start MythGallery, you will see a thumbnail view of any folders and pictures in the Gallery Directory you specified in setup. If this is the first time you have accessed this directory, the thumbnails will be generated on the fly. If the Gallery Dir is writable, these thumbnails will be cached thus speeding up future access. On the left is a greyed-out menu of options.

Use the arrow keys to select a folder or picture to open/view with the Select key, or use the Menu key to toggle access the menu on the left. The menu options are as follows:

  • Slideshow - Will cycle through all the pictures in the current folder. The currently selected item must be a picture (not a folder) for this to work. It does not currently traverse subfolders.
  • Rotate CW - Rotate the current image 90 degrees in the clockwise direction. This change persists if the current directory is writable.
  • Rotate CCW - As above except the direction of rotation is counter(anti) clockwise.
  • Import - Import pictures into your Gallery Dir. This option is described in the next section.
  • Settings - Access the MythGallery settings screen.

15.3 Importing Pictures

The import path in the setup dialog is a colon separated list of directories and/or executable files. When the import key is pressed, a new directory (the destination directory) under the current directory will be created and the import path will be searched. If the item in the import path is a directory (the source directory), the contents of that directory will be copied to the destination directory. If you would like the source directory to be that of a removable device, it might be a good idea to use autofs. See the automount howto at www.linuxdoc.org for info on how to get it working.

If the item in the import path is an executable file, MythGallery will attempt to execute it with the destination directory as its sole argument. Be careful when using executable scripts that the script runs unattended (doesn't need user intervention) and returns properly, otherwise it could create the appearance of MythGallery hanging (e.g. running smbclient and prompting for password). Also be sure that scripts have executable permissions set.

Here is an example script that a user may want to run on import: 

#!/bin/csh

if ($#argv == 0) then 
        echo "Usage: $0 dest_dir" 
        exit 
endif 

cd $argv[1]

# get stuff over the network
wget http://www.somesite.dom/dir/file1.jpg 
wget http://www.somesite.dom/dir/file2.jpg
wget http://www.somesite.dom/dir/file3.jpg

# stuff that requires manual module loading and/or fs mounting
modprobe camera_module
mount /dev/camera /mnt/camera
cp /mnt/camera/* $argv[1]
umount /mnt/camera
rmmod camera_module

# perform some processing
foreach pname (`ls *.jpg`)
        jpegtran -flip vertical $pname > $pname.new
        mv $pname.new $pname
end

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