Change location of .shotwell directory (incl. database)

[Valeri Geiser]

Hi,

I am looking for a picture management software and like the look and
feel of shotwell a lot. One of my requirements though is to store the
database on a central place (fileserver) since there are multiple PCs
that need access to the same database. I did not find any command line
parameters or settings so far to do that.
I am trying Shotwell 0.5.0 on Ubuntu.

Best regards,
Valeri

[Martin Weißhaupt]

Hi,

try starting shotwell with this commandline argument:
shotwell -d /path/to/filestore

This should give you a new shotwell "profile" in the given location.
I believe that you have to change the import directory in the settings
of shotwell too.

Regards,
Martin

Post by Valeri Geiser
Hi,
I am looking for a picture management software and like the look and
feel of shotwell a lot. One of my requirements though is to store the
database on a central place (fileserver) since there are multiple PCs
that need access to the same database. I did not find any command line
parameters or settings so far to do that.
I am trying Shotwell 0.5.0 on Ubuntu.
Best regards,
Valeri
_______________________________________________
Shotwell mailing list
http://lists.yorba.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/shotwell

[Valeri Geiser]

Hi Martin,

thanks for the quick reply. Unfortunately, I get this error. Looks like
maybe my version does not have this switch yet?

** ERROR **: main.vala:217: Unbekannte Option -d
aborting...
Aborted

("Unbekannte Option" means "Unknown option")

Best regards,
Valeri

Post by Martin Weißhaupt
Hi,
shotwell -d /path/to/filestore
This should give you a new shotwell "profile" in the given location.
I believe that you have to change the import directory in the settings
of shotwell too.
Regards,
Martin

Post by Valeri Geiser
Hi,
I am looking for a picture management software and like the look and
feel of shotwell a lot. One of my requirements though is to store the
database on a central place (fileserver) since there are multiple PCs
that need access to the same database. I did not find any command
line parameters or settings so far to do that.
I am trying Shotwell 0.5.0 on Ubuntu.
Best regards,
Valeri
_______________________________________________
Shotwell mailing list
http://lists.yorba.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/shotwell

[Vera Yin]

Hi Valeri,

Which version of Ubuntu are you running? I would recommend upgrading
to the latest version of Shotwell, 0.8.1, as described on our website:

http://yorba.org/shotwell/install/

The -d switch for specifying database location has been available
since Shotwell 0.6.

Cheers,
Vera

Post by Valeri Geiser
Hi Martin,
thanks for the quick reply. Unfortunately, I get this error. Looks like
maybe my version does not have this switch yet?
** ERROR **: main.vala:217: Unbekannte Option -d
aborting...
Aborted
("Unbekannte Option" means "Unknown option")
Best regards,
 Valeri

Post by Martin Weißhaupt
Hi,
shotwell -d /path/to/filestore
This should give you a new shotwell "profile" in the given location.
I believe that you have to change the import directory in the settings of
shotwell too.
Regards,
Martin

Hi,
I am looking for a picture management software and like the look and feel
of shotwell a lot. One of my requirements though is to store the database on
a central place (fileserver) since there are multiple PCs that need access
to the same database. I did not find any command line parameters or settings
so far to do that.
I am trying Shotwell 0.5.0 on Ubuntu.
Best regards,
 Valeri
_______________________________________________
Shotwell mailing list
http://lists.yorba.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/shotwell

_______________________________________________
Shotwell mailing list
http://lists.yorba.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/shotwell

[Paulo J. Matos]

Post by Martin Weißhaupt
Hi,
shotwell -d /path/to/filestore

That's great to know. What's the best way to move an existing database
and photo archive into a new directory?

I want to move ~pmatos/.shotwell and ~pmatos/Pictures into
~photos/.shotwell and ~photos/Pictures respectively.

Any tips?

Post by Martin Weißhaupt
This should give you a new shotwell "profile" in the given location.
I believe that you have to change the import directory in the settings
of shotwell too.
Regards,
Martin

[Vera Yin]

Hi Paulo,

Which version of Shotwell are you using? I believe in 0.8.1 you can do
the following:

1) move the .shotwell and Pictures directories to the new locations
2) launch Shotwell specifying the .shotwell location with -d (or as
user 'photos'). At this point your entire library (if previously all
located in ~pmatos/Pictures) will be on the Missing Photos page.
3) go to Edit->Preferences and change the Library Location to the new
Pictures directory
4) under the Library Location enable 'Watch library directory for new
files'. Now Shotwell should find and restore everything from Missing
Photos to the Photo library.

Regards,
Vera

That's great to know. What's the best way to move an existing database and
photo archive into a new directory?
I want to move ~pmatos/.shotwell and ~pmatos/Pictures into ~photos/.shotwell
and ~photos/Pictures respectively.
Any tips?
_______________________________________________
Shotwell mailing list
http://lists.yorba.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/shotwell

[Paulo J. Matos]

Hello Vera,

Thanks for the help. I only managed to give it a try now. I am in 0.8.1.
Unfortunately it doesn't work. After I change the Library Location to
the new Pictures directory and mark the Watch Library option... it shows
up on the bottom "Updating Library" and then it stops. Nothing happens.
Restarting doesn't work. The paths for the photos in the database are
still /home/pmatos/... (previous path) since now should be /home/photos/...

