Use

This program allows browsing through a pictures directory (files are sorted according to their names, in ascending order). The user can copy pictures to a separate destination directory (after optional rotations). This application is designed to ease the rejection of bad pictures from a bulky source and the establishing of a new collection of good only (and properly orientated) pictures. If audio comments are present, the wave files are copied or removed simultaneously with their corresponding picture (this feature can be disabled).

NB: To make the preservation of the audio comment of a rejected picture possible, one can instruct the program to copy the previous audio comment (if any) under the name of the current picture.

Launching

The "java -jar Selector1.jar" or "javaw -jar Selector1.jar" command lines, run from the installation directory, should do the job, assuming your path variable points to the java/bin directory. Windows® and Solaris® users may just double-click the jar file.

Directions for use

Note that if a copy of the selected image exists in the destination folder, this copy is displayed in the main viewport. The picture in the source directory then appears in a small framework between the [Copy] and [C] buttons (source and copy may differ, due to previous rotation commands for example). A right click on the source image pops up a small menu with the Play audio... command. It enables one to hear the original audio comment (which can differ from the destination folder's).

Button Action  
Go to... Used to choose the source directory and the first file to display. The user is then prompted for the destination directory path. In both folders only files with the same extension as the chosen first file are considered.
<<<   >>> Browse buttons.

 

( +90° , -90° )

Rotate the picture displayed in the main viewport. Since these buttons only work with pictures from the source directory, if a copy exists it must be first removed before these commands can be used. The resulting rotated image can then be copied to the destination folder. It does never overwrite the source picture. If a browse command is issued before the [Copy] button is used, the rotated image is discarded without warning.

Enters or leaves the freehand rotation mode (toggle button). In rotation mode (button sunk), one can click on the picture in the main viewport and drag the mouse to define a line (it is displayed in red above light colours and in green above dark ones), which should be straightened (made vertical or horizontal, depending on its general orientation). When the mouse button is released, the program asks for the preferred cropping method (dialog box) and performs the required rotation. Closing the dialog box amounts to clicking on the middle button (Preserve width/height ratio). If the mouse cursor exits the picture during the dragging operation, the freehand rotation mode is cancelled and no rotation is performed.
Copy Copies the picture displayed to the destination folder. It is only active if no file of the same name exists in the destination directory. If a file of the same name than the picture but with a .wav extension exists in the source directory, it is considered as an audio comment of the picture and is copied to the destination folder if the Sound: copy box is checked. If the Sound: previous box is checked, the [Copy] command copies the audio comment of the previous picture (if it exists) under the current picture name; the previous audio comment is taken from the destination folder (if possible), or from the source directory.
Copy >>> Shortcut for the very frequent [Copy][>>>] commands sequence.
Remove Removes the copy (whenever it exists) of the displayed image from the destination directory. If an audio comment exists in the destination folder, it is removed.
C Provides a way of setting the compression level of written pictures (rotated images have to be re-encoded when written to the destination folder). It does not affect non rotated images (in this case, the copy operation is a simple file transfer). The button is enabled when a writer plug-in for the current image format exists and when it accepts compression parameters setting. The default compression should be "visually loss-less".


( Play )

Active only when an audio comment is detected. Plays the contents of the wav file on the default audio output device of the computer. If the auto box below this button is checked, the audio comments are automatically played when detected, as soon as one of the browse buttons (and [Go to...] or [Copy>>>] buttons) is clicked. The audio file to play is taken from the destination folder (if possible), or from the source directory.
? Displays an "About" dialog box, which, in turn, gives access to the help displaying window.
Exit Terminates the application (the main window's close box may also be used).

The program prints the name of the displayed picture(s) in the title bar of the main window.

The current compression level is displayed just below the [C] button. The lowest values give the best pictures; the highest ones, the smallest files.

The progress bar on the right of the controls is activated during lengthy pictures load operations. When it is active some commands may be rejected (though the buttons might have been enabled asynchronously by the GUI thread): the program then emits a warning (dialog box).

Note on pictures loading

Pictures are loaded asynchronously by a thread managed by the application itself, using the newest Java 1.4 image APIs, for performance reasons (the daemon thread used by the older image APIs is far too slow).

Recognized formats: jpeg, gif, png (depends on your Java toolkit's capabilities).

Note

Disclaimer and distribution policy

THIS SOFTWARE AND ACCOMPANYING WRITTEN MATERIALS (INCLUDING INSTRUCTIONS FOR USE) ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. FURTHER, THE AUTHOR DOES NOT WARRANT, GUARANTEE, OR MAKE ANY REPRESENTATIONS REGARDING THE USE, OR THE RESULTS OF USE, OF THE SOFTWARE OR WRITTEN MATERIALS IN TERMS OF CORRECTNESS, ACCURACY, RELIABILITY, CURRENTNESS, OR OTHERWISE. THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE RESULTS AND PERFORMANCE OF THE SOFTWARE IS ASSUMED BY YOU. IF THE SOFTWARE OR WRITTEN MATERIALS ARE DEFECTIVE YOU, AND NOT THE AUTHOR, ASSUME THE ENTIRE COST OF ALL NECESSARY SERVICING, REPAIR, OR CORRECTION.
THE ABOVE IS THE ONLY WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, THAT IS MADE BY THE AUTHOR.
THE AUTHOR SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF BUSINESS PROFITS, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, LOSS OF BUSINESS INFORMATION, AND THE LIKE) ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THIS PRODUCT, EVEN IF HE HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

This program is freeware and may be freely copied if all files (see hereafter) are distributed simultaneously, without any modification.

Files in the package:

File Use
Selector1.jar The program.
infowin.jar API package fr.free.palbou.infowin (Copyright (C) Pierre Albou, 2002-2003. All rights reserved)
readme.txt Directions for use.