Main Window

The application window is divided into the areas explained in the following sections.

J Photo-Explorer main window screenshot

Main Menu

Contains commands of general interst:

  • Preferences.  Shows the dialog containing settings of which photo series folders to display and settings for the image export to the Web directory.
  • Export.  Starts the image export for the Web, generating scaled JPEG copies for image display HTML pages (large copies) and for group overview HTML pages (small copies).
  • Refresh View.
  • Help.
 

Series and Groups Tree

   The left part of the application window shows a tree-like structure comprises of the directories that contain images. It shows:
Series
A directory that (immediately or with subdirectories) contains all images of a photo series.
Group
Subdirectory of a series that contains a coherent group of images (e.g., divided by locations). Groups can contain images and other groups (subgroups).
Series and groups are physical directories on the hard disk. The names shown in the tree are the directory names of the series and groups. Each item in the tree has a context menu for directory commands.

The metadata (additional information that is not stored directly in the file system) of all groups and files of a series is stored in the series metadata file. This file named "_<Series-Name>-metadata.xml" lies in the series directory.

The location of where the series directories can be found is specified in the Preferences dialog.

Properties Pane

   The properties pane is located in the bottom-left corner of the main window and has two views.
The normal view shows the important properties of the currently selected group or file and allows to change them. The Properties button shows the complete Properties dialog.
The Preview (obtained by pressing the Preview button in the panel's title bar) shows a preview image of the currently selected image.

 

Contents Pane

The contents pane shows the contents of the group: the subgroups and image files (subgroups or files whose file names start with '.', '_', '#', and '~' are ignored). File names, titles, and whether to export them can be edited in-place. The preview images are stored in the _JP_Preview directory of the respective series container (the _JP_Preview directory can be deleted at any time and is re-created on demand).

 

List View

Shows the contents of the group: the subgroups and image files (subgroups or files whose file names start with '.', '_', '#', and '~' are ignored). File names, titles, and whether to export them can be edited in-place.
New Button
It creates new objects in the selected group. Please select the object kind in the combo box to the left:
  • Files.
  • Subfolders.
  • References.  Objects that are stored in the series metadata file and contain a link to another object that can be shown in a group overview HTML page (or can stand for itself to serve as descriptive text).
  • Separators.  Can be used to structure the images in the group, and can be exported to show up in the group overview HTML page.
Command Buttons
Except for the New button, the buttons provide commands for the currently selected subgroups or files. Hold the Ctrl or Shift key to select several objects. Some commands are only available when exactly one object is selected.
Together with the file context menu, the following commands are available:
  • Properties.  Shows the subgroup or file properties dialog.
  • Open.  Opens the file using an internal viewer for images and text files, or by opening the application registered for the file type.
  • Show Exported.  Shows the exported main image in an internal dialog.
  • Set File.  When an image file has been renamed or removed outside of J Photo-Explorer, it cannot associate a metadata entry with a file. In such a situation, a reference is created such that the information entered is not lost. The Set File dialog associates the remained reference with another file in the same directory (if the target file has been placed into another directory, cut the reference, paste it into this directory, and associate it with the file there).
  • Cut.  Cuts the selected objects so that they can be pasted elsewhere. The objects remain in their group until pasted.
  • Paste.  Pasts objects into the active group.
  • Delete.  Deletes the selected objects. Files and directories (with their whole contents) are deleted physically from the underlying file system.
  • Move Up.  Moves up the selected objects. The position of subgroups and files are recorded in the series metadata file.
  • Move Down.  Moves down the selected objects. The position of subgroups and files are recorded in the series metadata file.

 

HTML Preview

The HTML preview (obtained by pressing the Preview button in the contents panel's title bar) shows the exported images similar to the final display of the img.php script. It allows previewing the exported images in their small and large size. Clicking an image shows a dialog with the large exported image.

The HTML preview honors the <sub-group-list> and <file-list> tags of a directory description and tries to find the images referenced in an <img> tag. It can, however, not follow a link specified in a directory description.