Way to specify what custom tags to cache in DB

[FKCapitalism2]

Would be great if there was a way to specify what custom tags should be cached in DB when scanning new or existing images besides the standard EXIF tags.

For example among the rest i would like to use:

[MakerNotes:Image] Shutter: Silent / Electronic
[MakerNotes:Camera] Flash Exposure Compensation
[MakerNotes:Camera] Flash Action
[MakerNotes:Camera] Electronic Front Curtain Shutter
[MakerNotes:Image] Shutter Count

Ideally there could be a way to load all tags that are inside particular image and then select with checkbox which ones to add to DB.

Later this tags could also be available in Search (Ctrl + Shift + F)

[jkm]

XnViewMP (when the feature is enabled) scans and stores ALL MakerNotes, standard, and custom tags that are available in an image, and does make them available to Search. Essentially everything that Exiftool can capture, XnViewMP makes searchable.

Since MakerNotes and custom tags are infinitely variable, differing between manufacturers and camera models, adding functionality to only selectively include certain tags would complicate and slow the import process, which is highly undesirable, and would negatively impact search capabilites for no significant gain other than customization for customization's sake. Simply put, the feature exists because it straightforward, future-proof, simple to use, and simple to implement. If it had to be customizable in the way you describe and account for all the various possibilities and complications that entails, the feature would not exist.

I'll clarify a couple of other things for the benefit of other readers who might be confused by some of the content in your post.

The way you have tried to depict certain tags, by prefixing [MakerNotes:Image] or [MakerNotes:Camera] is incorrect and nonsensical.
MakerNotes, Camera, and Image are all "Headings" or "Group Names" used by Exiftool to categorize tags. They are peer-level groups in the namespace, so one is not a part of or subset of another. So you could, for example have [MakerNotes]Shutter Count, or you could have [Image]Shutter Count, but you cannot have [MakerNotes:Image]Shutter Count; because [MakerNotes:Image] is improper and does not correspond to the Exiftool namespace.

If a tag named "Flash Exposure Compensation" exists in the MakerNotes section, the correct way to specify that exact tag in XnViewMP is "MakerNotes:FlashExposureCompensation". That is the group or heading name, followed by a colon, followed by the tag name without spaces. I described this in my initial post about the new features which is available on the support forum. Exiftool and XnViewMP are case insensitive when parsing the namespace.

Regarding the notion of "custom" tags... You talk about "custom" tags and depict MakerNotes in the examples.

Although MakerNotes tags could be thought of as "custom", in the sense that they are bespoke to a particular manufacturer (or indeed a particular model), they are not called "custom" in the context of Exiftool. In the Exiftool, they are called simply "MakerNotes tags" because "custom" has a very different meaning.

"Custom" tags, for Exiftool, are user-defined tags whose definition is specified in the user's .Exiftool_config file. These are tag definitions the user has created to supplement or even override the tags that are contained in the image file. These tag values are calculated at exiftool runtime, and have no existence other than on that user's PC, for the instance of exiftool using that .Exiftool_config file. These tags are often defined to be in the "Composite" group. You could for example define a tag "Composite:ThisIsMyPersonalPrivateTag" that contains whatever arbitrary data you want, since user-defined tag definitions can execute Perl code (Perl code that the user writes).

XnViewMP does store and make available to search all user-defined custom tags that exist (are defined) at the time the image file is imported. This is an extremely powerful feature of XnViewMP. If a user edits the .Exiftool_config file to construct a new custom tag after an image has already been imported, and wants this new custom tag to be searchable, then it is necessary to do an "update metadata" in XnViewMP to force exiftool to rescan the images using its new .Exiftool_config that contains the new tag definition.

Hopefully this helps and clarifies.

[FKCapitalism2]

XnViewMP (when the feature is enabled) scans and stores ALL MakerNotes, standard, and custom tags that are available in an image, and does make them available to Search. Essentially everything that Exiftool can capture, XnViewMP makes searchable.

You mean option Options > Catalog > Store Exiftool fields?

I don't need this for search, want to display this info per image in Settings > View > Info

If a tag named "Flash Exposure Compensation" exists in the MakerNotes section, the correct way to specify that exact tag in XnViewMP is "MakerNotes:FlashExposureCompensation".

