I'm in the processess of a rework/simplification of this project. I'm planning to have the newer, simpler version posted here within a week (after some testing, of course). All content of the readme and faq is also subject to change.
e621dl is an automated downloader for e621.net. It can be used to create a local mirror of your favorite searches, and to keep these searches up to date efficiently as new files are uploaded.
Put very simply, when e621dl starts, it determines:
config.txt)Once it knows these two things, it goes through the searches one by one, and downloads only anything uploaded since the last time it was run.
There are two methods to install and run e621dl, using Python, or (Windows only) as a standalone executable.
The standard method works on all platforms. Simply download this repository and run e621dl.py.
This method does not require a Python installation, but only works in Windows.*
C:\Program Files (x86)\e621dl\. *: This has been tested only in Windows 7. Users encountering any trouble should try the Python method.
How you run e621dl depends on which of the above installation methods you selected:
e621dl.py
python e621dl.py if python is not in your path. e621dl.py. You must run it from the command line. Run_e621dl_In_Windows.bat
e621dl.exe. It will open, and then close instantly. The first time you run e621dl, you should see something like:
e621dl INFO running e621dl version 2.3.7
configfile ERROR new default file created: config.txt
configfile ERROR verify this file and re-run the program
tagfile ERROR new default file created: tags.txt
tagfile ERROR add to this file and re-run the program
e621dl ERROR error(s) encountered during initialization, see aboveIt's not as bad as it looks. e621dl is telling you that it couldn't find config or tags files, so it created them. This is totally normal behavior.
You must add at least one search you would like to perform to the tags file, so go ahead and open it and...
Suprise! There are already instructions on how to do this inside the file!
Most users will not need to modify the config file, config.txt, but feel free to look at it and see what the adjustable settings are. However, please read How Do Config File to learn more about e621dl's settings BEFORE you change any of them.
Once you have added to the tags file, you should see something like this when you run e621dl:
e621dl INFO running e621dl version X.X.X
e621dl INFO e621dl was last run on 2014-06-25
e621dl INFO 7 new uploads tagged: shark
e621dl INFO 3 total (+3 new, 4 existing, 0 cached)
e621dl INFO starting download of 3 files
Downloading: [###################################] 100.00% Done...
e621dl INFO successfully downloaded 3 files
e621dl INFO last run updated to 2014-06-25There's actually quite a bit of information here. Since last time e621dl was run (2014-06-25) there have been 7 uploads that match the search "shark". 4 of these have been downloaded previously, so they will be skipped. But 3 are new, and they are downloaded. Once they have been downloaded, e621dl updates its last run date to today (2014-06-26).
Savvy users should realize at this point that they could simply schedule e621dl to run nightly in the wee hours of the morning, and their local collection will always be up-to-date... However, how you do this is completely dependent on your platform and outside the scope of this guide.
Please see the FAQ for solutions to common problems
If you have any ideas for how things might work better, or about features you'd like to see in the future, please send an email to wwyaiykycnf+features@gmail.com. I read every single email, so even if you think your idea is off-the-wall, please let me know and I'll see what I can do.
If you've benefitted from this free project, why not buy me something on Amazon? There's tons of cheap bullshit on there I would totally get a kick out of owning.
Alternatively, drop me an email and say thanks. Your support (monetary or not) provides me the motivation to keep fixing bugs and adding new features, so thanks for thinking of me!