Config Settings - BAChapin/PiCamLapse GitHub Wiki

With this page we will go over all of the individual settings within the config.json file. This section will be broken up into each section within the JSON.

Root

pi_identifier: String; If you intend to have multiple PiCamLapse instances running, using all of the given features of backing the image up, posting it to Twitter, and sending email reports. You can use whatever identifier you would like, I have chosen to give mine a simple name with a numeric value to identify each one.

base_path: String; Ideally you wouldn't change this setting, though you can. This will effect many functions, and may cause unexpected issues down the line. If you do change this setting make sure that the project (this project) resides there.

latitude: Double; This is your Pi's latitude, I acquired mine from Google Maps. This setting will be set within the metadata of your photo (so if you are particular about your images like I am, it will show up on a map within Apple Photos and other similar services). This is also used for finding the temperature, and solar noon time each day.

longitude: Double; This is your Pi's longitude, I acquired mine from Google Maps. This setting will be set within the metadata of your photo (so if you are particular about your images like I am, it will show up on a map within Apple Photos and other similar services). This is also used for finding the temperature, and solar noon time each day.

font_size: Integer; This will be the font size for the text caption on your photos. Two captions are added, one that indicates the time the photo was taken, and the other indicates the temperature when the photo was taken.

font_path: String; This setting points to a font that I've provided within the resources folder within the project. Feel free to change this and point to any other font's location.

overwrite: Bool; If you change this setting to false, the program will make a new photo with the caption will preserving the original image.

SFTP Settings

enabled: Bool; If you have, or have access to a SFTP server, you can enable this setting to use it as a backup option. Note: I have a personal local server that I use, it is running on Ubuntu Server 18.04.4 LTS. So if your system is different, behaviors might vary. The images will be backed up to the root directory of the user credentials you provide.

host_address: String; This will be either the IP address or URL address that your SFTP server is hosted at.

username: String; This is the username credential for your SFTP server. This is also how the program will determine where to save your photo backups.

password: String; This is the password credential for your SFTP server. Unfortunately this is a plain text, so make sure that you trust whoever may have access to this file or the account on your Raspberry Pi running this program.

Dropbox Settings

enabled: Bool; This will enable or disable the backup of your photos to your Dropbox account.

access_token: String; In order to use Dropbox as a backup option you must create an app (check the Dropbox setup section for instructions) in order to achieve this. This will be where you will store the access token you will acquire when you create your Dropbox app.

Google Drive Settings

enabled: Bool; This will enable or disable the backup of your photos to your Google account. Note: Further setup is required if you want to use this option. You will have to create a Google app (check the Google Setup section for instructions) in order to achieve this.

parent_id: String; DO NOT EDIT THIS! This setting will be changed by the program itself, if it is not an empty string on initial run it will cause issues and possibly crash.

current_path: Dictionary; DO NOT EDIT THIS! This setting will be changed by the program itself, if this is not an empty dictionary on initial run it will cause issues and possibly crash.

Open Weather Map (OWM) Settings

api_key: String; In order to access the OWM api you must have an api key (refer to the section on setting up your OWM). This setting will allow the program to pull down the current temperature when taking the photo. The temperature that is acquired is used in the caption of the photo, the daily log, and the daily report.

Twitter Settings

enabled: Bool; This will enable or disable posting your daily photos to your Twitter account. Note: Further setup is required if you want to use this option. You will have to create a Twitter app (check the Twitter Setup section for instructions) in order to achieve this.

api_key: String; If you follow the Twitter Setup section, it will show you how to acquire this data.

api_secret: String; If you follow the Twitter Setup section, it will show you how to acquire this data.

access_token: String; If you follow the Twitter Setup section, it will show you how to acquire this data.

access_token_secret: String; If you follow the Twitter Setup section, it will show you how to acquire this data.

Report Email Settings

server: String; If you are using Gmail to send your email reports, DO NOT CHANGE THIS SETTING. Otherwise, research what your email service's URL is. PiCamLapse utilizes SMTP technology, so your email service must support this in order for this program to work with it. Note: I created a custom Gmail account to handle all my daily reports, this isn't a must but it helps keep your outbox clean on your primary account.

port: Integer; If you are using Gmail to send your email reports, DO NOT CHANGE THIS SETTING. Otherwise, research your email service's SMTP port number.

email: String; This is the email you are choosing to use to SEND your daily report.

password: String; This is the password to the email account you've chosen to use to SEND your daily report. Unfortunately this is a plain text, so make sure that you trust whoever may have access to this file or the account on your Raspberry Pi running this program.

recipients: Array[String]; You may use this array to send the current instance's daily report to who ever you choose. Keep in mind, any email address you put in this array will receive a daily report every time a photo is taken.