Keywords not appearing under @Keywords (Part II)

[Darius1968]

This is a continuation of my last post that is partially solved for the next release:

For the following two bugs, consider the following three keywords: 

Table
00_Private Keywords|__Photo Composition|WHAT|_Things|Chiropractic Table
00_Private Keywords|__Photo Composition|WHAT|_Things|Bench|Padded 

• The above keywords are copied from a source file to another file, via Ctrl+C, Ctrl+Shift+V (Paste Attributes>Keywords): 
  
  Result: 
  Target file gets the same above keywords in its hierarchical keywords without the need for a metadata write-back.  However, Keywords panel>Current doesn't reflect those keywords.  (Understandable on my setup because @Keywords is not set to auto-refresh) 
  So, I go ahead and manually refresh @Keywords, with the result that only 1/3 keywords are enumerated in Keywords panel>Current:
  
  Table
  
  ...However, in the presence of only 1/3 keywords having been registered in @Keywords, the target file's metadata for hierarchical keywords correctly has all three! 
  
  Conclusion: 
  There is a possible bug with respect to copying keywords from one file to another, using paste attributes>keywords.  That being that for whatever reason, hierarchical keywords that exceed a certain length are not well tolerated by the above mechanism of copy-and-paste.  This needs to be evaluated with necessary revisions to code made accordingly. 
  
  Note: 
  If the above described procedure is carried out via a user-defined Metadata-panel-layout, all three keywords will successfully appear under @Keywords! 


• With the same keywords under consideration, there are idiosyncrasies with respect to the deletion of keywords from files: 
  
  What doesn't work: 
  ECP>Delete all Metadata.  Or, trying to delete from within the metadata panel. 
  This does - upon a metadata write-back - flush the keywords from the file's metadata>hierarchical keywords.  However, with that condition having been achieved, the only keyword removed from Categories panel>Current - after refreshing @Keywords - is Table.  The other two remain, despite there being no keywords at all in the metadata! 
  
  What does work: 
  Removing the keywords with the editor in the Keywords panel>Editor.  Or, of course, removing the keywords by unticking the individual keywords under Categories panel>Current. 
  

*So, with what I've outlined above (yes, I used different files for which the Metadata Analyst clears as having no defects), I'm hoping that others can confirm the same thing as I can. 

[Mario]

As I said, I cannot reproduce this.

Copying metadata via Paste Attributes actually copies the metadata from the source to the target files on disk, using ExifTool.
This then causes IMatch to re-import the files to re-import the metadata.
Which also invalidates the @Keywords data-driven category, which then re-creates itself using the actual keywords in the database.

I have tested this successfully using 1 dozen different files, two databases on two PCs. No other user ever reported a similar problem.

Please double-check that the files you work with have no metadata issues (run the Metadata Anaylyst). Use the green button in the Analyst and copy the results into your reply.

[Darius1968]

Well, to try to prove my findings, I'm attaching a sample image.  (I can even upload a video that confirms my findings!)

The sample image I'm providing here (like I've already said) is cleared by Metadata Analyst as error-free. 
If I copy-and-paste a new copy of the image to another folder, it just says that a metadata write-back is necessary, which I do, but no other issues whatsoever. 

The file has three keywords, all of which show up in the metadata, but only the one-word-keyword, "Table" enumerates under @Keywords.  So, what could be wrong? 

[Mario]

If I copy-and-paste a new copy of the image to another folder

What does this mean?
I thought you were talking about pasting Attributes between files? From one image to another?
Pasting attributes means:
1. Write back source/target as needed.
2. Copy requested attributes from source image to target images.
3. Re-import metadata from target images.

[Darius1968]

At this point, I mean, I've done both! 

First, I did a copy-and-past-attributes of the keywords from one file to another. 

Then, I did a second task of copying (not moving) a copy of the original file to another folder, which also validates (on my setup, at least!) that the file has the three keywords, but two of them (longer in character-length) are not registering in my @Keywords category. 

[Mario]

I cannot reproduce this. Did you check the metadata in this file for problems with the metadata analyst?
Please repeat and copy the contents of the ExifTool output panel into your reply. This shows us what IMatch is writing and if there are any warnings or errors reported when ExifTool is copying data from the source to the target files.
See The ExifTool Panel

[Darius1968]

Did you check the metadata in this file for problems with the metadata analyst?

Yes!  I've already mentioned twice that I have done this, and that Metadata Analyst reports no errors.  (One of those times was when I provided you a sample image to test on your end by importing into your database to see if all three keywords enter @Keywords.  Just trying to troubleshoot.)

Please repeat and copy the contents of the ExifTool output panel into your reply. This shows us what IMatch is writing and if there are any warnings or errors reported when ExifTool is copying data from the source to the target files.

Right here!
"    1 image files updated


----- Runtime: 0.1 s."
...And, this result of the Output panel>ExifTool reflects the target file - on which I did a Paste Attributes>Keywords - getting all three keywords embedded in its metadata, but only showing up in one of the three keywords, under @Keywords. 

[Mario]

In that case, I have no clue.
If the keywords are written, IMatch will re-import the file and the keywords should show in the Keywords Panel and @Keywords category.

Since I have tried multiple times to reproduce this effect but could not and no other user has reported a similar problem, I cannot do more.
If you have two files which reliably reproduce this problem, send them to me.

Also double-check that your Edit > Preferences > Metadata settings and your thesaurus not somehow cause the copied keywords to be folded and modified in any way that causes this. This is often the case when users don't mind how their thesaurus may impact keywords imported from files.

[Darius1968]

I finally managed to prevent manifestation of the problem by enabling the option "Keep empty categories" for @Keywords. 
I say "prevent manifestation of the problem" instead of solve because it's strange why not wanting to keep empty categories would disallow removal/assignment for certain keywords. 

[Mario]

This option only controls if IMatch retains empty @Keywords categories when it updates @Keywords from the keywords in your files - or not.

[Darius1968]

Well, somehow, in my case, that option is not deleting empty categories (because there are none), but rather, it's preventing ingested images from passing along their entire hierarchical keyword set to @Keywords.  That, as well as it not letting said images have their hierarchical keyword set (received from a paste attributes operation) be reflected in @Keywords. 

[Mario]

I cannot reproduce this and AFAIK no other user ever reported something similar.
If you can provide images which allow me to reproduce this, I will look into this again. Otherwise, I tried what I could try.