bionic (5) vgrabbj.conf.5.gz

Provided by: vgrabbj_0.9.9-2_amd64 bug

NAME

       vgrabbj.conf - configuration file for vgrabbj

OVERVIEW

       vgrabbj  purpose  is to read data from a v4l-device and put it in a file, formatted as jpeg, png, or pnm.
       Except for the ftp-options described below everything can also handled  on  the  commandline.   Here  the
       configuration statements are described.

       Syntax  is  <keyword> <value>. Comments start with a ';' or '#'. Those lines are ignored by vgrabbj. Case
       of the keywords and named options doesn't matter except for the timestamp option as well as any filename.

       The configuration file is parsed line by line. If any keyword appears twice or more often, the  last  one
       is the one used.

       On  startup,  the  pre-defined configuration file /etc/vgrabbj.conf is read. Then, commandline parameters
       are evaluated one by one, the last is the most significant, if one option is provide twice or more often.
       Same applies for the commandline parameter -c <config-file>.

GENERAL OPTIONS

       DaemonSeconds seconds
              Daemonize & loop with seconds intervals (min. 1).

       Daemon microseconds
              Daemonize  &  loop  microseconds  intervals  (min.  1).  Same as -l except you can control it more
              precisely.

       AutoBrightness On|Off
              Defines if vgrabbj's brightness adjustment is used. This option works only if the device  supports
              data  fetch  via read and RGB24 videopalette. See ForcePalette on how-to set RGB24. Some device do
              not support RGB24, hence, Brightness is ignored.

       ImageQuality quality
              Sets the quality of a jpeg output to quality (1-100, default: 75).

       ImageSize imagesize
              Sets the imagesize of input device, where imagesize is one of:

               sqcif= 128x96,     qsif = 160x120,
               qcif = 176x144,    sif  = 320x240,
               cif  = 352x288,    vga  = 640x480,
               svga = 800x600,    xga  = 1024x768,
               sxga = 1280x1024,  uxga = 1600x1200,

              (default: cif)

       ImageWidth width
              Sets the width of the image to width. Needs -H.  The v4l-device has to support the image width you
              set with this option.

       ImageHeight height
              Sets  the height of the image to height. Needs -w.  The v4l-device has to support the image height
              you set with this option.

       OutputFormat format
              Sets the output to format (either jpeg, png, or pnm, default: jpeg). Alternative, you may  provide
              jpg for jpeg.

       OutputFile <filename>
              Output is written to filename (default: /dev/stdout)

       Archive <path/filename>
              Additional  output  is  written to path/filename (default: not set), whereas the path-filename can
              include any strftime component. The path- filename must not be on a different  filesystem  as  the
              output defined above.  Additionally, you need to take care of the number of files stored. There is
              no upper ceiling for archiving.

       VideoDevice <device>
              Sets the input device to device (default: /dev/video)

       OpenOnce On|Off
              Defines if vgrabbj opens the device only while image data is grabbed  (Off)  or  keeps  it  opened
              while  it  is running (On).  Setting it to Off is helpful if you need access to the device besides
              vgrabbj. This use is discouraged though, due  to  possible  problems  with  memory  fragmentation.
              Default is On.

       SetImageSize On|Off
              Defines  if  the  image  size  (see -i, -H, and -w) of the device is set by vgrabbj. Necessary for
              certain v4l-devices which do not support to be set to a particular image size  (e.g.  IBM-usb-cam,
              QuickCam).  For these devices you have to specify the size at module load time.  Default is On.

       SwitchColor On|Off
              Switches  colormap  from  BGR to RGB (or vice versa) if set to On. Default is Off. Use if you have
              odd colors.

       SwapRL On|Off
              Swaps left and right of the image like a mirror. Default: Off.  is Off.

       SwapTB On|Off
              Swaps top and bottom of the image like a mirror. Default: Off.  is Off.

