user/gthumb/prune.org

   1 #+AUTHOR: Steven Baltakatei Sandoval
   2 #+DATE: 2026-08-01
   3 #+TITLE: gThumb prune
   4
   5 ** Summary
   6 This work describes a way to quickly move groups of photograph files
   7 (e.g. ~DSC00001.JPG~, ~DSC00001.ARW~, etc.) as well as associated
   8 sidecar files into desired directories via keyboard shortcuts in
   9 gThumb.
  10
  11 The method centers around a Bash script named ~gthumb-prune.sh~ which
  12 may be bound to a gThumb keyboard shortcut to quickly move selected
  13 image files to a desired location. The Bash script is run by a short
  14 shell script specified in gThumbʼs 🔧 → Personalize…  menu.
  15 Additionally, sidecar files as well as associated files sharing the
  16 same file name stem (i.e. ~../*/DSC00001.*~) are also grouped and
  17 moved to the desired location.
  18
  19 ** Stats
  20 Version: 0.0.4
  21 License: GPLv3+
  22 gThumb version: ~3.12.6~
  23
  24 ** Usage
  25 Let us say, that we have a set of photos in the following
  26 locations:
  27
  28 #+begin_example
  29 .
  30 ├── ARW
  31 │   ├── DSC00001.ARW
  32 │   ├── DSC00001.ARW.ots
  33 │   ├── DSC00002.ARW
  34 │   ├── DSC00002.ARW.ots
  35 │   ├── DSC00003.ARW
  36 │   └── DSC00003.ARW.ots
  37 └── JPG
  38     ├── DSC00001.JPG
  39     ├── DSC00001.JPG.ots
  40     ├── DSC00002.JPG
  41     ├── DSC00002.JPG.ots
  42     ├── DSC00002.JPG
  43     └── DSC00002.JPG.ots
  44 #+end_example
  45
  46 Let us say gThumb has the ~JPG~ directory open and we have selected
  47 ~DSC00002.JPG~ which we want to keep.  We also want to keep the
  48 associated ~DSC00002.JPG.ots~ as well as the ~DSC00002.ARW~ and
  49 ~DSC00002.ARW.ots~ files in the neighboring ~ARW~ directory. We wish
  50 to discard all other photograph files.
  51
  52 First, we configure a ~keep~ shortcut. In the gThumbʼs 🔧 →
  53 Personalize…  menu, click the *New* button. Set the *Name* to
  54 ~keep~. Set the *Command* to:
  55
  56 : fscript="$HOME/.local/bin/gthumb-prune.sh"; if [ -f "$fscript" ]; then /bin/bash "$fscript" "keep" %F; fi;
  57
  58 Where ~$HOME/.local/bin/gthumb-prune.sh~ is the path for the Bash
  59 script (see the ~Code~ section below).
  60
  61 Set the *Shortcut* to ~Shift+K~. Make sure the box “Terminal command
  62 (shell script)” box is checked and the “Execute command once for every
  63 file” is *not* checked. Click the *Save* button to close the ~Edit
  64 Command~ window. Click the *Ok* button to close the ~Commands~ window.
  65
  66 Now, with ~DSC00002.JPG~ selected, press ~Shift+K~ on your
  67 keyboard. The image should disappear from view and a new directory
  68 should appear in the the left navbar, reflecting a new directory structure.
  69
  70 #+begin_example
  71 .
  72 ├── ARW
  73 │   ├── DSC00001.ARW
  74 │   ├── DSC00001.ARW.ots
  75 │   ├── DSC00003.ARW
  76 │   └── DSC00003.ARW.ots
  77 ├── JPG
  78 │   ├── DSC00001.JPG
  79 │   ├── DSC00001.JPG.ots
  80 │   ├── DSC00003.JPG
  81 │   └── DSC00003.JPG.ots
  82 └── keep
  83     ├── ARW
  84     │   ├── DSC00002.ARW
  85     │   └── DSC00002.ARW.ots
  86     └── JPG
  87         ├── DSC00002.JPG
  88         └── DSC00002.JPG.ots
  89 #+end_example
  90
  91 The ~DSC0002.*~ files (4 in total) have been moved to now reside
  92 within a ~keep~ directory with their ~JPG~ and ~ARW~ subdirectory
  93 structure preserved. Thus, the ~./JPG/~ and ~./ARW/~ directories have
  94 been pruned.
