NEWbie asks "is Python a good tool for automated file/folder generation?"

[Chris Barker]

Unconditional Grace wrote:

> What I would like to do is largely string-based file and folder
> manipulation:

you've already gotten a couple of suggestions for some partsw of your project.

> 3.  Within each folder, create one HTML page consisting of a table
> with a link to each image, preferably with a thumbnail (can be
> original image resized by HTML since this is all local = no bandwidth
> issues).

I can do you one better. Following is a scripit I wrote that does
something similar. It takes a set of directories with jpegs in them, and
for each one creates an html page with a set of thumbnails of the
images, and links to the images. I used the Python Imaging Library (PIL)
to make the thumbnails, and HTMLGen to help generate the HTML. You can
find both of these packages by doing a google search on the web. There
are probably a lot of other options for creating htm thatn HTMLgen, I
havn't looked recently. You will find that one of the stregths of Python
is the available modules, both the "standard" modules, and a huge
assortment of others. Use them. If you are doing something that seems
like a common task, there is probably a module out there to help you.
 
> 4.  Create a top level HTML page that links to all 100 image HTML
> pages created in step 3.  Can be text only.

The top level page links to the thumbnail pages, but it could just as
easily have a full set of links.
 
> 5.  Optional:  in step 3, make each image part of an HTML page with
> "previous image" and "next image" links, rather than just being called
> by the browser as a jpg image.

Exercise left for the reader.

> I've never used Python, and I'm wondering if you, collectively, think
> that Python is a good language to do this.

It's a fabulous tool for this sort of thing.

> While it seems like Python
> is an incredibly useful tool, I'm not sure I have time right now to
> invest in learning it if it can't do this.

It wouldn't be such a useful tool if it couldn't do this!! It is well
worth taking the time to learn.

> It seems I frequently want
> to do repetitive Windows file/folder chores like this, so I want to
> get smart-like.

Good idea. In this case, you are manipulating files/folder, building
html, and doing image manipulation (if you want the thumbnails) Python
is an excellent tool for all these tasks.

> I'm not asking anyone to write such code for me, heh heh,

sorry, I already did...

good luck,

-Chris

The Code: note that it was written in Python 1.5, a couple of years ago.
If I were to re-write it now, I would make some changes. It needs PIL
and HTMgen

#!/usr/bin/python

# This is a Python script that builds a bunch of web pages out of a set
# of directories with pictures in them

import Image, glob, os
import HTMLgen
HT = HTMLgen

main_name = "index.html"

num_columns = 4 # number of columns for thumbnail table

maindir = os.getcwd()
maindirname = os.path.split(maindir)[1]

maindoc = HT.SimpleDocument(title=maindirname)
maindoc.append(HT.Heading(1,maindirname))

dirlist = filter(lambda name: os.path.isdir(name),os.listdir(os.getcwd()))

for dirname in dirlist:
        os.chdir(os.path.join(maindir,dirname))
        doc = HT.SimpleDocument(title=dirname)
        doc.append(HT.Heading(1,dirname))
        
        table = HT.Table('Click on the small images to see them full size')
        table.width = ''
        doc.append(table)
        
        table.body = []
        
        count = 0
        picts = glob.glob("*.jpg")
        picts = filter(lambda name:(not (name[-10:] == '.thumb.jpg')),picts)
        while count < len(picts):
                row = ['']*num_columns
                for i in range(num_columns):
                        count = count+1
                        if count > len(picts):break
                        pict = picts[count-1]
                        im = Image.open(pict)
                        im.thumbnail((128,128))
                        im.save((pict[:-3]+'thumb.jpg'),'JPEG')
                        row[i] = (HT.Href(pict,HT.Image(pict[:-3]+'thumb.jpg')))
                table.body.append(row)
                                  
        doc.append(HT.BR())

        doc.append(HT.Href(os.path.join(os.pardir,"index.html"),"Back to Main
Index"))
        
        doc.write("index.html")

        maindoc.append(HT.BR()) 
        maindoc.append(HT.Heading(2,HT.Href(os.path.join(dirname,"index.html"),dirname)))

os.chdir(maindir)
maindoc.append(HT.BR()) 
maindoc.append(HT.Href("http://www.python.org",HT.Image("PythonPoweredAnim.gif")))
maindoc.write('index.html')



-- 
Christopher Barker, Ph.D.
Oceanographer
                                    		
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Chris.Barker at noaa.gov