pyexiv2
*******

Welcome to pyexiv2, a Python binding to the excellent C++ library Exiv2
(http://www.exiv2.org/).

Point your browser to http://exiv2.org/metadata.html for the complete metadata
tag reference.


Dependencies
============

pyexiv2 depends on the following libraries:

    * boost.python (http://www.boost.org/libs/python/doc/index.html)
    * exiv2 (http://www.exiv2.org/)

Of course it needs a Python interpreter to run.

Optionally, you can use pygtk or pyqt to easily take advantage of the thumbnail
manipulation methods proposed by pyexiv2 to display those thumbnails.


Building and installing
=======================

You will need scons (http://www.scons.org/) to build and install the library.
To do so, while in the top-level directory (e.g. '/home/johndoe/dev/pyexiv2',
which should contain a file named 'SConstruct'), run the following commands:

    $ scons
    $ scons install # as administrator, e.g. `sudo scons install`

The result of the build is a dynamic library, libpyexiv2.so, that is a Python
module called libpyexiv2. This module is a low-level binding. It is in turn used
in a higher level module, pyexiv2.
The install command installs the two modules in your site-specific directory for
Python modules (e.g. '/usr/lib/python2.4/' under Linux).

To use pyexiv2 in your scripts, simply include the following line:

    import pyexiv2

It provides a single class, pyexiv2.Image, with all convenient methods for the
manipulation of EXIF and IPTC metadata.


Documentation
=============

Please refer to the internal documentation for a guide on how to use pyexiv2.
In a python interpreter, type:

    >>> import pyexiv2
    >>> help(pyexiv2)

Alternatively, you can generate HTML documentation using python's built-in
module, pydoc:

    $ cd doc/
    $ pydoc -w ../src/pyexiv2.py

Or using the more complete tool epydoc (http://epydoc.sourceforge.net/):

    $ epydoc --html -o doc src/pyexiv2.py


License
=======

Copyright (C) 2006-2008 Olivier Tilloy <olivier@tilloy.net>

pyexiv2 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; either version 2 of the License, or (at your
option) any later version.

pyexiv2 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 pyexiv2; if not, write to the Free Software
Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, 5th Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.


Developers
==========

pyexiv2 is free software, meaning that you are encouraged to play with it,
modify it to suit your needs and contribute.

The bug tracking system and the main bazaar branch mirror are hosted at
Launchpad:

    https://launchpad.net/pyexiv2

To checkout the latest version of the code, you need to have bazaar installed
(http://bazaar-vcs.org/):

    $ mkdir dev && cd dev/
    $ bzr co http://tilloy.net/branches/pyexiv2

Feedback, bug reports and patches are welcome!