Ratings not appearing in IMatch after upgrade

[marco88]

Hi Mario,

As stated I am creating a new thread for this ratings issue.

Did you convert an IMatch 3 database into IMatch 5 using the database converter?
If so, did you process all pending XMP updates in IMatch 3 before running the conversion? In this step IMatch 3 writes the rating to the physical file on disk (or the sidecar file) and only then IMatch 5 can pick it up when importing the metadata.

Yes I have converted  IMatch 3 dbms using the converter from IMatch 5.
Yes I ran all pending XMP updates before running the conversion.
I had lots waiting since 2012. I noted lots of new side cart file created after that.
Still after importing in IMatch 5 I don't see the ratings for the JPEG.
However I see them for my CR2 files and MOV files.

IMatch only works with XMP ratings and writes the rating you give to a file into the XMP record.

Sorry my mistake I am not great on XMP and EXIF to honest I just want the rating to go through in IMatch 5.
I spend quite a lot of time doing rating so I am a little worried they don't show in IMatch 5.

I attach 2 images showing the same picture in both IMatch 2 and 5 with different ratings.


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[Mario]

The ExifTool Command Processor output tells us that the JPEG file has no XMP rating.  It only has two (?) XMP fields. One XMP-rdf tag and one proprietary tag written by some Microsoft application. IMatch cannot import a rating when there is none.

[marco88]

Thanks Mario for the quick response.

Indeed the ExifTool shows for IMatch 3 only 2 XMP fields still the ratings are stored somewhere I presume in the dbms.

I do see new entries under the Process XMP update when I change the ratings in IMatch 3 so I would expect it to store it somewhere in the side carts too especially that I see it creates new side carts whenever I update a new JPEG?

I checked the XMP preferences and I cannot see anything obviously wrong but I must admit these XMP / EXIF ... is above me and I might be mistaken so I attached an image of my settings. I got "Always store XMP data in external sidecar files" so I was expecting the ratings to appear in the side cart files.

Is there an option incorrectly set? Is there another option in IMatch 3 somewhere else that could prevent IMatch from persisting the ratings into the side cart as needed for the upgrade and conversion to IMatch 5?

Note that in IMatch 5 I can set ratings and see them in the metadata panel under the XMP section so it assume it works for IMatch 5 (but not for IMatch 3).

Cheers
Marc.

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[marco88]

Tried adding 3 png I created for the other thumbnail issue:

- added 3 png to IMatch 3
- set rating for 5
- process XMP update
- open xmp file see
<xap:Rating>5</xap:Rating>

- added same 3 png to IMatch 5:
- no rating displayed
- change rating to 1
- process XMP update
- open xmp file see
<xap:Rating>5</xap:Rating>

Confused??? I was hoping to see the rating switch to 1 in the in the side cart xmp file. Clearly I don't understand how IMatch manages these files.

[Mario]

You are working with JPEG files, correct?

From the screen shot I can see that you have configured IMatch to always store XMP in sidecar files, which is non-standard and now creates the problem you see.

The XMP standard, and the Metadata Working Group, expect that JPEG files (and TIFF, PSD, DNG, etc.) use embedded XMP data. Not separate XMP sidecar files. If you have forced IMatch 3 to store XMP in sidecar files even for JPEG, IMatch 5 will not see this data.

IMatch 5 by default applies the XMP standard settings and the Metadata Working Group recommendations. This ensures it is compatible with all major imaging applications, RAW processors and photographic workflows.

IMatch 5 can be configured to use sidecar files for JPEG files, but that's generally not a good idea.
To fix the problem with your non-standard XMP storage schema, I suggest you try this:

In IMatch 5, go to Edit > Preferences > Metadata 2.
Click on File Formats and scroll down to the JPG extension.
Remove the check in the Use default  settings.
Change the XMP Sidecar File option to Favor XMP sidecar file.
Close the File Format dialog with OK.
Note: If you don't use the JPG but the JPEG extension for your files, change the settings for that extension as well.

In Metadata 2: Protection change both settings to No. This ensures that IMatch imports all metadata in the following step.

