Auto-Archive Feature

[randuhmm]

I am interested in implementing a new feature to automatically "archive" files that are older than a specified number of days. I would like to have a scheduled task to move these files to an "archive" directory, which will really be a remote file system, to save space on my Pi file system. Thanks to user @roberttidey for pointing out that this functionality can be easily added by augmenting the existing "purge" functionality (#260).

I would also like to allow the browsing of these files, using the preview.php code. I have evaluated using the preview.php file to collect both files in the "media" directory as well as the "archive" directory, but the extensive use of the MEDIA define seems to create a problem there. It will likely require some overhaul on the preview.php page to get this working.

Here's an overview of what I am proposing for a feature-add:

1. Augment the "purge" feature from the schedule.php script to allow for "moving" of files rather than only "deleting".
2. Allow the preview.php script to browse both the "media" directory and the "archive" directory. This may require the preview.php script to check for and read the settings JSON file to locate the correct archive directory.
3. The destination "archive" directory shall be configurable in the schedule.php script.
4. The preview.php page should have functionality to manually "archive" a file. (stretch goal)
5. The preview.php page should have toggle button to show or hide files from the "archive" in addition to the "media" location. (stretch goal)

So far, these are the primary features I have in mind, but I don't see this really being too difficult to implement in a week or two. PHP is no longer my primary language, but I am sure I can get familiar with it again to implement this feature.

Comments and/or questions are welcome and much appreciated!

[roberttidey]

Sounds good.

I could probably help a bit on this one. E.g. changing the scheduler side

[chadhutchins182]

@randuhmm So this never got merged? Has anyone wrote code that can be used now?

[randuhmm]

@chadhutchins182 - Wow this is a feature I totally forgot about. I just checked my fork and it looks like I made some adjustments to the UI in the www/schedule.php file back in 2017. I only see one commit and it just seems to make some adjustments to the "Purge" functionality to enable the ability to archive rather than delete:

https://github.com/randuhmm/RPi_Cam_Web_Interface/commit/87c571de1a5e8fb6182d120306951b8fb745a495

I don't know how much more work is needed here to enable this feature, but I assume that the destination folder must be configurable and the logic for copy & delete (or just move) must be implemented.

[chadhutchins182]

@randuhmm Is this the same/related as the #260 PR?

[randuhmm]

@randuhmm Is this the same/related as the #260 PR?

Yes, #260 doesn't actually implement the feature per se. It looks like it's adding a new isolated preview.php file for testing purposes. Ultimately, the application logic is unchanged from that PR. The work I was doing was to modify the schedule.php file which is responsible for the purge settings and functionality.

I may be able to pull the latest changes to my branch and drop it on a device for testing sometime this week. Or you are welcome to take ownership of the feature if you are interested in working on it.

[chadhutchins182]

I was just trying to implement project itself but I'll take a look at your branch after I get it working first and see what I can do