Sequence numbers and unique numbering

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Downloader Pro has a number of tokens to help number images in different ways. If you are using a Nikon digital SLR or a Canon EOS 1D series camera and simply want to ensure each image has a unique filename consider using the shutter activation count token {r8}. For other cameras the "sequence number" or "time since the epoch" tokens can be used. The "uniqueness" tokens are useful if your naming scheme doesn't always produce unique filenames e.g. naming the files using the date and time and then shooting continuous bursts at more than one frame per second.

The sequence number tokens are useful if you want to number images as they are downloaded e.g. numbering shots from a particular event or the number of shots taken this year.

 

Shutter Activation Count

Nikon digital SLRs and Canon EOS 1D series SLRs store the shutter activation count (i.e. the number of pictures taken since the camera was new) in the shooting data. This information can be accessed using the {r8} token and will guarantee unique filenames for a given camera body.

e.g. Set download filename to:

{r8}                shutter activation count

{d}_{r8}                date image taken + shutter activation count

{t}_{r8}                time image taken + shutter activation count

 

{r85} and {r86} can also be used for the shutter activation count but pad the number with leading zeroes to give a five or six digit number respectively. e.g. a shutter activation count of 123 would give the following values

{r8}                123

{r85}                00123

{r86}                000123

 

Sequence Number

Downloader Pro can keep a count of downloaded images which can be used to number images as they are downloaded. The count is stored when Downloader Pro exits and continues from where it left off. The starting number can also be set in preferences

The sequence number is useful for numbering shots from a given event, particularly if the shots span more than one memory card. It can also be used to number images from a given point e.g. shots taken this year.

There are six tokens for sequence numbers:

{seq#} - sequence number with no leading zeroes

{seq#2} - 2-digit sequence number padded with leading zeroes e.g. 01, 02 etc.

{seq#3} - 3-digit sequence number padded with leading zeroes e.g. 001, 002 etc.

{seq#4} - 4-digit sequence number padded with leading zeroes e.g. 0001, 0002 etc.

{seq#5} - 5-digit sequence number padded with leading zeroes e.g. 00001, 00002 etc.

{seq#6} - 6-digit sequence number padded with leading zeroes e.g. 000001, 000002 etc.

 

Uniqueness

The uniqueness tokens are useful for ensuring the download filenames for a given download are unique. For example if images are named using the time they were taken to the nearest second, e.g. using the {t} token, the uniqueness tokens can be used to prevent duplicate names when shooting continuous bursts at more than one frame per second.

There are two groups of uniqueness tokens: those using lower case 'l' e.g. {l}, {l2}, {l3}, {l4} and those using upper case 'L' e.g. {L}, {L2}, {L3}, {L4}

The lower case 'l' tokens evaluate to an empty string if the filename is unique and start numbering from 1 for subsequent non-unique filenames. The upper case tokens on the other hand always evaluate to at least 1. {l2}, {l3} and {l4} work the same way as {l} but pad the number with leading zeroes to make 2-digit, 3-digit or 4-digit numbers respectively. Similarly {L2}, {L3} and {L4} work the same way as {L} but pad the number with leading zeroes to make 2-digit, 3-digit or 4-digit numbers respectively.

 

e.g. Suppose three JPEG photos were all taken at 18:30:54 at 5 frames per second:

Setting the download filename to {t} would give three duplicate filenames of 183054.jpg

 

Setting the download filename to {t}{l} would give the following filenames: 183054.jpg, 1830541.jpg, 1830542.jpg

Setting the download filename to {t}{l2} would give the following filenames: 183054.jpg, 18305401.jpg, 18305402.jpg

Setting the download filename to {t}_{l2} would give the following filenames: 183054.jpg, 183054_01.jpg, 183054_02.jpg

 

Setting the download filename to {t}{L} would give the following filenames: 1830541.jpg, 1830542.jpg, 1830543.jpg

Setting the download filename to {t}{L2} would give the following filenames: 18305401.jpg, 18305402.jpg, 18305403.jpg

Setting the download filename to {t}_{L2} would give the following filenames: 183054_01.jpg, 183054_02.jpg, 183054_03.jpg

 

Tip: Downloader Pro automatically removes trailing spaces and underscore characters from filenames. This is useful when used with the {l} token as the underscore can be used for visual separation of the uniqueness number and is suppressed when not needed. e.g. if the download filename is set to {t}_{l} and {l} evaluates to an empty string the _ will be removed automatically as in the example above.

 

Notes:

1.The uniqueness tokens only work within the context of the images in the current download. Downloader Pro doesn't examine images already in the destination folder before generating unique filenames
2.Some cameras (e.g. Nikon digital SLRs and recent Canon DSLRs) store the time the image was shot to the nearest 1/100th second in the shooting data. With these cameras the subsecond timing token, {s}, can be used instead of the uniqueness tokens when naming files using only the time the image was shot e.g. by setting the download filename to {t}{s}

 

Time Since the Epoch

The "time since the epoch" is used by many computer systems to count the number of seconds since midnight UTC on Jan 1, 1970. Downloader Pro provides two tokens to represent the time since the epoch: {epoch} and {epoch36}. {epoch} displays the number as a 10-digit number whereas {epoch36} provides a shorter string by representing the number of seconds in base 36 using the characters 0 to 9 and A to Z.

e.g. 14:30:44 on November 21, 2006 gives:

{epoch}                1164119444

{epoch}                J934B8

 

The time since the epoch is an alternative to generate unique filenames for images from a given camera body.

e.g. Set the download filename to:

{epoch}                number of seconds since the epoch (10-digit number)

{epoch36}        number of seconds since the epoch in base 36 (6-character string)

{epoch36}_{r}        seconds since the epoch followed by the image number assigned by the camera

{epoch}_{l}        seconds since the epoch followed by uniqueness number if shooting continuous sequences

 

Note: The "time since the epoch" can only represent times from midnight UTC on Jan 1, 1970 to 03:14:07 UTC on Jan 19, 2038.