A python script that screencaps reddit comment threads. BECAUSE WHY READ A BOOK WHEN YOU'RE OFFLINE??

local_reddit.py

"""
USAGE:
    You need xvfb, python(2), praw and CutyCapt (see below). Simply run this as
    a normal python script: `python local_reddit.py`
CUSTOMIZATION:
    * change number of screencaps in main() (10 by deafault)
    * change queried subreddits in main()
        (query multiple reddits: "askreddit+writingprompts")
    * get_top() submissions from day/week instead of hot ones (get_hot())
TIME:
    The script takes about one minute per capture -- this varies strongly
    by site size -- I dled some 'hot' askreddit threads and some took 10,
    others 100 seconds.
IMPROVE TIME TAKEN:
    * Save as jpg instead of png. This takes about half a minute each, SO
        YOU HAVE MORE TIME TO READ /r/masochism ??
"""
import shlex
import subprocess
import logging
import datetime

import praw
"""also you need this script to be in a folder with CutyCapt.
    or install it properly and change the capture() function below.
    see http://cutycapt.sourceforge.net/ for install guide."""

# -------- end imports ---------

def capture(url="http://www.reddit.com", out="default.png"):
    """From StackOverflow: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/10158864/
    running-xvfb-and-cutycapt-as-python-subprocess"""
    cmd = '''xvfb-run --server-args "-screen 0, 500x800x24"
             ./CutyCapt --url={u} --out={o} '''.format(u=url, o=out)
    proc = subprocess.Popen(shlex.split(cmd))
    proc.communicate()

def look_at_threads(r, subreddits="AskReddit", limit=10):
    i = 0
    logging.debug("Getting "+str(limit)+" captures from "+subreddits+".")
    for submission in r.get_subreddit(subreddits).get_hot(limit=limit):
        capture(submission.url, "'"+str(datetime.datetime.now())+".png"+"'")
        #capture(submission.url, str(i)+".png")
        i += 1
        logging.debug("Attempted "+str(i)+" total captures.")

def main():
    logging.basicConfig(format='%(levelname)s:%(message)s', level=logging.DEBUG)
    r = praw.Reddit("local_reddit.py reddit comments capturer by /u/xjcl")
    look_at_threads(r, subreddits="AskReddit", limit=10)
    logging.shutdown()

if __name__=="__main__":
    main()