  95
  96 If we want to trash the remaining ~DSC00001.*~ and ~DSC00003.*~ files,
  97 we can create another shortcut to group and move files into a ~.trash~
  98 directory next to ~keep~.
  99
 100 Repeat the procedure for creating a shortcut, but *Name* it ~rmall~
 101 and set the *Command* to be:
 102
 103 : fscript="$HOME/.local/bin/gthumb-prune.sh"; if [ -f "$fscript" ]; then /bin/bash "$fscript" ".trash" %F; fi;
 104
 105 Note the change from ~keep~ to ~.trash~. Set the keyboard *Shortcut*
 106 to ~Shift+T~.
 107
 108 Now, with gThumb looking at the contents of ~./JPG~, and with
 109 ~DSC00001.JPG~ and ~DSC00003.JPG~ selected, press ~Shift+T~. The two
 110 images should disappear, leaving ~./JPG~ now empty.  The navbar to the
 111 left should not show any change since ~.trash~ is a dot directory and
 112 so is normally hidden.  Nonetheless, the directory structure has now
 113 changed to:
 114
 115 #+begin_example
 116 .
 117 ├── ARW
 118 ├── JPG
 119 ├── keep
 120 │   ├── ARW
 121 │   │   ├── DSC00002.ARW
 122 │   │   └── DSC00002.ARW.ots
 123 │   └── JPG
 124 │       ├── DSC00002.JPG
 125 │       └── DSC00002.JPG.ots
 126 └── .trash
 127     ├── ARW
 128     │   ├── DSC00001.ARW
 129     │   ├── DSC00001.ARW.ots
 130     │   ├── DSC00003.ARW
 131     │   └── DSC00003.ARW.ots
 132     └── JPG
 133         ├── DSC00001.JPG
 134         ├── DSC00001.JPG.ots
 135         ├── DSC00003.JPG
 136         └── DSC00003.JPG.ots
 137 #+end_Example
 138
 139 So, the contents of ~./JPG/~ may be pruned by selecting files you want
 140 to keep and pressing ~Shift+K~ and by selecting files you want to
 141 trash and pressing ~Shift+T~. Then, if you are really sure about
 142 deleting the undesired files, delete the contents of ~.trash~ via the
 143 terminal command:
 144
 145 : $ rm -r ./.trash/*
 146
 147 ** Code
 148 gthumb-prune.sh:
 149
 150 #+begin_code
 151 #!/bin/bash
 152 # Desc: Prunes files selected by gThumb.
 153 # Note: Moves files into a directory with a specified name.
 154 # Usage: gthumb-prune.sh [STR dirname] [FILES…]
 155 # Example: $HOME/.local/bin/gthumb-prune.sh keep %F
 156 #   If '%F' expanded to `~/Pics/MyJPGs/DSC00001.JPG`, then
 157 #     "$HOME/Pics/*/DSC00001.*" files are moved to:
 158 #     '~/Pics/keep/MyJPGs/' .
 159 #
 160 #   If '%F' expanded to multiple files, then the move
 161 #     operations to 'keep' are performed for each file.
 162 # Input: arg1   str  directory to send selected files
 163 #        arg2+  str  path of selected file(s)
 164 # Version: 0.0.4
 165
 166 fdebug=/tmp/gtPruneLog.txt;
 167
 168 yell() { echo "$0: $*" >&2; } # print script path and all args to stderr
 169 die() { yell "$*"; exit 111; } # same as yell() but non-zero exit status
 170 must() { "$@" || die "cannot $*"; } # runs args as command, reports args if command fails
 171 main() {
 172     # Validate inputs
 173     local groupName re1 fina;
 174     ## Interpret first argument as name of group directory to move files into.
