Attributes (Delete just the Description but not the Title)

[kiwilink]

Is it possible to just delete either the description or the title of multiple images selected?  In the attachment "AttributesDelete2" I have data in the description (Dates and Time).  I want to delete all the information in the Description Field of both files (sometimes I may select 30 files at a time to delete all info in this field).  

When I right click to delete it I can't see a way to just select the "Description Field" or the "Title" field and delete just that info.

Is this possible?  Otherwise, I must delete it image at a time.

Thanks!

Kiwilink

[Mario]

Have you tried just emptying the description or title? The delete button/command deletes the entire row.

[kiwilink]

Mario.  Thank you for the reply.  Is this a command?  I looked in the help menu and did not see it.  I right clicked and do not see this choice in the file window view..   Is it something I do in the data driven Category under Mike Descriptions?

[Mario]

No, just click into the description field in the Attributes Panel, select the text and press <Del> to erase it. This empties the attribute (for all selected files).

[kiwilink]

Mario

Thanks for the reply!  I had tried that but when I select more than one image I don't see a field show up to let me delete the description.  (see attached).  I can delete them one at a time but not more than one.

[Mario]

You are using merge mode: Selecting Files with Different Values
Only attributes with identical values for all selected files. Switch to single mode to see the values for all files: The Merge and Single Mode

[kiwilink]

Mario... Thanks for the reply.  I had tried both single and Merge Mode.  Maybe this is not working because the info in the description is not identical.

1.  I had created a data driven category called Mikes Description (see atch "desc.jpg".
2.  Atch 20040703 from my data driven category shows I have many images with different dates in the Description field.
3.  I want to select all of these images (93 were returned from my filter) and delete the dates in description.
4.  As you can see in the 3 dog attachments each image has the same date except the minutes and seconds are different.

Maybe I can't delete everything in the description field for these 93 files because the data is not identical.  I'm not sure.

If I can't delete this data using this method is there another way of doing this without opening each image individually and deleting the date in the description field?

I hope I have explained this so that you understand what i am doing.

Sorry for the big reply here.

Kiwilink  

[Mario]

In none of your screen shots the single file mode is enabled (see my last post). This means that the Attributes Panel only shows attributes identical for all selected files. If you switch to single file mode, you can edit all the data:



There is no build-in function to delete all values for one specific Attribute in one specific Attribute Set for all selected files.

There is a trick, though.

Enable Developer Mode in Edit > Preferences > Application.
Open App Manager and load the "Attributes" sample app.
Select the Attribute set to use at the top.
Select the files to process.

Scroll down until you see 3. Updating Data.
Select the Attribute to clear / empty in Change this Attribute.
Leave the value empty.
Enter 1 for instance
Click Update Data.
If you have multiple records (aka instances) repeat.




Try with some test files first, until you know that this works and you feel comfortable.
Make a backup copy of the database first.

[kiwilink]

Mario

Thank you so much for taking the time to provide me with this great time saving suggestion.  I copied my database to the Laptop and tested it.  It worked Great!!!!    May I ask two questions before I do this to my Production database....

1.  Was I correct to choose "Image per file"?
 
 
 
 
2.  Should I be worried about losing any images doing this? I looked at the Metadata after executing the above and everything looked ok.  Is there something I should focus on to finalize my test?  I'll be affecting about 2,100 files and I want to do my do diligence to make sure I haven't missed anything.  I'm not confident I tested what you would test for.
 
3.  This is unrelated to the above but I wanted to mention it.  After I used your procedure on about 100 files I went back and checked.  Everything was deleted in the Desription.  What I did notice was that in the Title field I saw the attached.  I moved the cursor into the attribute "Title" field and right clicked, chose delete and the blue rectangle disapeared.  I assume there must have been a blank in there.  No big deal because I don't see them in my data driven category field (Title).

I attached the log in case you need it for what I did above.  Thank You!

Kiwilink
 

[Mario]

What do you mean with "image by file"?

The Attributes sample app is designed to show users who want to write scripts manipulating Attributes. That you can use it for your purpose is just a lucky side effect.
The app manipulates Attributes, not metadata.

The screen shot shows an Attribute panel with a row and both Attributes are empty. The Title Attribute is focused and hence shows in blue.

Make a backup of your database.
Delete the descriptions.
Verify that the result is what you want. If not, replace the database from the backup.

[kiwilink]

Mario

Thanks for the reply.  What I mean't by "Image by File"  was the drop down that appeared when I followed your directions (see attachment).  I did not know which one to choose so I chose Image by File.  Was that correct?

Thanks

Kiwilink

[thrinn]

You have to choose which attribute set the App works with. I assume you have defined your own attribute set that is called "Image", and is of type "File" (that is: attribute records are stored on per file-basis).
So, "Image" is just the name you defined for your attribute set.

[kiwilink]

Thrinn

Thanks for the comment.  I just wanted to make sure which option I choose in my attachment because this was the first time I used this.

Thank you.

Kiwilink

[Mario]

If you select the wrong Attribute set at the top, the Attribute you want to delete will not be available.