Using Gallery to select an image

[Peter Howells]

Hi.

Is it possible to use the Gallery on my Nexus 7 to select an image? If so, can someone point me at an example of how it's done. Thanks.

[Richard Davis]

If you mean select a image with the gallery then use this in tasker then I would recommend 'Auto Share'  it is a plug in on the play store. It allows you to use the android share feature for this...

Rich...

[Peter Howells]

Thanks.

What I really want to do is to open Gallery (preferably on a single specified folder) from within a Tasker task, click on an image there, and get the name of that file back to the Tasker task.

[Richard Davis]

>> What I really want to do is to open Gallery (preferably on a single specified folder) from within a Tasker task

That might be tricky.. on my device if I have the gallery ( it is called 'view picture' ) selected as the default and open the picture with tasker 'open file' action it will only open the one picture.  You might be able to do it with an intent but I would highly recommend just using quick pics as your viewer.  You can then start quick picks from tasker and put the folder info into the data section and it will open the folder. It is a far better app than any gallery app i have seen...

, click on an image there, and get the name of that file back to the Tasker task.

Use the share for this...

Rich...

[Richard Davis]

Peter, I have spent a considerable amount of time working with pictures and tasker while making my camera folders app.  I have been able to do exactly what you posted about ( using quick pics ) so please feel free to ask for any more help.. I would be very interested in knowing how it works out for you because there is one thing I still have not been able to figure out.

I have found 2 ways to view pictures with tasker

1. Use the 'open file' action with the file path  of the picture
This will use which ever picture viewer you have selected as the default  or if no default has been selected it will open the open with menu. As stated above if I use the picture viewer (view pictures ) that came on my device ( I am using gingerbread) this will only open that single picture for viewing.  If I select Quick Picks to open the picture it seems to open it with a stripped down version of Quick Picks. If you swipe side to side you can view other pictures. in the same folder however you do not have all the options that come with the Quick Pick application.

2. Use the 'load app' action.  And put the file path of the folder you want to open in the data section. On my device if you select the gallery app ( my gallery) it does not seem to take any data in the data field and just open the application ( this might work differently on different android versions) however quick pics will open the folder specified in the data field.

No matter which method I use (or which viewer i use) it will work fine  as long there is not a long time interval between opening the pics. If there is a long time interval (usually several hours or days) for some strange reason the picture (or folder) that gets opened is the LAST picture or folder that was opened NOT the one that you are currently trying to open.

My theory is that in this time Android kills the app or kills something else that causes this behavior .. 

The strange thing is that this does not happen when opening pictures with a standard file browser ( it opens the correct one Every time) so it seems to be tasker related.  I would imagine tasker opens these apps in the same manor that a file browser would but I really have no clue...

I would be very interested if you notice the same behavior .....

Thanks,    Rich..

[Richard Davis]

BTW.. I I did come up with a work around for the above behavior if you need it..

Rich.....

[Peter Howells]

Thanks, Rich – you've given me plenty to go with.

I'm still left with the nagging feeling that if I can select an image (for a task icon, for example) using Gallery while working in Tasker, the mechanism should already be there for me to use within a task to select an image for my own purposes.

[Richard Davis]

> I'm still left with the nagging feeling that if I can select an image (for a task icon, for example) using Gallery

Interesting point,  I actually never used the 'local media' option till just now. I see your point but I think it would take Pent making this a available action to get it done. You could post a feature request. But Pent seems a little busy at the moment and I think the feature might be a ways down on the to do list.....

Or perhaps the file path for the image you select for a task icon is stored in a tasker file that can be accessed ....

Rich...

[Peter Howells]

I suspect an "intent" is involved, as in "I wanna select an image". But Reading Android documentation when you're working at Tasker levels doesn't seem to help. And as you say, Pent is taking a (presumably) well-deserved holiday :)

I don't suppose he'll be back for a while, and I suspect he'll mark all the posts here "as read" when he is, so I'll ask again later.

But as I said, you've given me plenty to go with (and thanks again for that), and I guess working out an image selection scene, if your suggestions don't work out for me, will be a useful learning exercise.

[Richard Davis]

> I suspect an "intent" is involved, as in "I wanna select an image". But Reading Android documentation when you're working at Tasker levels doesn't seem to help.

Could you tell me what you learned  about the intent and tasker? I have been able to send a intent and open the picker and then open  the gallery but I can not figure out how to get the selected info back with tasker..

Thanks, Rich...  

[Richard Davis]

I am not sure if you are aware of this but I did find out that using the intent method you will only be able to select one item.  I always wondered why no app would let me multi select pics when attaching them to email... now I know.... it can't be done..

Rich....