 175     groupName="$1";   # e.g. 'keep'
 176     ### RegEx matches:
 177     ###   - Forward slash (i.e. path) anywhere.
 178     ###   - A string consisting of just '.' (current working dir)
 179     ###   - A string consisting of just '..' (parent dir of working dir)
 180     re1='/|^\.$|^\.\.$';
 181     if [[ "$groupName" =~ $re1 ]]; then
 182         die "FATAL:Group '${groupName}' must not be a path.";
 183     fi;
 184     if [[ -z "$groupName" ]]; then
 185         die "FATAL:Group '${groupName}' may not be blank.";
 186     fi;
 187     shift;
 188
 189     ## Interpret remaining arguments as files and populate input file array
 190     fina=("$@");
 191
 192     ## Validate input file array
 193     ### Handle no argument case.
 194     if [[ $# -le 0 ]]; then
 195         die "FATAL:No arguments:$#";
 196     fi;
 197     ### Check each remaining array element is a file.
 198     local fin;
 199     for fin in "${fina[@]}"; do
 200         if [[ ! -f "$fin" ]]; then
 201             die "FATAL:Not a file:${fin}";
 202         fi;
 203     done;
 204
 205
 206     # Process each file
 207     local f;
 208     for f in "${fina[@]}"; do
 209         # Set up variables
 210         local fBase dParent dParParent fNoExt dGroup;
 211         fBase="$(basename "$f")";
 212         dParent="$(dirname "$f")";
 213         dParParent="$(dirname "$dParent")";
 214         fNoExt="${fBase%.*}";
 215         dGroup="${dParParent}/${groupName}";
 216         yell "DEBUG:fdebug:${fdebug}";
 217         yell "DEBUG:f:${f}";                   # e.g. ~/Pics/MyJPGs/DSC00001.JPG
 218         yell "DEBUG:fBase:${fBase}";           # e.g. DSC00001.JPG
 219         yell "DEBUG:fNoExt:${fNoExt}";         # e.g. DSC00001
 220         yell "DEBUG:dParent:${dParent}";       # e.g. ~/Pics/MyJPGs/
 221         yell "DEBUG:dParParent:${dParParent}"; # e.g. ~/Pics/
 222         yell "DEBUG:dGroup:${dGroup}";         # e.g. ~/Pics/keep/
 223
 224         # Move sibling files sharing the stem
 225         local fSrc subDirName dDest;
 226         for fSrc in "${dParParent}"/*/"${fNoExt}".*; do
 227             if [ ! -e "$fSrc" ]; then continue; fi;
 228             subDirName="$(basename "$(dirname "$fSrc")")";
 229             dDest="${dGroup}/${subDirName}";
 230             yell "DEBUG:fSrc:${fSrc}";                  # e.g. ~/Pics/MyARWs/DSC00001.ARW.ots
 231             yell "DEBUG:subDirName:${subDirName}";      # e.g. MyARWs
 232             yell "DEBUG:dDest:${dDest}";                # e.g. ~/Pics/keep/MyARWs/
 233             if [ ! -d "$dDest" ]; then
 234                 yell "STATUS:Destination dir does not exist. Creating:${dDest}";
 235                 must mkdir -p "$dDest";
 236             else
 237                 yell "STATUS:Destination dir exists:${dDest}";
 238             fi;
 239             yell "STATUS: Moving ${fSrc} → ${dDest}/";
 240
 241             # Perform move ( e.g. mv ~/Pics/MyARWs/DSC00001.ARW.ots ~/Pics/keep/MyARWs/ )
 242             mv -n "$fSrc" "${dDest}/";
 243
 244             # Check if move failed.
 245             if [[ -e "$fSrc" ]]; then
 246                 yell "ERROR:Failed to move ${fSrc} → ${dDest}";
 247             fi;
 248         done;
 249     done;
 250 };
 251
 252 main "$@" 1>>"$fdebug" 2>&1;
 253
 254 # Author: Steven Baltakatei Sandoval
 255 # License: GPLv3+
 256 #+end_code
 257