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bydate

Sorts files into folders, by date, using embedded or filesystem metadata.

Example

You type this:

bydate move src_dir dest_dir

This happens:

[1/3] src_dir/subdir1/IMG_0213.JPG -> dest_dir/2017/01/02/IMG_0213.JPG
[2/3] src_dir/subdir2/IMG_0215.JPG -> dest_dir/2017/01/08/IMG_0215.JPG
[3/3] src_dir/subdir3/Video112.mov -> dest_dir/2017/02/10/Video112.mov

Usage

Copy or move file(s) based on date:

bydate copy|move SOURCE_DIR_OR_FILE DEST_DIR

Just show where file(s) would be copied or moved to:

bydate show SOURCE_DIR_OR_FILE DEST_DIR

How it works

  • Source file(s) will be copied or moved into the destination, beneath a folder based on the year, month, and day of the file. For example, files whose date is Jan 1st 2017 will be copied or moved into dest_dir/2017/01/01/
  • To determine the authoritative date of the file, the metadata inside the file is examined first. If it has EXIF metadata, that will be used. Otherwise, the filesystem date (mtime) will be used.
  • After copying or moving it, the filesystem date will be set on the destination file according to the authoritative date as determined above.
  • Files will never be overwritten; if the destination file already exists, the source file will be left in place and the destination won't be touched.

Installation

Make sure you have the dependencies:

  • You must have bash version 4 or greater.
  • exiftool must be in your PATH
  • jq must be in your path

On macos, these can all be installed via brew. On other OSes, you probably already have a new enough version of bash, and the other dependencies are pretty straightforward to install manually if your usual package repository doesn't have them.

Then you can put this script somewhere easy to execute, like /usr/local/bin/bydate, and make sure it's executable and in your PATH.

Wishlist

  • Improve speed by sending batches of files to exiftool, rather than one at a time.
  • Leverage the built-in renaming/moving file support in exiftool: https://www.sno.phy.queensu.ca/~phil/exiftool/filename.html
  • For each file, show whether EXIF or filesystem metadata was used to determine the date.

History

  • 2019-04-17

    • Switched main script from ruby to bash, simplifying deployment.
    • Now using exiftool for broader EXIF awareness (MOV, HEIC, etc.) This version is noticeably slower due to every file being examined by exiftool.

  • 2017-02-12

    • Original version, required ruby
    • Only supported EXIF metadata on JPEG files