Commas Appended to Location Data

[erichaas]

I import a bunch of photos straight from my camera into IMatch. Using the Metadata panel, 6 IPTC Location, I enter location data into the Location Shown fields. Then I write back the metadata. Usually, this works just fine.

But, every once in a while, after writing back the metadata, commas will be appended to some of the fields (i.e., City, Country Name, Province State, and Sublocation; I don't use Identifier, Location Id, or Location Name, so I don't know if those fields are affected). If I edit the metadata to remove the commas, and then do a write back, the commas re-appear. To fix it, I have to use the Delete button to delete the Location Shown data, and then re-enter it.

So for example, I enter:

City: Havre de Grace
Country Code: USA
Country: United States
GPS Latitude: 39.55
GPS Longitude: -76.09
Identifier:
Location Id:
Location:
Province State: Maryland
Sublocation: Warren Street
World Region: North America

After write back, that changes to

City: Havre de Grace, 
Country Code: USA
Country: United States, 
GPS Latitude: 39.55
GPS Longitude: -76.09
Identifier:
Location Id:
Location:
Province State: Maryland, 
Sublocation: Warren Street, 
World Region: North America

In addition, there seems to be a space character after each comma.

At this point, I can not reliably recreate this issue. It just seems to strike at random. I've also never seen it affect the Location Created data.

[Mario]

ExifTool separates repeatable values via commas. But IMatch imports via XMP and these tags are structured, so there should be no commas or extra blanks.

I would need to see what was written in the case (IMatch Output Panel shows you that) and what ExifTool has produced from the instructions (the Output Panel shows you that when you enable debug logging (Help menu > Support).

Maybe you work with the structured in a 'special' way? You say you enter the data manually? No reverse geo-coding, Metadata Templates, Copy & Paste, AutoFill used?

I have never experienced this and AFAIK this was never reported before. Keep the Output Panel open and Debug logging enabled and try to reproduce this. If you can reproduce this, Copy & Paste the contents of the output panel into Notepad, save and attach. This will show us if and where IMatch produces extra empty elements - which might be a reason for extra commas after write back? Not sure. Or it happens when IMatch imports the structured tags back into the database after reloading metadata after write-back? A structured tag can be partially filled, so empty fields are normal and should not result in extra commas.

Also, when this happens again, FIRST thing is to secure the processed image (aka ZIP it and send it to me via support email address). I can then look at the actual data in the file and see which data IMatch receives from ExifTool when it imports the file.

Which version of IMatch are you using?

[erichaas]

I'm using 2023.14.2.

This last session, I typed in the data manually. I don't use reverse geo-coding. I do sometimes use Metadata Templates, but not this last time.

I'll try your suggestions next time I import images.

[Mario]

When we can figure when, under which condition this happens, I can fix it.