       NoUseMmap On|Off
              Turns off the use of mmap'ed (better) memory allocation for grabbing  frames.   Some  (very  rare)
              cams  cannot  use  mmap'ed  memory  and  have  to use read. If you want to switch easily, use this
              switch. If you don't know what I'm talking about, leafe it like it is: Default is Off.

       DebugLevel value
              Sets the loglevel of vgrabbj. Valid for value are 0, 2, 3, 4,  6,  7  (default:  4).  0  means  no
              messages  at  all, 7 is debug. Don't use 7 if you are running vgrabbj in daemon mode, it'll surely
              fill your syslog.  Be aware, that loglevel 7 will also post you ftp-password (if defined)  in  the
              logfile!

       UseTmpOut On|Off
              Sets  the  use  of  the  temporary  outputfile.  Default is On. Ignored in case the default output
              (/dev/stdout) is used. If set to Off, the  data  is  written  directly  to  the  file  defined  by
              OutputFile.

              If  filename is different from /dev/stdout (given via -f parameter or OutputFile, vgrabbj defaults
              to use a temporary file called filename.tmp to write the image.  This  file  is  then  renamed  to
              filename to shorten the time period corrupt data may be read from filename.

       Exec commands
              Ask  vgrabbj to launch an external program. May be used to pass the picture through ImageMagick or
              others filters. The first '%s' instance in the command line will be  replaced  with  filename.  If
              UseTmpOut is On, commands will be run before the file is renamed.

       ForcePalette palette
              Force  the  usage  of  the specified palette. If palette is not supported by either vgrabbj or the
              v4l-device, fallback to a palette supported by both is  provided.  If  no  common  denominator  is
              available,  vgrabbj  exits.  Supported palettes are marked with * below. Possible values are (copy
              from videodev.h):

               1  VIDEO_PALETTE_GREY      Linear greyscale
               2  VIDEO_PALETTE_HI240     High 240 cube (BT848)
               3  VIDEO_PALETTE_RGB565    565 16 bit RGB
               4 *VIDEO_PALETTE_RGB24     24bit RGB
               5 *VIDEO_PALETTE_RGB32     32bit RGB
               6  VIDEO_PALETTE_RGB555    555 15bit RGB
               7 *VIDEO_PALETTE_YUV422    YUV422 capture
               8 *VIDEO_PALETTE_YUYV
               9 *VIDEO_PALETTE_UYVY
               10*VIDEO_PALETTE_YUV420
               10 VIDEO_PALETTE_YUV411    YUV411 capture
               11 VIDEO_PALETTE_RAW       RAW capture (BT848)
               12 VIDEO_PALETTE_YUV422P   YUV 4:2:2 Planar
               13 VIDEO_PALETTE_YUV411P   YUV 4:1:1 Planar
               14*VIDEO_PALETTE_YUV420P   YUV 4:2:0 Planar
               15 VIDEO_PALETTE_YUV410P   YUV 4:1:0 Planar
               16 VIDEO_PALETTE_PLANAR
               17 VIDEO_PALETTE_COMPONENT

              (no default, depends on v4l-device).

       DiscardFrames value
              value images are grabbed and immediately discarded. Only the last image is written to the  output.
              This  might  be  helpful if your v4l-device needs to take a couple of images to auto-adjust to the
              current light.

ARCHIVE OPTIONS

       The following options are useful if you want to keep a certain amount of images in an archive. Currently,
       the archive is only supported if kept on the same filesystem as the images taken.

       Archive <archive-filename-pattern>
              The  archive-filename-pattern is evaluated as a timestring, hence the same applies as to TimeStamp
              (see below, default: /tmp/arch/cam-%Y-%d-%m-%H-%M-%S.jpg)

       ArchiveEach <value>
              Defines how many images have to be taken before a copy is made for the archive. E.g. if defined 1,
              each image is put in the archive; if defined 5 every fifth image is put in the archive.

       ArchiveMax <value>
              Sets the maximum number of images to be put in the archive.

