Labelling

[KarenRei]

This thread is at the request of dongeorgio. 

So everyone has their own system for labelling plants. My old system was... well, rather haphazard, and proved to be ineffective. I also often found that when I was showing people plants, they wanted to go at their own pace and learn more about the plants rather than have to ask, "What's that?" "And whats that?"  "And that?"... etc.  So I decided to upgrade.







All of the info about the plants except for the pictures are stored in a database, which is outputted as a CSV (Comma-Separate Values) file. This means names, scientific groupings, descriptions, and on and on, as well as records for each plant or group of plants, sorted by year of acquisition. There's also a "print" field for how many new labels of each type I want to print and of what size and for which plants (including year of acquisition).

A script I wrote builds up the front and backs of each label. For small labels, which are basically like little flags mounted in paperclips, it's simply the common name and scientific name, with the font adjusted to maximize readability. For big labels, the backside is created with a montage generator. For each species I have, I collected seven images, six of which go on the back: a young version of the plant, a mature version of the plant, a leaf closeup, a flower closeup, the fruit on the tree, and the edible portion of the plant prepared for eating (or similar). The seventh image is a scientific illustration and goes on the front. The script prints the front out as HTML and then runs an HTML-to-image conversion program.

The small labels are simply staked into the soil with their paperclips. The larger labels are trimmed and inserted into clear plastic name badge holders. These are then staked into the soil with disposable plastic knives (they look like plastic stakes above the surface, and they're cheap and readily available).

[MarinFla]

Nice system

[dongeorgio]

Too cool!  You say you wrote a script for it?  Any chance to make that available for trade/sale?  I would love to do that for my plants but, sadly, I am about as good at computers as I am at grafting (which is terrible)


Do you think the plastic holders you put the labels in is weather proof?

[KarenRei]

Too cool!  You say you wrote a script for it?  Any chance to make that available for trade/sale?  I would love to do that for my plants but, sadly, I am about as good at computers as I am at grafting (which is terrible)


Do you think the plastic holders you put the labels in is weather proof?

I'd be glad to make it available - but do you have a Linux computer to run it on?

The holders are completely sealed on three sides, open on the bottom (but they close well). Time will tell how well they keep the water out. 

[plantlover13]

Too cool!  You say you wrote a script for it?  Any chance to make that available for trade/sale?  I would love to do that for my plants but, sadly, I am about as good at computers as I am at grafting (which is terrible)


Do you think the plastic holders you put the labels in is weather proof?

I'd be glad to make it available - but do you have a Linux computer to run it on?

The holders are completely sealed on three sides, open on the bottom (but they close well). Time will tell how well they keep the water out. 

You could always use a VM if you don't have linux.

[dongeorgio]

I have to plead ignorance here.  Would an apple be a linux computer and what is VM?

[plantlover13]

I have to plead ignorance here.  Would an apple be a linux computer and what is VM?

Linux is an Operating System that runs your computer, like windows or mac. It's not hardware, so don't worry about running out to buy a computer so that you can use Karen's program  . A VM is a virtual machine, meaning a computer inside a computer, a virtual computer with it's own operating system, ram, storage, everything, that runs as a program inside of your computer.If you don't have linux (I assume you don't,  It's not something your average joe has on his computer) then you could make a VM using a free software that runs Linux O.S. (so you don't have to get a new computer or get rid of your current O.S.) and use that whenever you want to use the program.

[dongeorgio]

I think I am going to stick with a permanent marker and plastic wrap arounds!  That seems out if my league

[plantlover13]

I think I am going to stick with a permanent marker and plastic wrap arounds!  That seems out if my league

Hey, not so fast. It's really easy, actually. If you want, i can whip up a quick tutorial. All this fancy stuff is for the developers, the users just have to install it and use it  . I'll see if i can make a little tutorial and post it in the off-topic section (don't want to change the course of this thread, it is about labelling after all, not linux  )

[dongeorgio]

Awesome!  I will give it a shot  Those labels look really cool so if I can replicate them, I would love to.

[TropicalFruitHunters]

Much nicer system than what I came up with.  Similar, but yours is more detail and I really like the picture included.  I was using a laminator for sealing my ID cards.  I was pretty good at keeping these up for a while, with some losses and more acquisitions, I just got behind.  Very nice.  Thanks for sharing.

