Batch Queue Manager for future digiKam 0.11.0…
Since first beta releases of digiKam and kipi-plugins for KDE4, i receive a lots of mails about to know where are all Batch kipi-plugins... as batch converter, batch resize, etc... In fact these tools will never ported to KDE4 ... by me...
KDE4 Port of kipi-plugins include only 3 batch tools: Raw converter, DNG converter, and Remove Red Eyes. Why not to port all others batch tools ? Because they are limited in usability: you can only process one action on images at the same time, and require a lots of interactions from user. We need something better where more than one action can be processed at the same time...
Well, with new Batch Queue Manager implemented in digiKam core, this become a reality. Like you can see with screenshots below. The first one is a configuration panel dedicated to this tool. For the moment, you can only set-up target album where all processed items will be created and behavior if target files already exist at this place.
To add items to Batch Queue Manager, you can use context menu from icon-view, Image menu from Album interface, or drag and drop. You can place items to current queue or create a new one. There is no limitation with queues and items.
Batch Queue Manager interface is easy to understand. It's composed of:
- A pool of queues where are stored images to process.
- A chained list of batch tools to process for each queue. A chained list is defined for all items hosted by a queue.
- A view to edit batch tool settings.
- A view to list all batch tools available.
To assign tools to a queue, use drag and drop. Of course, you can change Batch tools order in list... When all is ready, just press Run button. Process are played in background using multi-threading and you can switch to others parts of digiKam, or take a coffee...
Bach Queue Manager is not yet complete. I plan to add an option to save a chained list of Customized Tools to reuse it later, and another one to be able to use current Batch Kipi-plugins. For this last one, libkipi and plugins need to be adapted. Batch Queue Manager will be released with next digiKam 0.11.0
