scansort(1)

NAME

scansort - Image Sorting and Verification Utility

SYNOPSIS

scansort [options] configfile directory
Options:
[-_aBbKlMmRrTtuvw]  -L[e]   -r[AbcDdEfHIMnRoSTXx]   -H[bx]
-t[AaMmOhAo]   -tg  [-eextension]  [-scollection]  [-dbdirectory]
[-dcdirectory] [-dbdirectory] [-dpdirectory] [-drdirectory] [-dsdirectory]  [-dtdirectory]  [-dwdirectory]  [-bsize] [-hhavelist]
[-Mc] [-MC] [-Mp] [-Mmmodel]  [-Mnname]  [-tqnumber]  [-tznumber]
[-xbnumber]

DESCRIPTION

ScanSort is a utility that can be used to identify, verify

and sort images based upon information contained in CSV files. It

can also generate reports about the status of image collections

and create archives of files to trade with others.

Features include:

· automagically sorting new files and putting them

where they belong, even if they have been renamed

· quickly processing ALL collections in one run

· searching directory trees for pictures (e.g. com

plete CDs)

· CRC-Checking, taking CSVs with or without CRCs

· generating report files (like MTCM for Windows, or

widely configurable)

· spanning collections over multiple volumes

· automatically repairing some corrupt files

· generating descript.ion files

· support for trading (matching reports against col

lections, copying files to send into a directory or packing them

into zipfiles)

· creating, updating, verifying, managing CSV files

· creating model based collections (searching all

pictures for a specific model)

OPTIONS

Options may be prefixed by either a dash ("-") or, on non

UNIX systems, a forward slash ("/"). Options cannot be combined

(ie you have to do a "-m -v", "-mv" will not work).

GENERAL OPTIONS

-_ Spaces in picture names are converted to '_' by de

fault, as are umlauts and special characters - K<E2>t<E2> becomes

Kata. You can turn this feature off with this switch.

-a Check all files (regardless of extension). If you

have pictures named pic.001, pic.002 or something similar. Not

needed any more for sorting collections with different file

types.

-b Always delete bad files (see below).

-exyz Set file extension to xyz (instead of jpg). So you

can sort collections of wavelet or fractal compressed pictures in

the future ! :)

-K Kill duplicate CSV-files (see below).

-l Don't write a logfile. By default, a lot of info

is written to "scansort.log" in the current path.

-L Write lower-case file names (forces all filenames

to lowercase).

-Le Write lower-case file extensions names (forces all

file extensions to lowercase).

-M Give help on model collections.

-m Move files (erase source files). All files you al

ready have in your collection are deleted from the source path

(those you don't have are copied and then deleted - if the copy

ing was succesful).

-R Do not recurse the given paths (search subdirecto

ries) when searching for pictures (added by request).

-r Give help on reports.

-sNAME Process single collection NAME -s* means "all col

lections". If you use a config file with this option, the collec

tions listed in the config file are ignored and only those on the

command line are processed.

-T Touch pictures (set to current date/time) when mov

ing into collection.

-t Give help on trading.

-u No uppercase for DOS-Filenames. By default, file

names with 8 or less characters ("DOS-Names") are converted to

uppercase. This switch turns this feature off.

-v More verbose messages (rather obsolete...).

-xi Make nested directories for collections, for exam

ple Scanmaster_Index is put into the directory "ScanmasterIndex"

and "ScanmasterExtras" into "Scanmasteras".

-xu Include the names of unused CSVs in the log file.

DIRECTORY OPTIONS

You can use a ~ to represent your home directory under

both UNIX and Win32. Under Win32 you need to set the HOME envi

ronment variable manually for this to work.

-dbDIR Set directory where bad pictures go to (instead of

"BadPictures").

-dcDIR Set directory for CSV-files to DIR.

(default: path of config file)

-dpDIR Set collection directory to DIR. You can override

this by specifying an absolute path for the target in the config

file. The pictures are copied to DIR/CollectionName.

(default: current dir)

-drDIR Set directory for report files to DIR. You can

override this by specifying an absolute path for the report in

the config file.

(default: current dir)

-dsDIR Set source directory for files to copied when trad

ing.

(default: collection dir)

-dtDIR Set trading directory for files generated or

copied.

