Propagate from Master to Buddy

[Frank]

I have many scanned pictures and I only add the metadata manually to my master files.
The Metadata are Date created, Location, faces, ...
And in Imatch I have categorized the Master to its special location (Why is this picture taken).

I am looking for something like Ferdinands synchronization script 

So now I have configured my master and I would like Imatch to update all Metadata to my buddy Files like it works with versioning.
Is this somehow possible or is it planned to be implemented in a later version?

How do other keep the buddy files in sync with the master data?

Any suggestion welcome!

Frank

[jch2103]

Check the Help topic 'File Relations,' especially the sub-topic 'Relation Concepts'.
You can set your preferred options in Versioning for what metadata to propagate from master to derived files.

[Frank]

Thanks I know that it works for versions as mentioned in my post. I am asking how this can be done with buddy files

[Mario]

Can't.

A buddy file is something like an XMP file or one of the config / settings files created by some other software. Or maybe a JPEG thumbnail some cameras produce for videos. You configure a buddy relation to tell IMatch to keep them together with their master file during rename, copy, delete and move operations. No metadata is touched by this.

If you want to propagate (copy) metadata, you need to setup a version. IMatch propagates metadata along version chains.

[Frank]

Yes you are right, but if I change one of these Attributes (rating, label, Date created,...) within my master  file. How will this reflect my buddy file?

Lets say as an example: I have scanned my picturimage (RAW and JPG)  today and my scanner writes than the date created of today. Now I add it to imatch and two weeks later I get the right date from a colleque. I change the date of my master file and now my master will be in the timeline of the changed date and my buddy remains in the date when it was scanned.
How can I handle such situation? This is a real worse case 

This can also occure by adding it to a other category.

regards
Frank

[Mario]

When you change the metadata or categories of your master files, it can be propagated to versions (if you set the corresponding options).
This of course depends on the file format of the buddy. Config files by other applications and similar files of course cannot usually hold their own metadata. And by definition, all files with the same file name share the XMP file in the folder (e.g. BLA.RAW, BLA.JPG will both share the metadata in BLA.XMP)

Buddy files will not be updated. Only versions.

Why should the buddy file get the same file date as the master? It is not uncommon that master files are edited (e.g. RAW files) and buddy files (XMP files, config files from other software, THM and JPEG previews) remain unchanged. If this produces a problem in your workflow either make the buddy a version, or manually update the buddy files when you update the master.

This is a real worse case

Yes. And there may be cases where even the flexible file relation concept in IMatch can help you. There are limits of what can be done without over-complicating everything. If all else fails, a purpose-built IMatch script can be created which manipulates data or file time stamps as needed. Or maybe a ExifTool command processor script.