# Nicki's USBCamera-To-HardDrive-Thingy V0.3

# Contents

### Introduction

### Requirements

### Installation

### UnInstall

### How to Use

### Example Screenshots

### Points to note

### Finally

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### Brief Introduction

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I guess it is my own fault: I gave the Missus (the Nicki in the program title) an Olympus D-380 Digital Camera for Christmas - after making sure that it would be recognised as a USB Mass Storage Device - and it works fine. I showed Her how to "Refresh Removable Media" after connecting the camera, copy Her image files to wherever on a hard disk and "Eject Removable Media" when finished. Is She happy? - No!

Nicki is a "normal user" - She does not want to have to remember "minor things" such as Refreshing and Ejecting Media. So I put together a simple Rexx script to do a basic Refresh, Copy files to destination and Eject BUT She wants to be able to do more than just copy files from the camera based on filename alone. She wants:-

1. to be able to view the images - without viewing being compulsory - before deciding whether to copy any or all of them to hard drive.
2. to be able to extract and retain the Exposure Information contained in the image - or not.
3. to be able to rename the image files using the Date:Time contained in the Exposure Information to provide the filename - or not.
4. Obviously such things as "Refresh Removable Media" and "Eject Removable Media" should be handled by the application.

OK, So that was "What She Wants". This is "What She Got":-

1. The option to Preview image files and select them individually for copying or non-preview which allows all files to be selected for copying with just one click
2. The option to extract Exposure Information and
3. automatically rename files using that Information regardless of whether the Preview option is selected or not

Sadly "Refresh Removable Media" and "Eject Removable Media" are not yet fully handled by the application.
This application could be described as a simple Image Pre-Viewer with a few extra bits.

Be aware that if you use a different camera then the "Extract Exposure Info" may not work properly - or at all. This process relies on a handy little utility called renamepics.exe and seems to have been designed to work with Olympus Digital Cameras that save files in the EXIF format.

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### Requirements

- A USB connected Digital Camera - preferably the same capabilities as Nicki's to obtain the same results - unless using the application as a viewer/selective file transfer utility.
- nconvert.exe* - used to produce BMP preview images.
- renamepics.exe* - used to extract Exposure Information from Olympus cameras (and possibly others) that use the EXIF format.
- Both the above packages are supplied with the application.
- Hard disk space - the application needs approximately 2Mb of disk space but to use both of the Options requires temporary work space on the hard disk equal to the size of the Media Card + up to another 12Mb for storing the preview bitmap images +, of course, storage space for those images that are selected and copied.

* Both these packages are Freeware and are supplied as ZIP files for completeness but the executables required are already extracted to the application installation directory so you may, or not, want to unzip these packages to different directories to investigate the documentation supplied.

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### Installation

Having unzipped the package into a new directory doubleclick the install.cmd file and a new folder "Nicki's USBCamera Thingy" containing a program icon for the application, a program icon for the Eject Camera command, a program object for the release notes and a shadow of this file "Readme.htm" will appear on your Desktop - end of Installation.

The installation does not modify the CONFIG.SYS or any INI file.

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### UnInstall

Delete program icon from Desktop and then delete the directory containing the application.

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### How to Use

Start the application by doubleclicking the application icon in the Desktop folder or the application executable file, USBCamera.cmd, in the installation directory . Allowing for differences in Button types and colours and other system colour settings you should then have a similar display to this image - sorry about the default bitmap but I never claimed to be an artist.

Note that a lot of Buttons are not yet enabled but should become enabled after Options, Camera and Destination are selected - depending on the Options selected. Selecting Options must be done BEFORE selecting Camera source and finally Destination.

When starting the application checks that the required "work" directory exists and contains a copy of renamepics.exe - if necessary the directory is created and renamepics.exe is copied from the application directory. The "work" directory is created as a sub directory of the application directory.
The Image Filename is displayed below the Image Preview (or default).

It is not currently possible to enter a new Image Filename although that is planned for a future release.

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### Options

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#### Extract EXIF and Rename

If this is Checked ALL the JPG files found in the selected Camera source directory are copied to the "work" directory and renamepics.exe is used to extract Exposure Information which is written to the image files Extended Attributes. This information is then visible in the files' Properties -> File Tab, Page 3 Comments. This option is for Olympus D-380 and any other camera that saves images in the EXIF format. Renamepics.exe also automatically renames the image file with the date:time that the image file was created eg:- 2002-12-26_17-42-21.JPG, which shows the Year-Month-Day_Hour-Minute-Second - according to the time denoted by the cameras setup.

