Hi Dierk, Peter,

I'll try and tidy things up a little and put in some comments to make it more user-friendly to use/adapt, then email the files to you.

Dierk:

Making a set is optional.  It just works on the selected images, whether or not they are part of a set.  And it isn't based on MediaPro's Web Gallery function (although I've separately added this google maps feature to my web gallery template to allow a map to be overlayed on the existing web page -- the map being resizeable and draggable).

This script just creates a local html file that is then opened up (automatically) in a browser (currently IE -- you'd have to tweak to change browser).  So it's intended more as a local bolt-on to MediaPro, although I guess there's no reason why you couldn't use the resulting html file on a server for others to view.

The script cycles through the selected images, writing information into an html file, which is generated on the fly.  The html page itself is quite lean, but relies heavily on calling javascript functions from the separate functions file. 

The thumbnails for the popups are generated automatically by the script simply by calling MediaPro's "Convert Images" function, and so does slow things down somewhat -- but this feature is easily turned on/off with a simple true/false flag in the script.

It's all based on the google maps API, and hacked together rather un-elegantly, most probably, from a purist's point of view.

Mike

I've coded something up that allows you to select a whole bunch of images in MediaPro, and display them as separate markers on a google map.  

Optionally, you can also have thumbnails for each image displayed by clicking on the marker, like this (excuse the compression):



If anyone is interested, I can email the files.  It requires a MediaPro script, and a separate script functions file for use by the html file that is generated by the MediaPro script (and a zoom icon displayed during mouse wheel zooming).

Further options for tweaking are limitless...

Miie

Hi Dierk

Re your 1:  Strange.  For the degree symbol, UTF-8 works for you and ISO-8859-1 doesn't, whereas for me it's the other way around!  What version of IE are you on?  I'm still on IE6.  And I guess you've got the German version of MediaPro?  Maybe that makes a difference?  Still, so long as one or the other works, it's OK.

Re your 2: I sometimes find it displays a message that map data is not available at that zoom level (for some of the rendered map), but a quick refresh (F5) soon kicks it into doing what it was asked.

It is neat to be able to jump to a map direct from MediaPro, and I'm warming to the idea of using a GPS unit for every shot I take (the GPS prototype unit I'm using, as linked to previously, is small and convenient enough to sneak into a tiny, unused corner of my camera bag, and it's all self-contained in a single unit/cable, plugging in and staying in without any fuss).  All I need to know now is where to find a spare screw-in cap for the 10-pin socket for the inevitable time when I lose my existing one!

Cheers,

Mike

Thanks for that, John.

I found the following adaptation worked for IE.  Not only is exeFile changed, but I also found I needed to change from utf8 to iso-8859-1, because otherwise the degree symbol wasn't getting through to google maps as it should.  I also found I didn't need the "spn=" bit, and I changed the default zoom level and type.

I don't generally geotag, but have recently been trying out a neat little prototype built by my brother-in-law:

http://www.customidea.com/images/GPS1Sm.jpg

Thanks,

Mike

Dan, thanks.  I see it.  In the Confirming Data Selections window that pops up initially, you get the estimated backup size.  It gives you 10 seconds to bail out if you want, then it continues with the backup.

Very good.

Mike

The parenthesised part of this post in another thread is relevant as a follow-up here.

Mike

The parenthesised part of this post in another thread is relevant as a follow-up here.

Mike

Thanks, Dan.  I decided to test out their email support with this and another question I had, and I'm impressed.  Top notch.  The restore/rollback issue has been spotted and before (perhaps through you?!) and will be addressed in the next release.  It seems that GBM7 is due out "within the next few months", but their support contact said that even if I bought GBM6 now then I could upgrade to GBM7 for free.  They now have another sale, and if life were fair then you'd have earned yet more commission from your recommendation!

(My other question related to whether you could determine the size of an incremental backup before actually performing the backup.  My motivation here was to use such a forecast in combination with an incremental backup to DVD, so that you could determine whether and when it is worthwhile performing such a backup; e.g. I'd rather not waste an entire DVD on what turns out to be 100MB of fresh incremental data.  In view of iView's tardiness in fixing the Catalog Set scripting issue, and in view of me wanting to set up a proper DVD backup strategy now, I'm going to try incremental backups to DVD in place of buckets, virtual or real.  No doubt such an approach would have issues for you and your setup, but perhaps for my lesser and less rigorous requirements it will suffice, and certainly require less manual maintenance and setting up.  I'll cross-reference this to the "virtual bucket" thread since this issue relates less to this thread and more to that.)

