Need help creating a taskbar bash script, which saves clipboard image to PNG to a specific folder

General Help
1

I asked Google bard A.I. & Chatgpt4 to help me do this. I almost succeeded, but the script no matter how many times I ask A.I. to improve it, It will only save the file as ".png" without even a single character file name.

My goal is to make a taskbar icon/one click button that executes a script that converts the image copied into the clipboard into PNG, saving it always as a PNG image file, and also give it a random filename ranging from 10 to 12 characters/letters or numbers. And to double check & make sure no other file in that folder has the same file name. Thats it!

Here is the script I have so far, what is wrong with it? -Thanks!

#!/usr/bin/env bash

while true; do
  # Generate a random filename with 10-12 characters, ensuring at least one character
  filename=$(head /dev/urandom | tr -dc A-Za-z0-9 | head -c 10-12).png

  # Check if the file exists
  if [[ ! -f "/home/user/Downloads/$filename" ]]; then
    # File doesn't exist, proceed to save
    xclip -selection clipboard -t image/png -o - | convert - png:/home/user/Downloads/"$filename"
    break
  fi
done
2

See if this helps, please note python is now python3:

2 Likes
3

Assuming it's for taking screenshots:
gnome-screenshot --file={path and name of file}

Also try:
xclip -selection clipboard -t image/png -o > /{path to file}/{file name}.png

4

You have the convert command following your pipe, I recommend adding the -set command and using *.png

5

@swarfendor437 , @Mr_Magoo , @Aravisian ,

Instead of trying bash, I gave google bard A.I., swarfendor's github link and asked it to create a python script instead of a bash script. I then created a desktop icon for it. And it works perfect! For some reason google bard & chatgpt4 are better at making python scripts than bash. Also the bash script that A.I. was making wouldnt ever kill its own task & was unknowingly running in my background & feedback looping itself? and causing my CPU to run & stay at 95%. LoL.
image

---Also thanks to @Mr_Magoo , & @Aravisian for the advice also, but i figured out the python solution before you guys replied.

Here is the python script that A.I. made for me that works great:

import os
import random
import string
from PIL import ImageGrab

def generate_random_filename(length):
letters_and_digits = string.ascii_letters + string.digits
return ''.join(random.choice(letters_and_digits) for _ in range(length)) + ".png"

def save_clipboard_image_to_png(save_path):
image = ImageGrab.grabclipboard()
if image:
while True:
filename = generate_random_filename(random.randint(10, 12))
file_path = os.path.join(save_path, filename)
if not os.path.exists(file_path):
image.save(file_path)
print(f"Image saved to {file_path}")
break
else:
print("No image found in clipboard.")

save_path = "/home/user/Downloads" # Replace with your desired save path
save_clipboard_image_to_png(save_path)

2 Likes
7

Thanks! thats great advice! never thought about it.

8

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