#### Preview images

If this is Checked ALL the JPG files found in the selected Camera source directory are copied to the "work" directory - unless the Extract EXIF option is also selected in which case the files have already been copied - and nconvert.exe is then used to create scaled down bitmap images of the camera image files in the "work" directory. These JPG and bitmap files are deleted when any of these buttons are clicked:- "Camera", "Eject Camera", "Exit".

Selecting either (or both) of the above options means that the image files will be copied from camera to a subdirectory, "work", for processing by either renamepics.exe and/or nconvert.exe. These files are deleted from the "work" directory after copying to Destination is complete.

If neither option is selected (both are unchecked) the image files are not copied to the "work" directory as no processing is required. Selected, or All, image files are copied directly from Camera to Destination.

#### Camera Button

Click on this to open the Camera Path Dialog to select the Drive Letter and path to the image files on the camera.

#### Camera Path Dialog

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Depending on the Options selected the JPG image files found in the selected Path may be copied to the "work" directory and BMP bitmap preview images created.
The filenames are displayed in the source list below the Camera button.

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#### Destination Button

Click on this to open a Path Dialog to select Drive:\Path to save the image files to.

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#### Destination Path Dialog

This dialog allows selection of Drive:\DirectoryPath to save selected images to.
The New Directory button allows the creation of a new directory in which to store the images.

Enter the New Directory name, select Change to target directory and click Create. The Create Dialog will close having selected the New Directory and the Save Images To Dialog will show the New Directory as selected, so just click OK.

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#### Selection Buttons

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These become enabled/disabled depending on the Options selected and after the Camera and Destination have been selected; also depends on whether there are any files in the respective lists.

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#### > Add Button

Selects one image file at a time for copying - this Button is highlighted showing that it was the last used - the filename will appear in the copy list below the Destination button.

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#### >> Add All Button

Selects ALL files - only available when the Preview Option is not checked - all filenames appear in the copy list below the Destination button.

These Selection Buttons become enabled/disabled depending on the number of images selected for copying.

#### < Remove Button

Remove selected file from copy list - only available when there is at least 1 file to remove.

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#### << Remove All Button

Removes ALL files from copy list - only available when there are more than 1 file to remove.

#### Copy Button

Copies selected files from either "work" directory or directly from Camera, depending on the Options settings, to the Destination directory. The copy list is cleared when copying is complete.

#### Exit Button

Deletes any temporary BMP and JPG files in the "work" directory, reminds you to Eject the camera before disconnecting - use the Eject Camera object in the Desktop folder - and closes the application. NOTE: If the application is closed using any other method temporary BMP and JPG files in the "work" directory are NOT deleted.

Having Exited the application use the Eject Camera object in the Desktop folder to eject the camera. Clicking Eject Camera should produce this dialog:-

Enter the drive letter that the camera has been using but not the colon ie:- k not k:

#### Status Bar

Displays some information, instructions, errrors or progress depending on the current process - WARNING (Before I get swamped with email over this): Sometimes the status bar does not "keep up" with events and displays incorrect information. This will be rectified in a future release.

#### Errors

Hopefully none should occur but if an error condition exists you may find an error message dialog box onscreen or a message in the Status Bar. Probably the most common error to date, in testing by Nicki Herself, is closing the application without using the Exit Button which leaves unwanted image files in the "work" directory and can cause errors next time the application is used. The remedy to this is to Exit the application and then delete any JPG and BMP files in the "work" directory. I guess checking for this condition should go on the update list.
If the error cannot be resolved please contact me at the email address below with details of the error(s) and any message(s) displayed.

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### Examples of the application in use

These examples are screenshots taken after selecting Options as required, then Camera and then Destination but before Copying the files to the Destination directory.

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#### No Options selected

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With no Options checked there is no need to copy the files from Camera to hard drive "work" directory for preprocessing - the selected image files will be copied directly from the Camera path (Drive:\Directory) to the Destination directory - No Preview, No Extract EXIF and Rename.
As stated in the Status Bar at the bottom of the application - If selecting individual files it is necessary to double click the required image file name in the Camera List, the list below the Camera Button, to select the file before clicking the Add Button.
All Selection Buttons are enabled - the last button used was the Add All Button.
The next step is to click the Copy Button to copy the selected files, displayed in the copy list below the Destination Button, from the Camera path to the Destination directory.

