webcam  -  capture  images  and upload them to a webserver
       using ftp


SYNOPSIS

       webcam [ config file ]


DESCRIPTION

       webcam captures images  from  a  video4linux  device  like
       bttv,  annotates  them and and uploads them to a webserver
       using ftp in a endless loop.


CONFIGURATION

       At startup webcam reads the configuration from  the  given
       config  file  or  ~/.webcamrc  if none is specified in the
       command line.  It looks like this (the  given  values  are
       the defaults):

       [ftp]
       host = www
       user = webcam
       pass = xxxxxx
       dir  = public_html/images
       file = webcam.jpeg
       tmp  = uploading.jpeg
       passive = 1
       debug = 0
       auto = 0
       local= 0

       [grab]
       device = /dev/video0
       text = "webcam %Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S"
       infofile = filename
       width = 320
       height = 240
       delay = 3
       input = composite1
       norm = pal
       rotate = 0
       top = 0
       left = 0
       bottom = -1
       right = -1
       quality = 75
       trigger = 0
       once = 0

       The annotation text is processed with strftime.  Check the
       strftime(3) or date(1) manpage to see how you  can  format
       the  timestamps.   The text can also be read from a extern
       file (use infofile for that).  input is the  video  source
       (TV/composite/whatever),  norm  the TV norm.  delay is the
       delay between two images in seconds.  quality is the  JPEG


       If  debug in the ftp section is set to 1 the complete com­
       munication between webcam and the ftp utility  is  printed
       to  stderr.   auto  enables autologin via ~/.netrc (starts
       the ftp utility without the '-n' switch).  If local in the
       ftp  section  is  non-zero,  files  will be stored locally
       (using the dir, tmp,  and  file  parameters)  rather  than
       ftped.

       top,  bottom,  left,  and  right in the grab section allow
       cropping the image after it is grabbed.  They should  sat­
       isfy 0<=top<bottom<=height and 0<=left<right<=width.  (0,0
       is the top, left corner.)  If rotate is positive, the out­
       put  image  will  be  rotated counter-clockwise 90 degrees
       that number of times (1, 2, or 3).

       With trigger set to a non-zero value  webcam  will  upload
       the  image  only  if the content of the image has changed.
       It just looks for the maximum difference between the  last
       uploaded  and  current image and if it is greater than the
       specified value the image will be uploaded.   If  once  is
       set to 1 webcam will upload a single frame and quit.

       archive  can  be  used  to create a (local) archive of the
       webcam images.  Just specify a the filename for the  files
       as  argument.   The  filename will be processed with strf­
       time(3), so you can use the place the  usual  time  format
       controls into the string to get unique filenames.


AUTHOR

       Gerd Knorr <kraxel@bytesex.org>


COPYRIGHT

       Copyright (C) 1997-2001 Gerd Knorr
       This  program  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.


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