DateTime inconveniences

[rienvanham]

Hi Mario,

I'm considering returning to the 2021 version of iMatch (is that possible for the DB?) because the date/time in this new version drives me crazy.

e.g.: I scan a file on 2023-06-18 12:13:47 (local time).

This is what iMatch shows:


I don't know how many people can convert the times to their local time but I find it hard to read.
I should expect that the time was written as 18-06-2023 12:13:47+02:00 (with DST).

If I click on a date it shows 2023:06:18 10:13:47Z.

Am I overseeing something?

Thanks in advance,

Rien.

[rienvanham]

Screenshot

[Mario]

I'm considering returning to the 2021 version of iMatch (is that possible for the DB?) because the date/time in this new version drives me crazy.

Nothing should change in the way you see date & time in IMatch 2023 - because it by default displays the same "local" time as before.

Your screen shot shows two time stamps in UTC time.
This would mean that your local time zone is UTC, which is possible but unlikely.

a) What is your local time, you did not mention.
b) Did you have a look at the metadata of the image checked if it maybe contains an UTC offset of 0?

Or, if there is no usable time stamp (the file would the be placed into the corresponding category, as explained in the help), which setting do you use under Edit > Preferences > Metadata 2: File Date and Time Mapping Mode?
The default is to use the local time zone.

You said you "scan" a file. This would imply that you use a scanner software of sorts, which produces the image and the metadata. And maybe it plugs in a hard-coded UTC offset 0, which of course would be respected by IMatch.

As always, if a file produces a specific problem, it would be helpful if you attach that file to your post.

[rienvanham]

Hi Mario,

I live in the Netherlands, thus the same timezone as Germany.

I think the main problem is that iMatch (at least on my machine) doesn't convert the Zulu-time to local time. I've checked the settings: 2 If a file has no metadata time zone, use the local time zone (Default)

These times are reported under [System]:
FileModifyDate: 2023:06:18 12:13:48+02:00
FileAccessDate: 2023:06:19 12:10:39+02:00
FileCreateDate: 2023:06:18 12:13:47+02:00

Under [PDF]
CreateDate: 2023:06:18 10:13:47+00:00
ModifyDate: 2023:06:18 10:13:47+00:00

The files are scanned by Abbyy FineReader 16, OCR-ed and saved as PDF. Already did this with > 10.000 files and never had a problem with the date/timestamp (until now).

Thanks in advance!

screenshot of another file in next reply (this time created by eM Client).

[rienvanham]

Screenshots

[Mario]

That does not really help. This tool does not extract all the info I need.
Send me the file with a link back to this topic if you don't want to post it here.

But if what the tool shows is correct, your problem is right there.
The time stamps in the file have been written with an UTC offset of 00:00, which means they are in UTC or Z.
What IMatch shows for your files is thus correct!
It uses the time zone information as recorded in the file.

[rienvanham]

Hi Mario,

So, iMatch uses the PDF->CreateDate?

Off course the time displayed is correct but it is hard to read/interpret what the local time is. There isn't a way to show the time in local format?

If needed I can send you the example-pdf.

Thanks,

Rien.

[Mario]

As explained in How IMatch uses Date and Time Information IMatch uses different time stamps for different file formats to produce the global File.DateTime and the "create data" and "date subject" created in XMP.

The Metadata Panel shows metadata as is, including these two time stamps.
The only exception here is that when the time zone offset of these time stamps matches your local time zone, the time zone is hidden until you start editing the time stamps.

For Metadata Panel layouts and variables you have access to the original date and time, the UTC date and time (identical in your case) and the local date and time, calculated dynamically from File.DateTime.

If this causes some inconvenience to you, either configure your scan software to produce the PDF time stamps in local time, or use the Time Wiz to shift the time zone to local time.

[rienvanham]

Thanks Mario! I will see if Abbyy can do this.