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#### Extract EXIF and Rename Option selected

The image files have been copied from the Camera to the "work" directory and renamepics.exe has been used to extract EXposure InFormation from the image files.
NOTE: If you choose this option the files are automatically renamed by renamepics.exe according to the Date_Time found in the EXposure InFormation.
The ADD All Button was used to select all files for Copying.
The next step is to click the Copy Button to copy the selected files, displayed in the copy list below the Destination Button from the "work" directory to the Destination directory.

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#### Both Options selected

The image files have been copied from the Camera to the "work" directory, renamepics.exe has been used to extract EXposure InFormation from the image files and nconvert.exe has been used to create bitmap Preview image files - I hope the Chinese Dragon does not offend.
The ADD Button was used to select 1 file for Copying - so far.
Nicki uses this set of Options to decide whether to bother copying the image file.
Nicki likes being selective and although this is the slowest possible method of copying the image files it is the mode She uses most. Having said that She is usually only checking between 12 and 30 images at a time - mainly images to support Her ebay (uk) Seller activities.
Having finished selecting files the next step is, as above, to click the Copy Button to copy the selected files, displayed in the copy list below the Destination Button from the "work" directory to the Destination directory.

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### Points to note

Important! This application will not delete any files on your Removable Media - Primarily because Nicki's Olympus D-380 gets very upset when using an eCS or OS/2 system to delete files. So She uses her Camera to delete the Camera files. She's happy and her Camera is happy that way. It could be introduced as an Option in some future revision if there is a demand.
The preparation of image files for Preview mode can take a little time if you have a lot of images to prepare and slightly more if the Extract Exposure Information option is also selected. Basically, the larger the Media Card and the more images the longer it takes.

Processing is therefore quicker with just the Extract Exposure Information option selected and even quicker if Copying directly from Camera to Destination.

I do not know how quickly USB 2.0 devices transfer files but the Olympus D-380 access seems fairly slow and this is where a lot of time is spent waiting for files to be copied either to the "work" directory or, if no Options are selected, directly to the Destination directory. We timed transferring files from a full 32Mb Smartmedia card in the D-380 with both Preview and Extract EXIF options checked at 10 minutes and 35 seconds - it is only marginally quicker with neither of these options selected at 9 minutes 12 seconds.

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### Finally

I only have the Olympus D-380 to work with and can therefore only state that this application works the way that Nicki wants it to work with Her camera. The above screenshots are from my PC, not Hers, so any Drives shown are not USB Removable Mass Storage Devices but a hard drive partition. Sorry if that causes any confusion to anyone - I tried to keep this document as current as possible by modifying it while testing the application hence the screenshots based on a hard drive.

If you try this application and find that your camera uses a different format than EXIF I am prepared to look at the possibility of updating the application to meet your requirements BUT I will need you to supply all the necessary information regarding the camera's image format. I will then try to either locate a suitable alternative to renamepics.exe or attempt (important word!) to create the necessary utility - but please do not expect immediate results.

Suggestions - preferably within my limited capabilities - for improvements to this application are welcome, as are questions, at the email address below BUT make sure that the Subject Header contains "USBCamera" to help with my email filtering; I would not want to be filtering good suggestions or requests for help into my email Trashcan by accident just because someone has a genuine hotmail/yahoo/lycos etc account.

I aim to remove the need for nconvert.exe at some point in the near future - if I can find a less sizeable alternative that works as well. Alternatively there is the possibility that a more talented programmer than myself may create the necessary JPG handling TImage component for the Sibyl development package thus removing the need for an external utility such as nconvert.exe.

Hopefully this documentation is complete and I have not missed anything out - hopefully it is fairly obvious how to use the application ;-)

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### Credits

My thanks to the following for their work which is used by this application:-

Pierre-E Gougelet for the OS/2 port of nconvert.exe

Denise Hallmark for the original renamepics.exe, Rolf Lochbuehler and Brian Morrison for later modifications.

Aaron Lawrence for his "Execute" Sibyl component - it helps make a "messy job" look neat.

Nicki for being a Slave Driver - but a friendly one as She decided to release Her (this) application as Freeware.

The original Sibyl package development team for what could have been a fantastic product - but at least it is very useable.

Documentation produced using Mozilla 1.3 Composer and PMView - great applications.

Sorry if I have missed anyone off of this list - if you deserve it then I thank you.

Disclaimer

If your PC blows up It certainly is not my fault ;-)

I hope this application is of some use to the eCS and OS/2 Community.

Regards to all

Peter Brown

losepete@ntlworld.com - BUT make sure that the Subject Header contains "USBCamera" to help with my email filtering.

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