HELP! Import strangeness...

Jingo · July 08, 2014, 07:40:15 PM

So.. .looking for some help advice about what I'm running into. Have an existing folder full of 6 JPGs from different cameras, etc.

1 - I drag/drop the folder of images into a new Imatch db. The images are read into the system, I see the "read metadata" window display in the activity panel and the "write metadata" panel underneath. All 6 images are read into the database fine. I notice the @Keywords appear correctly... but none of the IMatch Sample Categories display anything. The XMP:Exif fields exist.. but I don't see any straight EXIF fields (I created a new Metadata view with IPTC and EXIF). When I view these outside of IMatch, the exif and IPTC display just fine.

2 - After all the images are added to the DB, I notice the "pencil" icon appears on all the images and it indicates that XMP::DC\Subject needs to be written to the files... yes, I have auto-write turned on in the preferences, haven't made any changes to this field in the catalog and the XMP::DC\Subject field exists as well.

Really confused! Thx...

Mario · July 08, 2014, 10:58:07 PM

1. IMatch imports existing IPTC and XMP keywords and transform them into hierarchical keywords. Depending on which IPTC-related metadata settings you use (Edit > Preferences > Metadata) this can produce 'new' hierarchical keywords which IMatch then automatically maps back to the flat IPTC and XMP keywords (XMP:subject) and writes them to the file.

2. Switch the Metadata Panel to the Browser layout. Do you see any EXIF data?

Does IMatch report any problems while indexing the files? Maybe some ExifTool error messages written to the log file?

Jingo · July 10, 2014, 06:20:56 PM

Quote from: Mario on July 08, 2014, 10:58:07 PM
1. IMatch imports existing IPTC and XMP keywords and transform them into hierarchical keywords. Depending on which IPTC-related metadata settings you use (Edit > Preferences > Metadata) this can produce 'new' hierarchical keywords which IMatch then automatically maps back to the flat IPTC and XMP keywords (XMP:subject) and writes them to the file.

2. Switch the Metadata Panel to the Browser layout. Do you see any EXIF data?

Does IMatch report any problems while indexing the files? Maybe some ExifTool error messages written to the log file?

Thx Mario...

1 - I do have create Hierarchical keywords set to "Y" on write back so guess it makes sense that they might need to be updated after import. But, I guess I thought this would happen automatically because I have auto-sync turned on... do I still need to manually click the pencil to write the info back to the files? Is there a way to automate this process? Perhaps I don't need this setting actually enabled for older images that already have hierarchical keywords?

2 - This is the bigger issue and I think is related to my setup... though it is quite strange!

So, as mentioned in other posts, I am running IMatch on a Mac using Parallels in coherence mode to access "virtual" NTFS drives. I did a test... when I add photos from my virtual drives.. the images all import correctly-but the exif info never appears (confirmed in Browser layout as well as a new EXIF ONLY layout I created). If I copy the same images to the "local" C drive and import - all the EXIF data appears correctly and as expected. So - this seems perhaps related to exiftools inability read the data correctly from the virtual drives?

I checked the log files and didn't see any errors related to exiftool... it appears to access the file correctly but perhaps something else is going on... I've attached the log that shows a single file (W:\Photos\1980-Jan\300HS_IMAGE_0001.JPG) being imported from the virtual drive (W:\) in case it sheds some light on the issue.

As another test - I tried this same process using "non-conherence" mode (so the old windows running within a window) and the same thing happened.. no exif metadata imported.

I'm very hopeful to get this process running or I won't be able to use the software in my current MAC setup... a shame because it seemed to work pretty well and I was ready to move forward with it! Appreciate the help/advice... Andy.

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Jingo · July 11, 2014, 02:36:16 PM

So... I have confirmed that this does seem to be an issue with any file that is located "outside" the virtual environment (ie: not C:\). Why would exif data not be read in from files that are not c:\? I will need to look into how these drives are considered to see if this is a configuration item.. these drives are considered "network drives" I believe in the virtualized system - but if all the other metadata is read in correctly... I wonder why the EXIF data is not?

Is there any other info I can provide to you to help isolate the issue? My trial runs out tomorrow so there isn't going to be much more I can do with the software afterwards unfortunately... Many thx! - Andy.

Mario · July 11, 2014, 03:26:02 PM

Your log file tells me that ExifTool has extracted 99 metadata tags from the file:

'W:\Photos\1980-Jan\300HS_IMAGE_0001.JPG'

I cannot say if this included EXIF tags. Did you try the file in the ECP using the "List Metadata" template?
Select one of the files in question, switch to the Metadata Panel, set it to Browser mode to see all tags and then press <Alt> and click on the "Copy" icon. Paste the results into a text file and attach. This will show us all metadata ExifTool has extracted.

Jingo · July 11, 2014, 11:41:04 PM

Thanks Mario - it looks like there is XMP Exif data... but no straight exif data extracted... here is the text file from the metadata->Browser. Many thx for your help in getting me movd foward on this... I would really like this to work for the MAC folks (including me!)... Andy.

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Mario · July 12, 2014, 09:25:17 AM

Looks like the file has only some EXIF data.
Either attach the file so I can look for myself, or select the file and then:

Press <F9>,<E> to launch the ExifTool Command Processor.
Select the "List Metadata" preset in the drop-down
Press <F9> to run it.
Copy/Paste the output on the right side into a text file and attach this file.

If the file has EXIF data, it will show there. Else the file has no EXIF data, or only the few EXIF fields already shown in the Metadata Panel.

Jingo · July 12, 2014, 02:31:32 PM

Hi Mario - thank you for the advice and steps to output the exif values.... this has led me to an interesting discovery - both files output the same values which include the exif data... it just seems to be a display issue in IMatch so perhaps there is something with IMatch as it tries to read the info from the database or the file on the virtual drive?

