[NR] Keywords not appearing under @Keywords

[Darius1968]

For whatever reason, I have a problem file whose keywords are not registering under the @Keywords data-driven category. 

So far, I've performed on the problem file, a refresh of the metadata and a force update. 
Also, I've refreshed the @Keywords category. 

So, why is the @Keywords category refusing to reflect the keywords for said file? 

[Mario]

@Keywords is basically a data-driven category, dynamically created from the hierarchical keywords in your files.
I don't see how this could fail and nothing similar was ever reported, as far as I recall.

Do these files have hierarchical keywords?
Do you use the Keywords Panel to add and edit keywords?

Select the file and add a keyword in the Keyword Panel. The corresponding category under @Keywords should update to include the file, or a new category should be created.
If this does not work, run a database diagnosis.
Close IMatch and reboot your PC.
Start IMatch again and switch to debug logging via Help menu > Support. See log file.
Again, add a new keyword in the Keywords Panel and then ZIP and attach the log file. Maybe a warning or error is logged.

[Darius1968]

Do these files have hierarchical keywords?

Yes. 

Do you use the Keywords Panel to add and edit keywords?

Initially, no.  The first keywords added to the problem file were via a paste attributes (Label, Rating, Keywords).  The metadata write-back went very well.  But, the result was that the keywords showed up perfectly in the metadata panel>Keywords, but I was alarmed when I examined the categories panel>current, wherein I found that the keywords were not registered.
That's when I performed the refresh metadata and force update on the file, as well as refreshing @Keywords. 
Subsequent keyword additions, via the keywords panel, cause the new keywords to appear under @Keywords straight away.  So, I conclude that the error is resulting from the early-on paste attributes operation. 

All of my post paste-attributes (Keywords)-additions-of-new-keywords (via keywords panel) were done AFTER I performed a database diagnosis (normal) and rebooted. 
I've attached a log file (debug mode) that reflects this. 

[Mario]

So this does not happen when you add/edit keywords in the normal way, but only when you copy keywords from another file via the Paste Attributes command?
I suggest you open a bug report in this case so I can analyze this further.
I wonder why refreshing @Keywords does not work either - since this reads the hierarchical keywords stored in the database and rebuilds from that.

[Darius1968]

So this does not happen when you add/edit keywords in the normal way, but only when you copy keywords from another file via the Paste Attributes command?

Exactly!  (at least, for this problem file)
I just now used the ECP to delete all metadata from this file.  Then, I re-did the same paste attributes operation.  (What I observed - while doing the subsequent md write-back for this file - that was strange was that the pen-icon said that there were only the label and rating to update, not the keywords!)  But, again, just two of the eight keywords show up in categories panel>current and under @keywords, but the metadata panel>keywords shows all eight...Strange!!!

So, with that thought, I'm gonna ask you if you can simply move this post over to the Bugs section for further investigation.  Thanks! 

[Mario]

I select a file with 3 keywords.
I use Ctrl+C to copy it into the clipboard.
I select another file without keywords.
I use Paste Attributes and select the "keywords" option.
IMatch writes back the original and copies the keywords to the target file.
The @Keywords category for the copied keyword now also contains the target file.
So, this works in principle. I will schedule a time slot to make some more tests later.

[Darius1968]

Oh, I am sure that part of the reason is that that file is a problem file!  Somehow, defective in some way. 
With that said, there is probably some fine tuning that could be done in IMatch to get around the obstacle because it is still interesting why those keywords exist in the metadata's hierarchical keywords, but @Keywords refuses to enumerate. 

[Mario]

I could not reproduce the problem you are experiencing. I found a glitch when rating/label was copied together with other metadata and the destination file had pending metadata and fixed that.

Damaged metadata in files (problem files) can cause all kinds of issues and prevent ExifTool from doing it's thing. You shall see corresponding warnings in the ExifTool output panel.

Run the Metadata Analyst on the problem file.
Fix the metadata problems as needed.
If the metadata in the file is valid again, I'm sure copying keywords will also work.