Plantlover...look forward to your little tutorial. 

[Cookie Monster]

the newer versions of mac appear to be built on some sort of *nix kernel and have a shell, so depending on the language that ms karen wrote it in, the script may run on your mac.

windows users could use cygwin.

or if it's just a python script or something, one could find an interpreter for their os.

[plantlover13]

Done

http://tropicalfruitforum.com/index.php?topic=8221.0

[KarenRei]

Ill post it all tomorrow, it's on a different computer. 

[plantlover13]

Does the OP mind if i post a copy of the tutorial on this post? knowing how the off topic goes, the whole thing will likely be deleted soon and i spend a while on that 

[murahilin]

Does the OP mind if i post a copy of the tutorial on this post? knowing how the off topic goes, the whole thing will likely be deleted soon and i spend a while on that 

Don't tempt me.

[KarenRei]

Does the OP mind if i post a copy of the tutorial on this post? knowing how the off topic goes, the whole thing will likely be deleted soon and i spend a while on that 

Doesn't bother me. 

[plantlover13]

Does the OP mind if i post a copy of the tutorial on this post? knowing how the off topic goes, the whole thing will likely be deleted soon and i spend a while on that 

Doesn't bother me. 

Thanks. Here goes:

[plantlover13]

Hello all, this is a post about how to get a VM (virtual machine) on your computer that can run linux. I made his due to some interest in another thread involving a program that needs linux to run. Some things you should understand first:

A VM, for those who don't know, is a computer within a computer. Meaning, is is essentially separate from your computer. If a virus infects your VM, you just delete the VM and it's as if nothing happened. That's why VMs are sometimes preferred to test programs that may be questionable.

Don't give your VM too much ram, the ram he VM uses is not available to your host computer when the VM is active.

Linux is not a set in stone OS hat you go to the Linux site and download, it is a kernel that is used to develop many other Operating Systems, including Android. For this VM, we will use Ubuntu, which is considered one of the best linux based systems out there. It's also completely free.

This "tutorial" will have LOTS of pictures. so it's long. Here we go...

So i'm at my desktop. Notice I have a windows computer. SO some of the choices i make in terms of download will be different than mac users:




Open up a web browser. I like chrome.


go to virtualbox.org



Navigate to downloads:



click on the one that you need. I have windows, so i got the one for windows. If you have mac, select the proper option.


Ok, so let it download and run it. Installation will come up. just use the wizard to install. I already have it installed, so i'm not going to run through it again. It's self explanatory though, just let the wizard do all the work.

Back to google:




Go to ubuntu.com. Ubuntu is the version of linux we will be using because it is so popular.



Go to downloads:





click the Ubuntu desktop link:



IMPORTANT! MAKE SURE YOU ONLY DOWNLOAD 32 BIT! I made the mistake of downloading 64 and that did not work out well.



Click the button.




Don't worry! you don't have to pay, it's a suggested contribution. Just scroll down and click "not now."





so it will download the OS onto your computer. save it somewhere where you can readily access it.




Back to the desktop. Open up Virtual Box. let's make ourselves a VM



Notice i already have a VM made. Your screen will look different, it will say that you have no VMs yet, etc. Click "new"






A little screen will pop up. This will be the wizard that will help you create the VM.


Type in a name. Note i actually named mine "type a name here" so later on, you will see things referred to as "type your name here" because that is the actual name of this VM, not because you have to change the name there or something. Don't worry, it'll be clear in a sec.



For Type and version, chose Linux and Ubuntu


Now for memory. I hope you guys have decently new computers with a good amount of memory. You don't want to allocate so much memory that your host computer will suffer when the VM is running but your VM should have a decent amount of memory also. I have 4 gigs of ram, and i'm allocating what VB recommended, 512 mb. use your judgement here.



Now you have to create your virtual hard drive. select "create virtual now" and "dynamically allocated"




Now select how much storage you can give it. I hope all of you have modern amounts of storage with at least a good 500 gigs or so. you MUST be able to spare at least 6 gigs of space for your VMs use. if you can, 8 gigs is a good amount. This is where i said before about the name thing. the box that says "type some name here" will contain the name of your VM, no need to change it.

Hit create...


Hooray! you have a VM. That was the hard part. Now though, you have to install the OS on the vm so you can actually, you know, use it. Click on the VM. I'm going to click on the one i just created, you will have only one made.



