categories

[vicsharx]

Are the categories written in the database or in the image file? If it is done by default only in the database, is there any way to write it in the file to make it compatible with other programs or other computers that don't use the database?

[Erixx haxx]

Hello:

Tools>> Settings>> Metadata

[vicsharx]

Thanks Erixx. I have noticed that menu and I thought was related to it. But I don't understand the options and I don't want to play with the database without being sure what I do. There is no help available to tell me what is each option.

My guess is that the option "export DB Catergory to XMP" will do it. But, is this a process that will happen with all my images as soon I press OK or only when I create new categories. Does this impact the speed?

I suppose the option "import XMP ..." is to avoid getting the catalog from the files, something that would be good as much of the catalogs from external images are rubbish.

[Erixx haxx]

Hello:

The pull-down under View may answer your second question... Why its under View, I do not know, but

I would suggest to grab a portable version and play around with test folders until xnview is doing what you expect it to..
Their are many words in the options that may not act the way you think they will. This way you can test before commitments to your hard work.

[jonha4711]

Are the categories written in the database or in the image file? If it is done by default only in the database, is there any way to write it in the file to make it compatible with other programs or other computers that don't use the database?

Alas, the interplay between XnViewMP categories (which are stored in the XnView database) and tags in the image files is... let's say, a work in progress.

Sooner or later I'll have to tag tens of thousands of images and I have found no reliable way of doing so. Categories are clearly the way to go, but they are stored in the database. If that goes up in smoke or has to be rebuilt for some reason, all that tagging work is gone as well. So the next logical step would be to export categories into image tags, preferably XMP because it supports hierarchical tags. This, however, is not a reliable two-way process with the current version of XnViewMP. Sometimes, changes in the categories are not transferred into the XMP tags, or vice versa. (I have the relevant options set.)

So for the time being I am in waiting mode. Hopefully a future version will bring more consistency or even the ability to export/import image categories into/from a separate text file. (I am not talking about the list of categories itself, that's already possible to export/import.)

[vicsharx]

Thanks. It would be great if this could be done in a reliable way. I have discover this functionality recently and it really speed up my work. The way you can create multiple overlapping selection of images between different folders and the way is managed is fantastic. But I'm afraid that moving the images around without using XNview will scramble this, and this inevitably will happen.

[jonha4711]

Thanks. It would be great if this could be done in a reliable way. I have discover this functionality recently and it really speed up my work. The way you can create multiple overlapping selection of images between different folders and the way is managed is fantastic. But I'm afraid that moving the images around without using XNview will scramble this, and this inevitably will happen.

Yeah, I fully agree with the "fantastic" bit. Setting categories and searching them works very well indeed (though the search could be made more powerful but that's another story). The problem for me really boils down to the brittleness of storing them solely in the database.

[curio]

There's an option to export categories as XMP/IPTC keywords in the files, and according to my experimentation, this works (reliably). Is this feature more recent than the previous posts?

[jonha4711]

There's an option to export categories as XMP/IPTC keywords in the files, and according to my experimentation, this works (reliably). Is this feature more recent than the previous posts?

I have tested this feature (XMP not IPTC because the former supports hierarchical categories) quite extensively and while the export side of things seems to be working well enough (though there are some open questions even there) I am more concerned with the eventual import. (That's the point of having an export facility: at some point you will have to import what you exported before...) In my tests the re-import of XMP tags and the writing into database categories does not work reliably all the time. And the best export facility is useless if the import is not 100% reliable (that's similar to backups: it's only when you need to restore that you'll find out whether your backup actually works...)

[curio]

There's an option to export categories as XMP/IPTC keywords in the files, and according to my experimentation, this works (reliably). Is this feature more recent than the previous posts?

I have tested this feature (XMP not IPTC because the former supports hierarchical categories) quite extensively and while the export side of things seems to be working well enough (though there are some open questions even there) I am more concerned with the eventual import. (That's the point of having an export facility: at some point you will have to import what you exported before...) In my tests the re-import of XMP tags and the writing into database categories does not work reliably all the time. And the best export facility is useless if the import is not 100% reliable (that's similar to backups: it's only when you need to restore that you'll find out whether your backup actually works...)

I absolutely understand that. Indeed, I only checked the export side of things and assumed importing would work likewise as my own tags showed up. Do the issues only affect hierarchical keywords? I guess the issues themselves are hard to attribute to specific circumstances, i.e., hard to reproduce and harder to avoid?

[jonha4711]

Do the issues only affect hierarchical keywords? I guess the issues themselves are hard to attribute to specific circumstances, i.e., hard to reproduce and harder to avoid?

I have concentrated my tests on hierarchical keywords because practically all my images have (or will have) multiple, hierarchical categories. And yes, some of the problems I encountered are impossible to reproduce. (If I had posted about all glitches I experienced during my tests, Pierre-Emmanuel would cancel my account : )

I accept that if something goes awry, it tends to be repairable by simply re-initalising the database... and it is exactly then that the reliable re-import of categories comes into play. Let's just wait and see what comes with the next version(s)...