(default: current dir)

-dwDIR Set directory where files go when they are deleted

(the wastebasket). See below for more informaiton on the waste

basket.

REPORT OPTIONS

ScanSort supports both Mastertech-style reports and its

own (more flexible) reports. If you use -rM Mastertech-style re

ports will be produced, but if you use any of -r[hmiesa], Scan

Sort-style reports will be generated.

-rA Report all collections in the config file, even the

inactive ones (those of which you don't have any pictures).

-rb Brief (don't include image descriptions).

-rc CRC-check all files (SSLLOOWW). Use this only if

you think your harddisk could be corrupt, or to verify a freshly

burnt CD. Remember: ALL pictures were CRC-checked when they were

added to the collection!

-rE No empty reports: best used with -rmies (everything

except the files you have). Then there won't be reports for com

plete collections showing just the summary.

-rf Freshen: only create a report for a collection for

which new pictures were added, or for which the report was miss

ing or older than the CSV. Needed to keep a web page up to date

(to see which reports have changed).

-rIsome_comment

Add "some_comment" to every report. This switch can

only be used in the config file.

Mastertech-style reports (only have missing, name, length

and description).

-rn Add numbers of have/all to report names (results in

CSA_239-240.txt, for example).

-rR Recurse collection for report generation, like in

versions before 1.61. This is not recommended and only needed if

pictures were manually moved to subdirectories.

-rr Don't generate reports. Now, what could this be

good for? Well, I'm using -rmiesbofE in my config file, but

don't want to generate reports in every run. So I can

a) use -rr in the command line to suppress them for

one run.
b) use -rr in the config file to suppress them al

ways and -rr in the command line to turn them back on (-rH and

-rT will turn them on as well).

ADDITIONAL REPORT OPTIONS:

-rd Create "descript.ion" files.

-rD Create descript.ion as hidden files. descript.ion

is only created if there ARE descriptions in the CSV! This is

the same as -rd if you're using UNIX as UNIX has no concept of a

"hidden" file without a dot as the first character in the name.

-rH Create "have.txt" for multi-volume-spanning (see

below).

-ro Output the collection summary to the file "summa

ry.txt" in the report path. (complete collections first, then

the rest).

-rS Print summary for every collection in table form on

the screen, not only into the logfile.

-rT Create an HTML table for my homepage. Don't know if

anybody else can use this :-) It also creates the CSV zips I

supply automatically. -rTv ("vacation") omits the links for the

text files to offer only the CSVs. This option searches for a

file "trade_tp.html" in the report directory and creates a file

"trade.html" out of it. It compares line by line:

CHANGE-DATE - insert current date/time
COMPLETE-TABLE - insert table of complete collec

tions
INCOMPLETE-TABLE - insert table of incomplete col

lections (you guessed that ;-) )

-rX Export missing files into CSVs, one per collection.

-rx Export all missing pictures into "missing.csv" to

get a quick overview (only missing pictures from active collec

tions, ie collections from which you have at least one picture).

WASTEBASKET OPTIONS AND HANDLING OF BAD FILES

When duplicate files are found, ScanSort moves them to a

wastebasket directory rather than removing them from disk. Files

that are damaged are moved to a "BadPictures" directory.

-B If you use the option -B bad files are left alone

completely (but still checked if they could be repaired).

-b If you use the -b option bad files are never copied

and always deleted (but first checked if they can be repaired).

-b40 Only copy bad files if their size is at least 40%

of the original size, otherwise delete (with -m). This was the

default behaviour until version 1.61, and was changed after some

one lost a bunch of files with stupid names (there are lots of

collections with pictures named "img0001", "img0002", ...). For

example, use -b57 for 57%.

-w Will turn off the wastebasket feature and have du

plicate files really deleted.

-xbnn Ignore bad files if the length of their name (ex

cluding extension) is less than or equal to nn characters (for

example, "-xb10" for 10 characters).

HAVELIST OPTIONS

ScanSort allows you to have collections that span multiple

disks so you can, for example, burn part of a collection to CD

without having to worry about having duplicate files lying

around.

-hhave1.txt

Imports a "havelist" from the file "have1.txt".

This list contains size, CRC and name of files you have else

where, which are then registered as "already there". If these

files come up again, they are NOT copied to the target path and

deleted if you use -m.

