Collection file format

A collection is a UTF-8 text file with the .gqv extension. Scripts can generate collections directly using the same format as files saved by Geeqie. A minimal example is:

#Geeqie collection
"/home/user/Pictures/first.jpg"
"/home/user/Pictures/Family holiday/second.jpg"
#end

Write one image path per line, enclosed in ordinary double quotation marks. Spaces inside a quoted path are preserved. The #created with Geeqie version and #geometry: comments found in collections saved by Geeqie are optional; scripts do not need to generate them.

Use absolute paths, or relative paths beginning with ./ or ../. Relative paths are resolved against the folder containing the collection file, not the terminal's working directory. For example, a collection stored in /home/user/Pictures/example.gqv can contain:

#Geeqie collection
"./first.jpg"
"./Family holiday/second.jpg"
"../Scans/third.jpg"
#end

Geeqie recognizes these relative paths and retains relative-path storage when the collection is saved. See Collections for the Save As option controlling relative paths.

Paths are literal: shell expressions such as ~, $HOME, and wildcards are not expanded. A script must expand them before writing the file. Backslashes are not an escape mechanism, and filenames containing double quotation marks cannot be represented reliably by this format.

The collection may be stored outside Geeqie's collections folder. Open it using File ▸ Open collection..., or supply its path on the command line:

geeqie /home/user/Pictures/example.gqv

It is possible to include informational text along with an image. The format is:

      #Geeqie collection
      #i Some informational text for the following file
      "<filepath1>"
      #end
    

This text can be displayed from the files pane when viewing a Collections.

To add or edit this text in Geeqie, display the collection in the files pane and select Edit info text from the Info text submenu of a file's context menu. The text is stored when the collection is saved.