Application of Keyword/Category Hierarchy is Inconsistent

[KK45897]

Hi,

I have tagged a lot of jpg files with XnView and in doing so I have noticed some inconsistency in the way that keywords/categories are saved in the file metadata. I always apply categories by checking the boxes next to them in the category tree pane (and not by dragging and dropping, for instance). I have lots of hierarchies in my category tree and I have XnView set up so that when I check the box next to a lower level category in my tree, all the parent categories above that child category are checked as well.

What seems to be happening is that when I add categories to multiple images at once, some of the images are tagged correctly, with the category hierarchy maintained in the metadata, and some of the images don't have the hierarchy reflected in the metadata.

So here's a simple example. I have a parent category named "Color," and this category contains child categories that are the names of colors, like "Red," "Blue," "Green," and "Yellow." So I navigate to a folder with some of my images in it and I select a bunch of images that contain the color red and I check the category named "Red." And when I do this the parent category "Color" is also checked. So then I update the image data from the database and I check the metadata of the images to see if the tagging worked. What I find is that some of the images have been tagged like this: "Color/Red", and some of the images have just been tagged "Red".

This is a problem because now my images have been tagged with what are basically two different categories, so if I try to use any other image organizing program (or update the XnView database) I end up with two "Red" categories in my tree because one shows up under the parent tag "Color" and one shows up in the root or top level of my category tree. And this makes it really difficult to keep my photos organized the way I want (it ends up almost defeating the purpose of tagging my images if they are not tagged correctly).

Has anyone else had this problem or does anyone know why it might be happening? If I can't solve this problem it may end up being a deal breaker, which is sad because XnView is one of the few image organizing programs that I actually like and use.


Thanks!



*I have XnView MP version 0.68.

[xnview]

do you write category in IPTC/XMP metadata?
are you able to reproduce this problem?

[m.Th.]

- In Settings | Metadata what is the setting of the "Automatically apply parent keywords (Ctrl+Click for single keyword)"? If the setting is cleared the Ctrl+Click applies the entire genealogy, hence a way would be if you keep pressed (even without knowing, sticky keys etc.) the Ctrl key when you tag. (Perhaps you use Ctrl to select multiple photos)

- Can you spot a difference between your actions which you did for photos tagged "Red" and the ones tagged "Color" + "Red"?

[KK45897]

Hi,

Thanks for your replies!

Yes, I do have XnView set up to write the categories into IPTC/XMP. I am still working on reproducing the problem (I have not yet).

m.Th. -- In Settings|Metadata I do have the box checked for "Automatically apply parent keywords (Ctrl+Click for single keyword)." You're right, I probably did use the Ctrl key while selecting some of the photos, and maybe I kept it pressed while tagging. That could be what went wrong. I will try to reproduce the effect and see what happens.

[schultzter]

Good morning...

I've noticed behaviour similar to this as well, it seems to be when I select a sub-Category I've just created. If I click (not select) another category and then come back to my new category and select it all is good. But when I select the newly created category immediately after creating it then only that category is selected and not all it's parents.

I'm using XnView MP 0.68 un*x 64

Thanks,

[CameronD]

I am seeing this as well, in version 0.72.
Select a number of images, apply a child category with a click in the categories pane, and when I come back later some of these images have included the parent, and some not.
Unfortunately, I have not tracked down the conditions to reproduce.

I have noticed a number of other inconsistencies, so will create a new post.