Thumbnails Documentation 

--> How to install <------------------------------------------------------------

> You do need to have a few things installed before thumbnails will work:

  Perl:

    This script relies on the Perl intreperters existance. It also assumes
    that perl is in the customary location of /usr/bin/perl. To check this
    on most common unix systems type the command 'which perl' and it should
    respond with perl's location if you have it installed. If your Perl is
    not in /usr/bin/perl, edit the thumbnails.pl file and change the first
    line (band path) to relfect the correct location.

    Additionally this script is likely dependant on a Perl version 5.0 or
    higher. If you have Perl installed, then type 'perl -v' and it will
    dutifully report the version and install information.

  Perl Modules:
 
    This program uses the following Perl modules: CGI, Image::Magick,
    Getopt::Std, Term::Query and strict.
    
    If you have perl installed, simply run the program (./thumbnails.pl) and
    it will check for said modules and tell you which ones you need to
    install.

    Installing modules will likely require root access and possibly the
    installation of external C libraries on your machine. Please refer to
    the Perl and individual modules' documentation for more information.

> Move the program to your favorite binary location

    For example: 'mv thumbnails.pl /usr/local/bin/thumbnails'

    You've now completed your install.


--> How does I make it work? <--------------------------------------------------

  Change directory to the images you wish to index:

    $ cd /long/dir/chain/images/

  Run the program:

    $ thumbnails

  Answer the questions. In my case I selected all defaults.
  Here is a step-by-step explanation of each question:

    Where are the directory of images: [.]

      The directory of where the source images are. In this case it is the
      current directory (.).

    Where should I put the thumbnails? [thumbs]

      This is where the program will put the thumbnail images. In this
      case it is a subdirectory called thumbs. The thumbnail images
      are named the same (usually) as the images they are thumbnails
      of. Consequently do not put the thumbnails in the same directory (.)
      or they will overwrite the images.

    What is the max pixel width/height you prefer? [200]

      This is the maximum height or width of the thumbnails, in pixels.

    Where should I write the HTML? [images.html]

      This is the file the HTML output is written too. It is not a
      complete page, only the table that can be included into other pages.

    Should I clear the thumnail directory of any old files? [yes]

      If you are re-indexing a site, this helps to keep old thumbnails
      from hanging around. Be warned, it issues a unix 'rm' on all files
      in the directory.

  For more documentation and examples, refer to the main web site:
  http://www.crescendo.net/software/thumbnails/

--> The basic 5 <---------------------------------------------------------------

> Who?

  Copyright (C) 1999-2001, Phillip Pollard

  This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
  it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by 
  the Free Software Foundation, version 2.

  This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
  but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
  MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
  GNU General Public License for more details.

  You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
  along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
  Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA

  Mr. Pollard may be written at 112 Roberts Ln, Lansdale, PA  19446 USA
  or e-mailed at <phil@crescendo.net>.

> What?

  thumbnails is a program for the generate of thumbnails and core HTML to
  visually index a directory of images.

  Files in this distribution are:

    gpl.txt       : GNU Public License
    INSTALL       : This text.
    thumbnails.pl : The program.

> Where?

  The main distribution point of thumbnails is:
  http://www.crescendo.net/software/thumbnails/

> When?

  v 1.0.0 (4.11.2001)

> Why?

  Laziness and hubris.