Mike

I'm trying out GBM.  One thing I am testing is incremental in combination with rollback.  I created a test folder with some files in it, ran the incremental, followed by deleting a file or two, then running the job again, and so on.  Since rollback was enabled, I was hoping I could select one of the previous states in the rollback list for the backup job, and it would restore all files that were current at that point.  But it only seems to restore the files that are current after the final rolback state, i.e. the current state.  So if I start with 10 files, and reduce them gradually to end up with 2, I only ever seem to be able to restore those final 2, whatever rollback state I select.  Am I doing something wrong?  I know I can probably restore the others manually (through the Catalog), but shouldn't I be able to do it through the Restore function?

Thanks,

Mike

Hi Dan,

Thanks for the info.  I just installed the trial of GBM, and it sure looks good...

DVD's would work the same way as hard drives for incrementals and differentals.

... and it has an option for incremental backup to DVDs --- that's something that my current backup software just doesn't allow you to do.  It's given me an idea... one that you would cringe at, I reckon... probably one with downsides all over the place from a purist's point of view... but I do like the thought of an incremental backup job to DVD... may ponder that one for a while...

Mike

You only mirror the current bucket?  About 4.5 gigs worth?  Presumably you'd be flexible with this and perhaps mirror more if you were working on a big project with more than 4.5 gigs worth of data?

At what time points do you backup your current bucket(s), separate to the mirror job?  E.g. as part of an incremental backup.  Because, with mirroring, presumably if you accidentally delete a file before running a mirror job then that file is lost on both the primary and the mirror?

GBM looks really quite good.  I think I'll give it a demo.  I also like their summary of the the various different types of backup jobs here.

I note from this comparison table that GBM allows you to to do incremental / differential backups to DVD.  How exactly would this work?  Does GBM keep a central record of what files it has already backed up to DVD, and only backup those files that have changed, to a new DVD?  How would you restore from DVDs in this way, obviously only picking up the most recent file from perhaps multiple backed-up versions on different DVDs?  This may be something I'll have to experiment with

Mike

Excellent information, Dan.  Thanks for the insights.  

Do you only mirror your buckets without a separate backup?  Do you mirror all your buckets?  If not, what do you do with those you don't mirror?  To show my ignorance, do you mirror with software or hardware?  If the former, what do you use?  What software do you use for general backup (GBM I guess)?

To show my ignorance again, what exactly is "imaging" (using Norton Ghost or Acronis True Image) if its different to "mirroring"?

Many thanks, and sorry for the Spanish Inquisition!

Mike

Dan,

Here is the new thread: http://thedambook.com/smf/index.php?topic=292.0

Mike

(This thread is a migration of this one: http://thedambook.com/smf/index.php?topic=281.msg1618#msg1618)

...This still leaves an issue unclear in my mind re backups and buckets...

1) Presumably you have data other than images which are important to you.  Would you use a DVD-sized bucket system for ALL your own data?
2) Say you are implementing a backup regime for a multiple user system for a medium or large corporation with terabytes of user data to protect.  Would you impose a DVD-sized bucket system on ALL your users for ALL their data?

If the answer to (1) or (2) is "no", how would you implement a backup regime to mirror only certain parts of the system?  Would you mirror all the user data in that case?  Or use an incremental backup?  Or what?

If the answer to (1) or (2) is "no", why not?

(Can I just check: by incremental I mean that the backup software only actually backs up what has changed since the last backup; I presume it means the same to you?)

Mike

Hi Dan

Regardless of whether you burn your images from virtual buckets or physical buckets, you are still constrained to the size of the physical DVD.

I'd rather be constrained virtually and reversibly than physically and irreversibly.

Thanks for the link to the topic on backup.  Interesting.  This still leaves an issue unclear in my mind re backups and buckets...

1) Presumably you have data other than images which are important to you.  Would you use a DVD-sized bucket system for ALL your own data?
2) Say you are implementing a backup regime for a multiple user system for a medium or large corporation with terabytes of user data to protect.  Would you impose a DVD-sized bucket system on ALL your users for ALL their data?

If the answer to (1) or (2) is "no", how would you implement a backup regime to mirror only certain parts of the system?  Would you mirror all the user data in that case?  Or use an incremental backup?  Or what?

If the answer to (1) or (2) is "no", why not?

(Can I just check: by incremental I mean that the backup software only actually backs up what has changed since the last backup; I presume it means the same to you?)

Mike