-Hb -rHb Will create a binary file have.bin which can

be read with -h. Binary havelists are much faster than the text

versions.

-hx Ignore all havelists.

TRADING OPTIONS

ScanSort has a number of features to assist with the trad

ing of images between collectors.

-t Help for trading.

-dt Set trading directory for files generated or copied

(default: current).

-ds Set source directory for files to copied (default:

collection dir). You can give either the full path including the

name of the collection or just the collection base path. The

standard collection dir is still searched, so you can keep part

of your collection on CD and part on hard disk.

You can specify multiple source directories (each

with -ds), but if you have spread your pictures over multiple CDs

and you have only one drive, then you're out of luck :-[ (You

have to run Scansort once for each CD, which is no problem since

the still missing pictures are written to need.txt).

-ta Make list "ask.txt" of files to 'a'sk the trader

for.

-tm Make list "missing.txt" of files 'm'issing in both

collections. Use this to ask a third party for the pictures you

both need.

-to Make list "offer.txt" of files you can 'o'ffer to

the trader.

-tgNR Copy NR files you can offer to the trading directo

ry (e.g. -tg20). Pics you have and the other misses are chosen

at random and copied so that you can easily move them to a zip

file and 'g'ive them to the trader. If you don't give a number,

or if the number is more than you can offer, all files are

copied.

If the number is 500 or more it is interpreted as

kilobytes, not pictures.

A file "need.txt" is written with all the pictures

you have not sent yet so you don't lose track and send pictures

twice! Use this file next time instead of the report. If

"need.txt" exists already it is saved to "need.bak".

If any pictures were given the original report is

DELETED, so you don't get confused later which files were given.

(The remaining filenames are written to "need.txt").

-tzNR Works only together with -tg. The files you give

are not copied but stored in Zipfiles using InfoZip ("zip" must

be in your PATH!) The number tells how many pictures will go in

to each zip. If the number is 500 or more it means maximum size

in kilobytes per zip.

Files are zipped by alphabet, so the zipfiles may

be below the size you specified. A logfile "zip.log" is written

with the contents of every zipfile. If you run Scansort several

times it always appends to this logfile, so you should delete it

before you start.

Compression is turned on by default. To turn it

off, type SET ZIPCMD=-0 (you can put this in your shell startup

script if you like)

-tA, -tO, -tM, -tG

Same as -ta, -to, -tm, -tg, except that the collec

tion name is appended to the name of the created text file. With

-tGz, the zips are named "Collectionxx.zip" instead of

"givexx.zip"

ADDITIONAL OPTIONS FOR USE WITH -tg

-tZname

Set the basename of the generated Zips to "name"

instead of "give" (this is quite obsolete now; use -tGz instead).

-tF Same, but don't check if files actually exist

(makes a difference when you use multi-volume spanning).

-tf Fake it (don't copy anything, useful to see how

much would be copied).

-tr Choose pictures at random (instead of from the be

ginning of the collection).

-tw Trade 'w'hole collections. You need this if your

partner wants a complete collection from you, and so you have no

report. Use -tw and the name of the collection (e.g. Scanmaster)

instead of the name of the report file.

CSV MAINTENANCE

-K Delete ("'k'ill") all CSVs but the newest. A quick

way to clean out old CSVs from your collection.

-Kr Delete obsolete CSVs, rename current CSVs to the

correct names.

MODEL COLLECTION OPTIONS

ScanSort's model collection options allow you to organise

your images by model name rather than by series. ScanSort will

search through the descriptions in the CSVs, finding all images

that fall within your search threshold.

-M Give help on model collections.

-Ma Create a Diashow list (AIS format) for use with

ACDSee.

-MC Create a CSV file with CRCs.

-Mc Create a CSV file without CRCs (for a quick search

through a collection).

-MmModel_Name

Specify the name of the model.

For example, to search your collection for Pam with

a threshold of 60%:

scansort all.txt -MmPamela_Anderson

-MnNewName

Rename all pics if you don't like the sometimes

strange names.

-Mp Copy pics that fit. A directory Model_Name (giv

en with the -Mm option) is created in the current dir (or in the

directory given with -dt).

CSV MAINTENANCE MODIFIERS

-Ca Create CSV for all files in the current directory

(not just pictures).

-Cc Recalculate ALL CRCs (not only those of new files).

