Result Of Metadata Template Lost After Metadata Writeback

[Darius1968]

I created a new metadata template that simply maps the image library aspect ratio into "Photoshop:Main\PixelAspectRatio.  It seemingly works (I can see the result in the metadata panel under "Browser") until I click the pencil icon (visible under the file window "Standard" layout), at which point the contents disappear from view in the metadata viewer.  What could be wrong? 

Update:
It appears that the Photoshop tag to which I'm trying to map in the aspect ration is meant just for video files.  Is this right?  If it is, what then would be a good tag into which I could map the image library aspect ratio? 

Finally, I've been unsuccessfully trying to limit the scope of my data driven category by using a category filter.  Let's say I paste this one category into the builder and this is the result "IMatch Sample Categories|Image Files|Image Sizes|Variables|Image Size (AR)|16:9".  How would I modify the syntax of that for suitable data entry into the category filter of the data driven category. 

[Mario]

Before you directly write data to any non XMP metadata tag, make sure you read the corresponding documentation (in this case, probably something released by Adobe) to understand if this field is somehow mapped to an XMP tag (there are hundreds of mapped tags). If you 'under the hood' manipulate a tag that is mapped to XMP, IMatch/ExifTool will replace it when mapping XMP back to the file.

Also, consider the documentation released by the Metadata Working Group to see which XMP tags are mapped to which proprietary Adobe tags and vice versa. And of course the ExifTool documentation and field lists. This is indeed all a bit complicated and nobody is able to do anything about this. As soon as you start to update proprietary metadata like Photoshop data, you're entirely responsible for the results.

It appears that the Photoshop tag to which I'm trying to map in the aspect ration is meant just for video files.  Is this right?  If it is, what then would be a good tag into which I could map the image library aspect ratio? 

Sorry, but I cannot search this information for you. Aspect ratio is usually of no interest for photographers and I don't recall ever having seen an XMP or EXIF tag which stores this info. AR can be calculated easily enough from the width and height if needed.

Data-driven categories can be limited to certain nodes in the hierarchy via a regular expression. Same syntax as for category formulas (@Category formula etc.). Please see there for many examples. The data-driven categories help topic also has examples for this. Just adapt to your category layout.

[Darius1968]

Consider:
"IMatch Sample Categories|Image Files|Image Sizes|Variables|Image Size (AR)|16:9"

Okay, the above is a category that I want the scope restricted to.  I got the above statement via the category builder, and I then pasted it into the "Category Filter" of my data driven category.  It doesn't have any effect.  I read up on the @Category as best I could.  What must I do with that statement so that it will work?  The pipes obviously mean separations in the category nodes. 

[Mario]

Tip: Always start your expressions with @All to speed up processing - see the IMatch help on the @Category formula for details.

What happens when you copy/paste your expression into a @Category formula?
Setup a new category named TEST and create the formula

"@Category[@All|IMatch Sample Categories|Image Files|Image Sizes|Variables|Image Size (AR)|16:9]"

do you get the result you expect?

Tip: You can Copy/Paste category names (with path) using Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V

I've made q quick check using a dd category based on {File.Width} and using

@All|IMatch Sample Categories|Image Files|ISO|100

as the category filter and it works a charm.

[Darius1968]

Using your expressions gives me nothing (0 files)!  I did something along those lines earlier, and IMatch, for whatever reason, doesn't seem to want to have anything to do with @Category expressions.  Put simply, anywhere there's an "@Category" expression in the data driven category, IMatch just doesn't like it. 

Update:
These expressions seem to be working fine on a formula based category, but the same expression has no effect on a data driven category, when the expression is pasted into it's Category Formula data entry. 

[Mario]

That was only a sample!
The @Category keyword is of course not supported as a filter for data-driven categories. It's only for category formulas.

But as I explained above, the regular expression works both as a filter (without the @Category[] formula!) and as a category on my system. Must be something else that makes it fail on your system. Please re-read the help and double-check your data-driven category settings. If it works here, it should work on your box too, if everything else is the same.

And as it seems now, we are discussing your data-driven category in a bug report which was about a totally different topic. Which is why I'm so against mixing different things and questions in bug reports. It may be weeks before I look into your bug report, and then I will have forgotten everything, looking at the last comments about you struggling with a data-driven category and becoming confused about what this is all about.