Folder Rescans

[Darius1968]

The folder I'm now considering is this one: 
C:\Users\User\Documents\

By default, my Microsoft Outlook saves attachments to this folder.  I will then (try) to use IMatch to go to this folder to retrieve the files, and move them elsewhere on my computer.  My problem is that IMatch is not automatically rescanning this folder (and this is the very case for all other folders in my database), and I have to manually effect a scan.  (BTW, how to have IMatch 5 visually indicate that a folder is in need of a rescan, like was the case in IMatch 3.6?)  For whatever reason, this particular folder (C:\Users\User\Documents\) always causes IMatch to re-import all metadata and to recreate thumbnails for all files, even if they haven't been touched!  Why is this?  Finally, how can I instruct IMatch to rescan a folder, but at the same time, to ignore all of its sub-folders?  Thanks. 

[Mario]

1. IMatch indicates changes made to folders in the Media & Folders tree with a blue "refesh" icon. This icon may be visible only for a short time because IMatch automatically rescans folders in the background. You can control and disable this under Edit > Preferences > Background Processing. When you instruct IMatch to not automatically update folders you can see the icons until you manually rescan the folders.

2. Windows makes changes to the "My Documents" folder hierarchy virtually all the time, saving temporary files, re-indexing things etc. Having this folder completely indexed in your database will cause continuous rescans because IMatch reacts on the "Something in this folder has changed" messages sent by Windows to all applications. IMatch then rescans the folders and it's sub-folders in order to determine what has changed (Windows is not really specific and often skips per-file notifications). See 1) above.

3. IMatch does re-import files (and metadata) only when the "last modified on disk" timestamp of a file differs from the timestamp in the database. When IMatch imports a file, it saves the "last modified on disk time stamp". When Windows sends the message "Something in this folder has changed" or "file changed", IMatch detects updated files by comparing these time stamps. IMatch does not re-import unchanged files.

You can see in the log file which files IMatch is processing, and this may give you a clue. Maybe you have applications running which modify files without your knowledge.

4. When you rescan a folder via <Shift>+<F5> IMatch always rescans the folder and all sub-folders.

[Darius1968]

Okay, I have the option activated to "import new and updated files automatically".  And, yes, if I'm clicked on a folder say, "flowers", then if I save a file from an application to that "flowers" folder, then IMatch will indeed import that new file automatically, though it may take 10-15 sec. to become aware that another application has saved something to this folder.  However, if I save something to a another folder, and IMatch is not running at the time, then when I later open IMatch and the database, IMatch will seemingly not realize that the folder has changed.  I have to issue a rescan myself to let IMatch know something has changed.  Finally, is there a way to set the options of manual/automatic rescan of a folder on a per folder basis? 

[Mario]

though it may take 10-15 sec. to become aware that another application has saved something to this folder. 

This delay is intentional and required. Some applications keep files locked for some time after saving them. Some applications save to a temporary file in the same folder, and if the save operation completes, delete the original file and then rename the temporary file to the original file name. And similar schemes. To handle these weird cases (e.g. LR or PS or Office) IMatch waits for a short while, and then checks how long no update was performed in the folder. If things are quite, it starts to rescan the folder because it is then fairly save to assume that the other application is finished with whatever it was doing.

However, if I save something to a another folder, and IMatch is not running at the time, then when I later open IMatch and the database, IMatch will seemingly not realize that the folder has

IMatch does not rescan all folders in your database every time you open it. It would take very long to do this. Instead it compares the folder timestamps with the folder timestamps in the database. Folders with new time stamps are added to the background processing queue and are rescanned automatically. Unless you disable this under Edit > Preferences > Background Processing.

Finally, is there a way to set the options of manual/automatic rescan of a folder on a per folder basis?

Geez no. That would be hard to maintain and configure.

So, from what I understand from your post:

When you make changes to folders indexed by your database, IMatch does not automatically update them after it has been started (this may not be immediate because it is done in the background and IMatch may be busy rescanning folders you are not aware of, or may be still re-calculating other data).

The system checks each folder in the database in the background after an initial wait period of 10 seconds (to allow the database to start up). Each folder is checked in turn. When IMatch finds a folder with a time stamp mismatch it logs a FSWEEP: entry to the log file (you can search for it). This means that a folder with a newer "last modified" timestamp than recorded in the database was found, and that this folder has been scheduled for a background rescan.

[Mario]

Just checked.

While IMatch is not running, I added some files to a folder indexed by IMatch.
Started IMatch.
After a short while, the new files are imported automatically.

Closed IMatch.
Changed a file already indexed in PS.
Restarted IMatch.
After a short while, the file is rescanned automatically.

Works  as designed, here.