I can't really remember the correct sql... but I am sure it is possible
to mass change the paths from /home/pmatos/... to /home/photos/...
directly on the database.

Any tips?

Post by Vera Yin
Hi Paulo,
Which version of Shotwell are you using? I believe in 0.8.1 you can do
1) move the .shotwell and Pictures directories to the new locations
2) launch Shotwell specifying the .shotwell location with -d (or as
user 'photos'). At this point your entire library (if previously all
located in ~pmatos/Pictures) will be on the Missing Photos page.
3) go to Edit->Preferences and change the Library Location to the new
Pictures directory
4) under the Library Location enable 'Watch library directory for new
files'. Now Shotwell should find and restore everything from Missing
Photos to the Photo library.
Regards,
Vera

That's great to know. What's the best way to move an existing database and
photo archive into a new directory?
I want to move ~pmatos/.shotwell and ~pmatos/Pictures into ~photos/.shotwell
and ~photos/Pictures respectively.
Any tips?
_______________________________________________
Shotwell mailing list
http://lists.yorba.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/shotwell

[Paulo J. Matos]

Post by Vera Yin
Hi Paulo,
Which version of Shotwell are you using? I believe in 0.8.1 you can do
1) move the .shotwell and Pictures directories to the new locations
2) launch Shotwell specifying the .shotwell location with -d (or as
user 'photos'). At this point your entire library (if previously all
located in ~pmatos/Pictures) will be on the Missing Photos page.
3) go to Edit->Preferences and change the Library Location to the new
Pictures directory
4) under the Library Location enable 'Watch library directory for new
files'. Now Shotwell should find and restore everything from Missing
Photos to the Photo library.

Where are the Preferences kept? I just noticed that they are kept
nowhere in the .shotwell directory? Is it a gnome registry thing or
something?

[Adam Dingle]

Post by Paulo J. Matos

Post by Vera Yin
Hi Paulo,
Which version of Shotwell are you using? I believe in 0.8.1 you can do
1) move the .shotwell and Pictures directories to the new locations
2) launch Shotwell specifying the .shotwell location with -d (or as
user 'photos'). At this point your entire library (if previously all
located in ~pmatos/Pictures) will be on the Missing Photos page.
3) go to Edit->Preferences and change the Library Location to the new
Pictures directory
4) under the Library Location enable 'Watch library directory for new
files'. Now Shotwell should find and restore everything from Missing
Photos to the Photo library.

Where are the Preferences kept? I just noticed that they are kept
nowhere in the .shotwell directory? Is it a gnome registry thing or
something?

Paulo,

Shotwell stores its preferences in GConf under /apps/shotwell. You can
see them easily if you run 'gconf-editor' in GNOME.

adam

[Vera Yin]

Hi Valeri,

Actually, accessing a Shotwell library across a network (and/or by
multiple machines) is discouraged. Here is the FAQ entry on that:

http://trac.yorba.org/wiki/Shotwell/FAQ#CanIaccessaShotwelllibraryacrossanetworkpossiblyfrommultiplemachines

We have a ticket for it: http://trac.yorba.org/ticket/1292.

Regards,
Vera

Hi,
I am looking for a picture management software and like the look and feel of
shotwell a lot. One of my requirements though is to store the database on a
central place (fileserver) since there are multiple PCs that need access to
the same database. I did not find any command line parameters or settings so
far to do that.
I am trying Shotwell 0.5.0 on Ubuntu.
Best regards,
 Valeri
_______________________________________________
Shotwell mailing list
http://lists.yorba.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/shotwell

[Valeri Geiser]

Hi Vera,

I assume inconsistencies will only occur when you access the database at
the same time, correct? My goal is to have it available from multiple PCs,
but not to "edit" at the same time. Would that be risky?

Best regards,
Valeri

Post by Vera Yin
Actually, accessing a Shotwell library across a network (and/or by
http://trac.yorba.org/wiki/Shotwell/FAQ#CanIaccessaShotwelllibraryacrossanetworkpossiblyfrommultiplemachines
We have a ticket for it: http://trac.yorba.org/ticket/1292.
Regards,
Vera

Hi,
I am looking for a picture management software and like the look and feel of
shotwell a lot. One of my requirements though is to store the database on a
central place (fileserver) since there are multiple PCs that need access to
the same database. I did not find any command line parameters or settings so
far to do that.
I am trying Shotwell 0.5.0 on Ubuntu.
Best regards,
 Valeri
_______________________________________________
Shotwell mailing list
http://lists.yorba.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/shotwell

[Jim Nelson]

The problem of database inconsistency can occur for any number of reasons,
not just editing photos. We do have a ticket for opening the database in a
read-only mode: http://trac.yorba.org/ticket/3048