Select one of the problem files.
Press <Shift>+<Ctrl>+<F5>. In the dialog, choose Rescan Metadata.

IMatch should now pick up the rating, label and other XMP data for your JPEG files from the XMP sidecar file.

If this works, rescan the Metadata for all affected files.

Afterwards, I suggest you switch back to the default settings an stick to the standard.

Alternatively, consider importing the XMP data in the sidecar file into the JPEG file once using ExifTool. Then delete the XMP sidecar files.

[marco88]

Hi Mario,

Just a thought:

Can I tell IMatch 3 to revert to putting the data in the JPEG file (by unticking "always store XMP in sidecar files") and then re-convert my dbms to IMach 5?

Would that be an easier or safer way to solve my problems with missing ratings in IMatch 5?

Cheers
Marc.

[Mario]

Can I tell IMatch 3 to revert to putting the data in the JPEG file (by unticking "always store XMP in sidecar files") and then re-convert my dbms to IMach 5?

This will not work because this will only change where IMatch stores XMP data in the future. IMatch will not start to copy the XMP data from the sidecar file back into your image if you change this setting.

If you want to get the XMP back into the JPEG, you can use ExifTool on the command line. I'm sure there are samples on how to do that for entire folders in the ExifTool user forum: http://u88.n24.queensu.ca/exiftool/forum/. If not, post a question and they will help you.

[marco88]

Hi Mario,

It seems to have worked. I applied the solution to all my directories at least I think I did.

But I still miss over 1000s files in the ratings categories compared to what I got in IMatch 3.

Is there any ways to find the files that did not transfer back the data using this work around?

Cheers
Marc.

[Mario]

I'm not sure how you define "id not transfer back the data using this work around?"

You mean finding all files without a rating?
You can check on these files in the Collection View. Open the Rating collection and click on the node "None" to see all files without a rating.

To find all files without XMP data?
Try the Value filter in the metadata panel, for a tag for which you usually have data in the XMP, e.g. "title". Filter for files without a title.

Note: IMatch creates a XMP record for each file, even if the physical file has no XMP on disk. This XMP record is used to import existing IPTC/EXIF/GPS data. So, in the IMatch database, every file has XMP. So there is no way to search directly for files without XMP data.

[speedskater]

I use ExifToolGUI for checking the metadata of all files in a folder.

By configuring the columns in the "user defined" view, you will quickly find the files without rating or xmp entries.

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[marco88]

I'm not sure how you define "id not transfer back the data using this work around?"

You mean finding all files without a rating?
You can check on these files in the Collection View. Open the Rating collection and click on the node "None" to see all files without a rating.

To find all files without XMP data?
Try the Value filter in the metadata panel, for a tag for which you usually have data in the XMP, e.g. "title". Filter for files without a title.

Note: IMatch creates a XMP record for each file, even if the physical file has no XMP on disk. This XMP record is used to import existing IPTC/EXIF/GPS data. So, in the IMatch database, every file has XMP. So there is no way to search directly for files without XMP data.

Hi Mario,

I compared the number of images with ratings in IMatch 3 and in IMatch 5 after applying your solution. I still miss a couple of thousands. Big improvement but still missing quite a few ;-)

I think you answered my question sadly. If there is no way to search for files without XMP data; I am cooked. That is what I need to do. Look for the ones with XMP data on files and try to force them back in IMatch database. But I don't know how to find these.

I had one thought though. Is IMatch sensitive to case? I noted that I have jpg and JPG files. I see in the preference for XMP setup that upper case is used. I was wondering whether maybe the files with jpg extension in small caps were no picked up.

Kind regards,
Marc.

[marco88]

I use ExifToolGUI for checking the metadata of all files in a folder.

By configuring the columns in the "user defined" view, you will quickly find the files without rating or xmp entries.

Thanks I will have a look. However I do need specifically to find the image files that I have data in the XMP side card but not in IMatch dbms.

The solution Mario gave me worked for many but there is still a few 1000s that have ratings in IMatch 3 that do not show in IMatch 5.

Marc.