Organizing photos by date with Go
I regularly import photos from my phone or the SD card of my brand new mirrorless camera (a Sony A7) to my home computer in order to archive the best shots. On the computer, a homegrown program sorts them into a folder structure that creates a separate directory for each year, month, and day. After importing, the images usually remain on the card or phone. Of course, I don't want the importer to recopy previously imported images the next time it is called, but instead pick up where it left off the last time. If several SD cards are used, it is important to keep track of them because they sometimes use conflicting file names.
The photos on the SD card are files with a name format of DSC<number>.JPG. On the phone, they have a different file name, say, IMG_<number>.JPG. Cameras and photo apps increment the consecutive number of newly taken photos by one for each shot. This process is described in the Design rule for Camera File system (DCF) [1] specification. The DCF specification defines the format of the file names along with their counters and specifies what happens if a counter overflows or the camera detects that the user has used other SD cards with separate counters in the meantime.
Figure 1 shows the typical, DCF-compliant file layout on the card. On a freshly formatted card, the camera saves the first images as DSC00001.JPG, DSC00002.JPG, and so on in the 100MSDCF/ subdirectory; this, in turn, is located in the DCIM folder. Now, it's unlikely for anyone to store 99,999 pictures on a card, but if a crazy photographer actually shot that many photos, the camera would create a new directory named 101MSDCF/ and, after the next shot, would simply start again at DSC00001.JPG.
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
US / Canada
UK / Australia
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Linux Kernel Project Releases Project Continuity Document
What happens to Linux when there's no Linus? It's a question many of us have asked over the years, and it seems it's also on the minds of the Linux kernel project.
-
Mecha Systems Introduces Linux Handheld
Mecha Systems has revealed its Mecha Comet, a new handheld computer powered by – you guessed it – Linux.
-
MX Linux 25.1 Features Dual Init System ISO
The latest release of MX Linux caters to lovers of two different init systems and even offers instructions on how to transition.
-
Photoshop on Linux?
A developer has patched Wine so that it'll run specific versions of Photoshop that depend on Adobe Creative Cloud.
-
Linux Mint 22.3 Now Available with New Tools
Linux Mint 22.3 has been released with a pair of new tools for system admins and some pretty cool new features.
-
New Linux Malware Targets Cloud-Based Linux Installations
VoidLink, a new Linux malware, should be of real concern because of its stealth and customization.
-
Say Goodbye to Middle-Mouse Paste
Both Gnome and Firefox have proposed getting rid of a long-time favorite Linux feature.
-
Manjaro 26.0 Primary Desktop Environments Default to Wayland
If you want to stick with X.Org, you'll be limited to the desktop environments you can choose.
-
Mozilla Plans to AI-ify Firefox
With a new CEO in control, Mozilla is doubling down on a strategy of trust, all the while leaning into AI.
-
Gnome Says No to AI-Generated Extensions
If you're a developer wanting to create a new Gnome extension, you'd best set aside that AI code generator, because the extension team will have none of that.