propogate keywords problem

[jln]

I am having difficulty propagating keywords from master files to versions. Other things do propagate like ratings, map location, and annotations. In Preferences-->File Relations-->Versioning, I have "Categories" checked, and in "Categories to Propagate," I have @All checked.

What have I missed?

[Mario]

Categories are not keywords.
To propagate keywords, you have to propagate XMP metadata, at least XMP Keywords.

[JohnZeman]

Also you may need to reload/refresh your categories after propagation before you'll see the changes.

[jln]

Thanks. I think I have it, but I would like to double check. I set all XMP to be propagated. Is that OK?

It seems I also need to do a metadata writeback before the keywords are propagated. Sometimes writeback fails. The Output-->Exiftool window says a temporary file already exists. In Explorer I see there is a file with "tmp" in its name, and if I delete it, metadata writeback works. I think, I may have these errant tmp files throughout my database. Is there a way of getting rid of them in iMatch?

Sometimes, writeback has to be run twice--the second time for a tag with a name something "like Lightroom:hierarchical subject." Is that as expected?

Thanks again for the excellent help.

[Mario]

I set all XMP to be propagated. Is that OK?

That depends on what you want to propagate.
If you only want to propagate keywords but not rating, label, title, description, date & time etc., I would recommend to propagate only the "XMP Keywords".

Sometimes writeback fails. The Output-->Exiftool window says a temporary file already exists. In Explorer I see there is a file with "tmp" in its name, and if I delete it, metadata writeback works. I think, I may have these errant tmp files throughout my database. Is there a way of getting rid of them in iMatch?

ExifTool uses a temporary file when it writes back to a file. Only if everything works 100% correct, ExifTool deletes the original file and renames the temporary file to the original file name. Just for extra safety.

In the very rare case that the temporary files remain, the problem is usually that ExifTool crashes and does not finish the write-back (the original file remains unchanged and the temporary file is left behind). But that is really rare.

You should get yellow warning icons for the affected files in IMatch and also messages about problem writing back.
The only reasons I know for ExifTool crashing is a) really badly corrupted metadata or, more likely, b) a virus checker blocking ExifTool in mid-run.

Sometimes, writeback has to be run twice--the second time for a tag with a name something "like Lightroom:hierarchical subject."

Please read Metadata Problems and Pitfalls for a detailed explanation on why this happens and why two write-backs are sometimes needed. It makes no sense to repeat all the info here. This help topic has been written for exactly this purpose and all users should read it at least once.

... throughout my database. Is there a way of getting rid of them in iMatch?

No. You can do the normal thing and search for the files in Windows Explorer.
Or, if you are experienced in using the command line, do a recursive del for the file extension. NOTE: Do a recursive dir before using the same mask. To check if the right files are matched.