TIMESTAMP OPTIONS

       The following options are available only if vgrabbj was compiled with the freetype library available. The
       timestamp will only be enabled if all values evaluated (including defaults) lead to a valid configuration
       and UseTimestamp is set to On.

       UseTimestamp On|Off
              This  is  the  essential  setting to enable timestamps if defined in the config file. Without this
              being set to On, it just won't work (although, if  there  are  options  set  to  have  an  invalid
              configuration, it won't work either).  This is different to the handling on the commandline.

       FontFile filename
              The      TrueType      font      to      be      used      for      the     timestamp     (default
              /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/TrueType/Arialn.ttf).

       FontSize size
              Set the fontsize to size for timestamp (3-100, default: 12).

       TimeStamp format-str
              Defines the timestamp. format-str can be plain text or  any  strftime  format.  Any  '""'  at  the
              beginning  or  the  end  will be eliminated for compatibility reasons, i.e. they are not necessary
              (default: "%a, %e.  %B %Y - %T" - see strftime(3) for details).

       Position value
              Alignment of the timestamp in the image. Possible value:

              ul = upper left,    ur = upper right,
              ll = lower left,    lr = lower right,
              uc = upper center,  lc = lower center

              (default: upper right). You can use either the short or the long version.

       Blend value
              Defines the blend between font background and image (1-100, default: 60).

       BorderSize value
              value pixels will be used as border around the timestamp string (1-255, default: 2).

FTP OPTIONS

       There are no options for ftp-upload on the command line. This is due to the need to  provide  a  password
       which would be visible via the ps(1) command.

       EnableFtp On|Off
              Ftp-Connection  will  only  be  opened  if  set to On. Be aware that this might bring up a dial-up
              connection. See also KeepAlive. (default: Off)

       RemoteHost hostname
              Host to which a ftp-connection will be established everytime an image has been written (see  also:
              Daemon, DaemonSeconds, KeepAlive, default: camimage.jpg).

       RemoteDir path
              The path consists of the full path on the remote host defined by RemoteHost (default: /).

       RemoteImageName filename
              The  filename  consists  of  the  full  path and filename on the remote host defined by RemoteHost
              (default: foo.bar.com).

       Username username
              The name of the user to log on the remote ftp-server (default: foo).

       Password password
              The password of the user to log on the remote  ftp-server  (default:  bar).  Be  aware,  that  the
              password is kept unencrypted in memory, it might be read by others.

       KeepAlive On|Off
              If  set  to On, the connection will be kept. This will cause a dial-up line to be up all the time,
              which in turn may cost a lot of money! If set to Off, the connection will be established after  an
              image  was  written to the OutputFile. After transmission, the ftp-connection will be ended.  This
              may also result in phone charges, for which Author takes no responsibility. See License.

       Passive On|Off
              If set to On, passive ftp will be used. This can help connecting to ftp servers from the inside of
              a NAT-ed network.

       TryHarder On|Off
              Not implemented, yet.

HARDWARE SETTINGS

       With  the  following  options  you may alter the settings of your hardware (the cam), if supported by the
       cam. Be aware, this might break your hardware, as there are no checks if the values supplied  are  valid,
       allowed, or supported!

       -W <value>
              Whiteness definition.

       -r <value>
              Color definition.

       -x <value>
              Contrast definition.

       -b <value>
              Brightness definition.

       -u <value>
              Hue definition.

BUGS

       At  my  own  machine running vgrabbj, the %F in a Archive-Filename causes memory corruption.  This is not
       validated by any other machine. No further bugs are known at this time.

SEE ALSO

       vgrabbj(1), strftime(3), ps(1)

AUTHOR

       This manual page was  originally  written  by  Michael  Janssen  <janssen@cns.uni.edu>,  for  the  Debian
       GNU/Linux system and enhanced by Jens Gecius <devel@gecius.de>.

                                               February  24, 2002                                VGRABBJ.CONF(5)