-- Jim

Post by Valeri Geiser
Hi Vera,
I assume inconsistencies will only occur when you access the database at
the same time, correct? My goal is to have it available from multiple PCs,
but not to "edit" at the same time. Would that be risky?
Best regards,
Valeri

Post by Vera Yin
Actually, accessing a Shotwell library across a network (and/or by

http://trac.yorba.org/wiki/Shotwell/FAQ#CanIaccessaShotwelllibraryacrossanetworkpossiblyfrommultiplemachines

Post by Vera Yin
We have a ticket for it: http://trac.yorba.org/ticket/1292.
Regards,
Vera

Hi,
I am looking for a picture management software and like the look and feel of
shotwell a lot. One of my requirements though is to store the database on a
central place (fileserver) since there are multiple PCs that need access to
the same database. I did not find any command line parameters or settings so
far to do that.
I am trying Shotwell 0.5.0 on Ubuntu.
Best regards,
Valeri
_______________________________________________
Shotwell mailing list
http://lists.yorba.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/shotwell

_______________________________________________
Shotwell mailing list
http://lists.yorba.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/shotwell

[Valeri Geiser]

Jim,

with "edit" I meant Tagging etc., not photo editing. So I am a little
bit baffled, that I should not be able to open it - or do you write
anything to the database like access times etc.? If not, then at least
opening it one at a time should be ok - if not, please let me know.

Best regards,
Valeri

Post by Jim Nelson
The problem of database inconsistency can occur for any number of
reasons, not just editing photos. We do have a ticket for opening the
database in a read-only mode: http://trac.yorba.org/ticket/3048
-- Jim
Hi Vera,
I assume inconsistencies will only occur when you access the database at
the same time, correct? My goal is to have it available from multiple PCs,
but not to "edit" at the same time. Would that be risky?
Best regards,
Valeri

Post by Vera Yin
Actually, accessing a Shotwell library across a network (and/or by

http://trac.yorba.org/wiki/Shotwell/FAQ#CanIaccessaShotwelllibraryacrossanetworkpossiblyfrommultiplemachines

Post by Vera Yin
We have a ticket for it: http://trac.yorba.org/ticket/1292.
Regards,
Vera
On Fri, Jan 28, 2011 at 1:43 AM, Valeri Geiser

Post by Valeri Geiser
Hi,
I am looking for a picture management software and like the

look and

Post by Vera Yin

Post by Valeri Geiser
feel of
shotwell a lot. One of my requirements though is to store the

database

Post by Vera Yin

Post by Valeri Geiser
on a
central place (fileserver) since there are multiple PCs that

need access

Post by Vera Yin

Post by Valeri Geiser
to
the same database. I did not find any command line parameters or settings so
far to do that.
I am trying Shotwell 0.5.0 on Ubuntu.
Best regards,
Valeri
_______________________________________________
Shotwell mailing list
http://lists.yorba.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/shotwell

_______________________________________________
Shotwell mailing list
http://lists.yorba.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/shotwell

[Jim Nelson]

We don't write access times, but there are background processes in Shotwell,
such as runtime monitoring. If the library detects a change on the
filesystem it may update the database without you doing a thing.

The larger issue here is we've done no work or testing to verify that what
you're asking for is okay, and we never designed Shotwell for this kind of
use case. In theory it sounds like it should be okay, but in practice there
could be problems.

-- Jim

Jim,
with "edit" I meant Tagging etc., not photo editing. So I am a little bit
baffled, that I should not be able to open it - or do you write anything to
the database like access times etc.? If not, then at least opening it one at
a time should be ok - if not, please let me know.
Best regards,
Valeri
The problem of database inconsistency can occur for any number of reasons,
not just editing photos. We do have a ticket for opening the database in a
read-only mode: http://trac.yorba.org/ticket/3048
-- Jim

Post by Valeri Geiser
Hi Vera,
I assume inconsistencies will only occur when you access the database at
the same time, correct? My goal is to have it available from multiple PCs,
but not to "edit" at the same time. Would that be risky?
Best regards,
Valeri

Post by Vera Yin
Actually, accessing a Shotwell library across a network (and/or by

http://trac.yorba.org/wiki/Shotwell/FAQ#CanIaccessaShotwelllibraryacrossanetworkpossiblyfrommultiplemachines

Post by Vera Yin
We have a ticket for it: http://trac.yorba.org/ticket/1292.
Regards,
Vera

Hi,
I am looking for a picture management software and like the look and feel of
shotwell a lot. One of my requirements though is to store the database on a
central place (fileserver) since there are multiple PCs that need

access

Post by Vera Yin

to
the same database. I did not find any command line parameters or settings so
far to do that.
I am trying Shotwell 0.5.0 on Ubuntu.
Best regards,
Valeri
_______________________________________________
Shotwell mailing list
http://lists.yorba.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/shotwell

_______________________________________________
Shotwell mailing list
http://lists.yorba.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/shotwell