Click on the little file picture. Navigate to where you saved your O.S. previously. Notice i have 2, one is 32 bit that i called "this one" when i was saving and the other was 62 bit. The 62 bit VM failed to word, i had to delete that one and make another one with the 32. Click on the file and hit open.







Hit start...





Almost there! Hit install.



I just checked the download updates button. If all requirements are met (they should be) then you just hit continue.





And again. Note that when it says "erase disc," it's not going to delete your hard drive.  Hit install now.





Now, the O.S. is going to be installed. As it installs, it will ask some questions such as locations and keyboard style. just answer all of these. Then you get to the screen where you name the computer and give it a password. Fill this all in.



Let it finish up...




And viola! you now have a computer within a computer!



Phew, that was long. But now you know how it's done. Just a note, you can't really send files from your computer to the VM because they are treated as different machines, i believe there is a drag and drop option you can select in the settings though. You can always download something off the internet from the VM and get it that way. Also, you can get browsers like chrome, you just have to download them and install them. You can always run the VM from virtual box. Also, when you close out of the VM, don't EVER select power down as this this is like pulling the power cable, it can cause damage. Only use that when the VM is crashing or something. Also, save state doesn't seem to work for me. I recommend always shutting down. if you save state and encounter a problem, just right click and select "discard saved state." if a VM ever needs to stop existing (e.g. you test a program that contains a virus and compromises the VM) you just right click the VM in virtual box and click "remove"  and make sure all files are removed. Problem solved.

Of course, you can also make VMs using windows Os and Mac OS as well as solaris or any other linux based OS, the options are limitless.

I hope this helped and that everyone could understand it.


Enjoy!!

[KarenRei]

As promised, here's the script. As warned, it was designed in Linux, for my needs, rather than as a general-purpose tool.  It was written in Icelandic - sorry about that.

I did it as a zip rather than a tarball to make it easier for people unfamiliar with linux.

It requires ImageMagick (for the program "montage") and wkhtmltoimage (to turn the HTML frontside into a printable image).

The list of species needs to be called "tegundir.csv" (you can open it with a spreadsheet program). There's an example included therein. You generate the images first by running "genallt.sh" and then "prenta.sh".  They're created in the directory "prentun" as "pg000.jpg", "pg001.jpg", and so forth.  It's three to a page for large images, dozens to a page for the little flag labels. To request printings, there's a field in the CSV called "Prentun". This is a comma-separated list of what you want to print. Little flag labels are type "A" and big info/picture labels are type "B". So, for example, to print 5 little flag labels with a date of 2013 and two big info labels with a date of 2012, you'd write "5Ax2013,2Bx2012".

You can also override the print settings in the CSV by running genallt with arguments. If you provide one argument, it will only print matching records matching the entries that you listed - for example:

./genallt.sh "A.muricata C.sinensis"

Would only print the records for A.muricata and C.sinensis. If you provide a second argument, it's interpreted as the print order:

./genallt.sh "A.muricata C.sinensis" "7Ax2012"

One other thing of note in the CSV file is the field "Stytting". This can be whatever you want, but it's used as the key to look up this record. So, for example, in the above genallt.sh example, "A.muricata" would have to match something in the stytting field (assumedly a record for annona muricata) while C.sinensis would likewise (assumedly Camelia sinensis). You can format your keys here however you want.

Your images used for the big info/picture labels all need to begin with your "stytting" key, followed by the following: "-ung.jpg", "-full.jpg", "-ávextir.jpg", "-matur.jpg", "-lauf.jpg", "-blóm.jpg" and "-teikning1.jpg" or "-teikning1X.jpg". The teikning entry will appear on the front side; all others will appear on the back. The intent was that -ung would be a picture of a seedling, -full a mature plant, -ávextir would be fruit on the plant, -matur would be prepared food from the plant, -lauf would be leaves, and -blóm would be flowers. However, you can use whatever images you like.

Feel free to de-Icelandify everything as needed. Everything is in gen.sh, it should be quite easy to alter text to suit your needs. Also you can change the labels in the CSV file at will, they're ignored by the generation script.

Update: Hmm, grr... can't figure out how to attach a zipfile here! Perhaps it's just my browser? I can try again from home this evening. Ideas?