Set GPS Date and Time from Image Creation Date

[PaulS]

This is related to using the Map Panel to add GPS metadata to images.  IMatch presently populates the GPS Date and Time from the current date/ time.

Request: Provide the option to populate GPS Date and Time metadata (GPSDateStamp and GPSTimeStamp) with the the image creation date as the source.

To support the case where the image creation date is local time instead of UTC, provide an option to add a timezone offset which is based on location and respects summer time/ daylight saving time to ensure that UTC is always used as required.

This behavior would be more like cameras with GPS where the date and time metadata reflects the time at which the location was determined.

See also the original topic:  https://www.photools.com/community/index.php?topic=10963.msg78136#msg78136

[akirot]

-1

Don't intermingle the purpose of different metadata.
GPS Date and Time describe the time when the position was gotten. Actually it has nothing to do with the image creation date.
(This always irritates me when the GPS position of the built in device is older than the creation date - e.g. when I have been too fast taking photographs after waking up the camera from standby. But that's how it is and I know how to deal with this.)

Don't do any time shifts (UTC on or off etc.) here. That's what TimeWiz et al. are for.
This would be the source of further irritations, complications and errors.

Metadata templates could be used to fill fields deviating from the current standards.

[mastodon]

-1 although it is an easy solution for a specific problem, unfortunatelly it would be mess up metadata (as shown above)

[Carlo Didier]

-1 although it is an easy solution for a specific problem, unfortunatelly it would be mess up metadata (as shown above)

-1  same here

[ubacher]

ditto: -1

[akirot]

After having a longer walk :-) I imagine a further idea which might help all of us:
What about various options/alternatives selectable to set GPS DateTime to in the map panel?:
1. do nothing, don't touch whatever is currently stored there
2. set to current DateTime (current implementation)
3. set to Creation Date (OP's request)
4. delete/set to "Null"/Nothing. So one knows this position was not achieved automatically by a tracking device.
    (Hopefully this does not contradict a standard - I did not check.)
The panel could remember the last selection.

[Mario]

The GPS timestamp is the "GPX fix" timestamp in UTC. Based on the time and date the GPS data was added/set.
It is not necessarily the date and time the image was taken.

If a user really needs to set this to an arbitrary value, it can be easily done by a Metadata Template, the TimeWiz app or the Metadata Mechanic.
I don't see a need to add a feature for this, or even multiple features with choices which I a) need to design, b) need to implement, c) need to document, d) need to maintain, e) need to support.

I doubt that many users are aware of the fact that GPS has a timestamp, or of all the other timestamps a file may contain.
Most care only for the "date subject created" or "date image created". Which is perfectly fine.

[PaulS]

I do agree with some of the comments and accept that I wasn't clear on some points.

GPS Date and Time describe the time when the position was gotten. Actually it has nothing to do with the image creation date.
(This always irritates me when the GPS position of the built in device is older than the creation date - e.g. when I have been too fast taking photographs after waking up the camera from standby. But that's how it is and I know how to deal with this.)

The first point is fully understood.  The request is specifically related to images that do not already have GPS metadata until it is added using the Map Panel.

Since you find it irritating when the GPS position/ date is older than the creation position/ date, I understand that you would like the GPS metadata to reflect the creation position/ date.  For images without metadata, this is exactly the behavior I am requesting from the Map Panel.

What about various options/alternatives selectable to set GPS DateTime to in the map panel?:
1. do nothing, don't touch whatever is currently stored there
2. set to current DateTime (current implementation)
3. set to Creation Date (OP's request)
4. delete/set to "Null"/Nothing. So one knows this position was not achieved automatically by a tracking device.
    (Hopefully this does not contradict a standard - I did not check.)
The panel could remember the last selection.

Yes, I agree that point 1. should be the behavior when the metadata exists.

Don't do any time shifts (UTC on or off etc.) here. That's what TimeWiz et al. are for.
This would be the source of further irritations, complications and errors.

Metadata templates could be used to fill fields deviating from the current standards.

I know that Mario spends a lot of effort ensuring that IMatch complies with metadata standards.  The proposal for time shifting was only to ensure compliance with Exif v2.2.  GPSTimeStamp "indicates the time as UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) and GPSDateStamp records "date and time information relative to UTC."  I personally have not seen GPS metadata that is referenced to other time zones and cannot think of a reason to not comply.

The GPS timestamp is the "GPX fix" timestamp in UTC. Based on the time and date the GPS data was added/set.
It is not necessarily the date and time the image was taken.

My interpretation is that the GPS metadata represents a single event in space and time.  In the case of a camera with GPS, this is the position and time of the most recent GPX fix.  For an image where the GPS data is added later, it should represent the position and time when the image was taken.  It does not make sense to me that the position should be from when I took the picture, but the time would reflect when I added the metadata.

But of course you get to determine what you think is most consistent with metadata standards and what users expect and whether it is worth the effort.

[sinus]

If this would be important for me (what it is not), then I would simply add a metadata-template in my workflow to change the GPS-timestamp, what I like.
Easy.
In my case I could even simply edit such a template with a step to alter the date, even easier because it does not change my workflow.
Hmm, maybe I will even do this, because it means 3 minutes work and it is done.

The time for Mario to change this would be fare more.