Does not work it does not get evaluated, shows in metadata overlay: {MakerNotes:FlashExposureCompensation}

[jkm]

I’m sure we can get this straightened out…

Please read the documentation post I put out when the features were released:
https://newsgroup.xnview.com/viewtopic.php?t=49948

I guess you missed this before, otherwise you wouldn’t have posted what you did. Unfortunately the app doesn’t really come with any significant documentation or help, so one basically has to scan or search the forums to stay informed. The app frequently gets new capabilities. Help->About:Changelog can give you a clue sometimes, but Pierre is very terse there, and on that occasion forgot to mention the new Exiftool support entirely (even though it was the biggest new feature), which is why I did the post.

If you can’t find it again in the future, a forum search for “makernotes” or “exiftool” or “metadata support” finds it.

The view info overlay works the same as labels.

Does not work it does not get evaluated, shows in metadata overlay: {MakerNotes:FlashExposureCompensation}

Because you’re (sort of) using the search syntax. I provided you the search syntax because you explicitly mentioned search in your post. You didn’t mention Labels or the overlay. What you used would work in Search (without the braces obviously); note there were no braces in my previous answer.

The view info overlay uses the same syntax as labels, so it would be {Exiftool:TagNameNoSpaces} just like you would use in Labels. The syntax for referencing exiftool values for Labels and View info overlay does not support specifying the group at this time, but Search does. That can be a bit confusing.

The exiftool syntax for labels and info overlay has existed for a long time so I generally assume people know it; it was not new in 1.9.6. That version just greatly expanded the data (makernotes for example) and made it instant instead of slow by reading it into the db at import.

Extra tip: if you ever see your substitution quoted back to you (as you reported above) it’s because it’s unrecognizable due to syntax and so is treated as text. If instead it evaluates to null, then the syntax is correct but either the tag name is wrong, or the tag is absent or empty.

By the way, I also assume you have the name of your tag “FlashExposureCompensation” correct. I don’t know any camera maker that uses a tag by that name. Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Fuji, Sony, and Pentax all use “FlashExposureComp”.

What camera are you using that produces that tag you named?

[FKCapitalism2]

Thanks for info i am going trough it now.

What camera are you using that produces that tag you named?

Sony A7 III, i got it from the camera metadata [MakerNotes:Camera] Flash Exposure Compensation : -3

{ExifTool:FlashExposureCompensation} worked

[FKCapitalism2]

If a tag named "Flash Exposure Compensation" exists in the MakerNotes section, the correct way to specify that exact tag in XnViewMP is "MakerNotes:FlashExposureCompensation". That is the group or heading name, followed by a colon, followed by the tag name without spaces. I described this in my initial post about the new features which is available on the support forum. Exiftool and XnViewMP are case insensitive when parsing the namespace.

How do i use it for for Search (Ctrl+F), under Conditions > Add drop down menu what option exactly do i select?

e.g. i want to use Search to find all images with tag [MakerNotes:Image] Camera Orientation : Rotate 270 CW

[jkm]

How do i use it for for Search (Ctrl+F), under Conditions > Add drop down menu what option exactly do i select?

Did you read the documentation post link I gave you? This is clearly covered in the documentation post. You're going to add an "Exiftool value".

e.g. i want to use Search to find all images with tag [MakerNotes:Image] Camera Orientation : Rotate 270 CW

I don't understand why you're still asking about [MakerNotes:Image] when I already explained that is not a proper way to specify anything. [MakerNotes:Image] doesn't exist and you can't use it.

It would help if you read the information I already give you in this thread, and then read the documentation post I linked to. It gives you the information you need in order to search on the Orientation tag. The Exiftool tab in the info panel shows you the names of all the fields you can search against, and the documentation post explains how to do the search.

[FKCapitalism2]

How do i use it for for Search (Ctrl+F), under Conditions > Add drop down menu what option exactly do i select?

Did you read the documentation post link I gave you? This is clearly covered in the documentation post. You're going to add an "Exiftool value".

e.g. i want to use Search to find all images with tag [MakerNotes:Image] Camera Orientation : Rotate 270 CW

I don't understand why you're still asking about [MakerNotes:Image] when I already explained that is not a proper way to specify anything. [MakerNotes:Image] doesn't exist and you can't use it.

It would help if you read the information I already give you in this thread, and then read the documentation post I linked to. It gives you the information you need in order to search on the Orientation tag. The Exiftool tab in the info panel shows you the names of all the fields you can search against, and the documentation post explains how to do the search.

I am not a reader type, more a visual learner.

Thanks i did not see the "ExifTool Value" option in the dropdown at first.

By the way i did not claim its the way to specify in search, this was extract from image's EXIF metadata [MakerNotes:Image] Camera Orientation : Rotate 270 CW the question was how to use it in search...

To answer my own question Ctrl+F then Add > ExifTool Value then search for Camera Orientation value contains Rotate 270 CW