Here are some screen shots that show both files (same file - just one a "virtual" drive ("W") and 1 on the "local" drive ("C")):

I've also attached the 2 text files from the ECP that show both have the same data in the files.

I noticed this originally because the Sample Files data driven fields were all zero for my imported files off the virtual drives... but when I tested it on some sample images from the local drives - the sample data driven cats all updated correctly (ie: make and model - exif::main\271\0)... so, I thought it was because the exif data wasn't in the file.. but it is the same as the local one that does work.

Anyway... thx for your help.. trial expires today so anything else I can provide, please let me know.

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Mario · July 12, 2014, 06:50:50 PM

The trial of IMatch does not expire, only your database becomes read-only after 30 days.
You can create a new database, which will then again work for 30 days.

From the screen shot I seems that IMatch was unable to read data from the file on the virtual drive.
Switch to debug logging (Help > Suppport > Debug logging).
Select the file on the virtual drive.
Press <Shift>+<Ctrl>+<F5>.
In the dialog, choose "Reload Metadata".

Attach the resulting log file. If ExifTool runs into issues processing the file, it will be visible in the log file.

Jingo · July 12, 2014, 10:10:07 PM

Thx Mario - didn't realize you could create a new DB to continue testing.. that is a nice feature!

I have attached the requested debug file.. did the rescan and the exif data still doesn't display. I did notice there was a "unwritten metadata" protect message that displayed and appears in the log... don't think that is related (I think it is due to a pending DC:Subject write-back) but thought I'd mention it.

I'm not sure what else is going on... I'm stumped! Hope you have better luck!!

Thx - Andy.

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Mario · July 13, 2014, 10:03:26 AM

ExifTool imports 99 tags from the W:\Photos\1980-Jan\300HS_IMAGE_0001.JPG file. Looks all perfectly normal. The data should show up in the Metadata Panel as well. I have never seen such an effect. Please send me the sample file to my support email (see links below in my signature). Include a link to this post in your email.

Jingo · July 13, 2014, 03:29:26 PM

Thx Mario - I sent the file and a brief recap to your support address... must be related to the Virtual drives/virtual memory of Parallels and perhaps how the exiftool loads the info into memory... but since everything else loads in correctly - it does seem strange that the Exiftool import tags aren't being files into the catalog correctly. As mentioned, this works perfectly in the same file is added to the catalog from the local C:\ drive... anyway... I do appreciate your effort in helping me with this. Thx again - Andy.

Jingo · July 13, 2014, 05:10:13 PM

Hi Mario - so I noticed something else that might be contributing to this... and think I may try a reconfiguration to see if this helps resolve the problem... here goes:

I noticed that my main Photo drive is an NTFS volume that is available to my MAC via Tuxedo NTFS and setup as the P:\ drive. In Parallels desktop, this drive does not appear as a MAC Shared drive (only my external USB drive shows up along with the standard MAC OS drive). I had to setup a "shared folder" for my P:\ drive to enable this to appear with the virtual environment as the W:\ drive.

I just ran a different test using the same file - I copied it to the the external USB drive (that shows up as a local disk in Parallels) and it read the file in correctly and shows the exif data - just like the "local C:\" version from the virtual system. I also tried this again using the shared folder "drive" and not only did it not display the exif like before - it got stuck in a read/write loop constantly trying to update the metadata (looks like the DC:Subject field again)... it would update the file (pencil goes away) and then the pencil would reappear.. and this process kept going for 3-4 cycles before I shut down the program. I attached the log file in case that interests you and helps determine why the initial write didn't take.

So... I truly think this whole issue is related in some way to the configuration of the drives and the fact that my Photo drive is NOT seen by Parallels as a shared MAC drive - but rather as a shared "folder" via the Parallels control panel.

In the coming days (unless you figure this out before then!) - I think I'm going to redo my system a bit now that I'm more dedicated to my MAC system. I will put the MAC OS on its own SSD drive and move my Photo drive to a new drive formatted as a MAC volume. This should hopefully enable Parallels to find it as a share MAC drive (instead of the shared folder approach) and work similar to how the USB drive test above worked.... will report back on this tomorrow or Tuesday.

Thanks for your advice and help on this...! - Andy.

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Jingo · July 17, 2014, 02:55:56 AM

Hi Mario - just figured I would follow-up with some findings and good news.

So, I formatted a new hard drive on my MAC system as OS Journaled and did a complete copy of my Photo drive (NTFS) over. I then setup the drive a Boot Camp available drive as well as sharing the drive via the Folder Share in Parallels config.

I loaded up a new IMatch DB and added the file from this new drive... voila! The photo appears correctly with all Exif data and doesn't get caught in an "updating" loop. Just for kicks, I then tried the same file from the NTFS drive (which is still attached to the system) and it does not show the Exif data and it gets caught in a loop reading/writing metadata.

So... not sure what the issue is but in the end - only MAC formatted drives seems to behave correctly through Parallels and with IMatch running in a virtual environment. I've learned WAY more than I wanted to about Parallels... but hopefully this exercise can be helpful to anyone else that wishes to use IMatch on a MAC OS system - always happy to help and perhaps write up an FAQ if you'd like.

Now... I need to purchase Imatch...

Thanks for your help Mario... Andy.

jch2103 · July 17, 2014, 03:02:34 AM

Quote from: Jingo on July 17, 2014, 02:55:56 AM
... I've learned WAY more than I wanted to about Parallels... but hopefully this exercise can be helpful to anyone else that wishes to use IMatch on a MAC OS system - always happy to help and perhaps write up an FAQ if you'd like.

I suspect that would be very helpful to Mac users who might be interested in IMatch.