-CE Create E-CSVs.

-Ce Only existing files go to the CSV (by default non

existing entries are kept).

-Cr Recurse the source directory when creating CSVs.

-Cu No entries are removed, no new entries added. En

tries without CRC are updated if the pic exists.

CONFIGURATION FILE

The configuration file tells ScanSort which of your CSV

files it should use, where it should place verified images, etc.

It is a text file with one collection name per line, like this:

# This is a comment
# you can put commandline switches at
# the beginning of the config file.
-ra
# read CSV-files from /home/mj/pictures/csv
-dc/home/mj/pictures/csv
# path for the collection
-dp/home/mj/pictures/sorted

# Collections start here
Eroscan
Skunkmaster
Scanmaster
Weatherby weatherbyscp wbyscp

You can use both relative and absolute paths. You can also

put several collections into the same path.

You can also use different report names with -r:

# no reports for this one
Wscan_SWA -r
ZorroScans_SDC -rZorros.txt

How does ScanSort find the CSVs for the collections? It

always examines ALL of your CSVs (which have to be all in one di

rectory). It removes the prefixes "MTCM_" and "McBluna_", the

suffix "_(FINAL)" and the number at the end. Then it takes what

remains, removes all characters except letters and numbers (like

-_'") and compares what remains against the collection names. If

several CSVs match, the one with the highest count (number at the

end) is taken. ScanSort relies on this number to be correct!

If the CSV is still named differently you can add several

alternate names (like wbyscp in the example above).

Now - if your collection is named "Light&Magic_HQ", which

CSV won't be recognised?
a) MTCM_Light_&_MagicHQ.csv
b) Light_and_Magic_HQ_28.csv
c) McBluna_lightmagichq_28.csv

You got it, b). If you get non matching CSVs regularly you

can beat them easily with alternate names:

Light&Magic_HQ light-and-magic-hq

You may use upper-lower-casing, underscores, dashes, what

ever for the alternate names - all of these will be ignored.

The config file can have any name and could be placed in

the same directory as the CSV-files. Or, you can place it any

where you like and specify the CSV-directory with -dc (command

line or configfile). You can create multiple config files of

course.

You can use wildcards for the collection name:

Harli* # will select all Harli collections.

I do NOT suggest this however. When you use wildcards the

actual collection names have to be determined according to the

CSV names AGAIN: if Harli_SWA_40 gets replaced by Harli-SWA-42 it

will create a new folder like before. So don't use Wildcards.

The wildcard * will select ALL collections that were not

selected before. So you can put all other collection scans some

where using

* -pMiscStuff

You can (and should) put switches at the beginning of your

config file, but NOT after the first collection. However you can

adjust the collection path and report path (-dp, -dr) between the

collection names to spread large collections over several disks.

USAGE EXAMPLES

A typical method of using scansort is to decode all the

binaries from a Usenet newsgroup into a directory, for example

~/pictures/new. You can then run scansort as follows from within

~/pictures/new, assuming your configuration file is called

~/.scansortrc:

scansort -m -s* ~/.scansortrc .

This will move all your freshly decoded images to their

proper locations, verifying that the images are correct.

More to be added soon!

FILES

configfile

ScanSort configuration file. For more information

on the use of a configuration file, see above.

scansort.log

Logfile written to the current directory containing

the results of the ScanSort run.

BUGS

There are no known bugs :-)

LICENSE

ScanSort is released under the terms of the GNU General

Public License, version 2. For more information, see the file

COPYING contained within the archive.

WWW SITE

The latest version of ScanSort can always be found at

http://www.geocities.com/SouthBeach/Pier/3193/

AUTHORS

Stuart Redman <sturedman@hotmail.com>

Initial developer of the Win32 version, source

maintainer and responsible for the majority of development.

Kees de Bruin <kdb@rtfm.demon.nl>

Responsible for much of the work for the UNIX port.

Michael-John Turner <mj@energetic.uct.ac.za>

Debian GNU/Linux package maintainer and author of

some documentation.

SEE ALSO

lynx(1), nn(1), rn(1), slrn(1), tin(1), trn(1),

uudecode(1), uudeview(1)

Additional documentation and sample configuration files

can be found in /usr/share/doc/scansort/scansort.txt.

JULY 1999

SCANSORT(1)