DOCUMENTATION OUTDATED¶ ↑

iPhoto Library¶ ↑

This plugin provides a way to use iPhoto to manage photos and videos for your Rails application.

Supported¶ ↑

• iPhoto ‘08 and ’09

• Events (Rolls)

• Photos

• Videos

Installation¶ ↑

script/plugin install git://github.com/hsume2/iphoto-library.git

• Requires plist gem

sudo gem install plist

• Requires mini_magick gem for on-demand thumbnails

Usage¶ ↑

Generators¶ ↑

Use

script/generate iphoto_library LibraryPath Server

to create the configuration and migrations necessary

Rake tasks¶ ↑

Resets iPhoto data in database rake iphoto:reset Load iPhoto library AlbumData.xml into database rake iphoto:load Updates iPhoto data incrementally into database rake iphoto:update

On-Demand Thumbnails¶ ↑

You can create thumbnails on demand at RAILS_ROOT/public/photos.

photo = Photo.find(3)
photo.on_demand(720,720) # /photos/3/720x720.jpg

Creates a 720 by 720 thumbnail the first time the method is called. Subsequent calls will return the path to previously created thumbnails.

Models¶ ↑

Thumbnail paths and image paths are automatically swizzled to the server specified in iphoto.yml photo = Photo.first photo.thumb_path # Thumbnail used in iPhoto photo.image_path # Image stored in iPhoto Library (could be in Modified, Originals, Data) movie = Movie.first movie.thumb_path # Auto-generated thumbnail used in iPhoto movie.image_path # The video itself movie.movie_path # same as image_path

Configuration¶ ↑

Anywhere in your rails app you can call IphotoLibrary.path IphotoLibrary.server IphotoLibrary.albumdata_path to retrieve the settings stored in iphoto.yml

Tips¶ ↑

• Be sure to close iPhoto, before running tasks, so changes to the library are written to file (AlbumData.xml)

Demo Usage¶ ↑

In your rails app root, execute

script/generate iphoto_library /Users/YourUser/Pictures/iPhoto\ Library/ static.yourdomain.com to create the configuration file necessary, and rake db:migrate to create the tables, and

rake iphoto:load to load events (rolls), photos, and videos into the database.

Serving Assets: In Rails¶ ↑

Depending on your configuration, you may want to server the photos straight froms rails (easier, less setup). In your rails root, run

ln -s /whereever/you/have/your/iPhoto\ Library/ /public/library

And when running the iphoto_library generator, instead of

http://static.yourdomain.com

use /library

Serving Assets: Static Host Method¶ ↑

Use Apache to staticly serve the photos straight from your iPhoto Library. Add something like this to your virtual host conf.

<VirtualHost *:80> ServerAdmin admin@yourdomain.com DocumentRoot “/Users/YourUser/Pictures/iPhoto Library/” # <- Your iPhoto Library ServerName static.yourdomain.com

<Directory “/Users/YourUser/Pictures/iPhoto Library/”> # No Options Indexes, we don’t want anyone/anything crawling around AllowOverride All Order deny,allow Allow from all </Directory> </VirtualHost>

More Restrictive Configuration¶ ↑

Try this safer Apache configuration. <VirtualHost *:80> ServerAdmin admin@yourdomain.com DocumentRoot “/Library/WebServer/Documents” # <- Doesn’t matter, maybe try a 404 page? ServerName static.yourdomain.com Alias /Data “/Users/Family/Pictures/iPhoto Library/Data”

<Directory “/Users/Family/Pictures/iPhoto Library/Data”> AllowOverride All Order deny,allow Allow from all </Directory>

Alias /Modified “/Users/Family/Pictures/iPhoto Library/Modified”

<Directory “/Users/Family/Pictures/iPhoto Library/Modified”> AllowOverride All Order deny,allow Allow from all </Directory>

Alias /Originals “/Users/Family/Pictures/iPhoto Library/Originals”

<Directory “/Users/Family/Pictures/iPhoto Library/Originals”> AllowOverride All Order deny,allow Allow from all </Directory> </VirtualHost>

Known Issues¶ ↑

• Currently only supports one iPhoto Library

• What about loading assets into the database as well?

• Or other forms of storage?

Copyright © 2009 Henry Hsu, released under the MIT license