XnView Software

I'm trying to search (Tools > Search) my photos for any with a certain Category assigned or Keyword, but no matter what I search for, I'm getting 0 results if I have Use Catalog checked. Unchecked, I get results, but that is very slow and seems to defeat the purpose.

All photos are on a network SMB share just for photos mapped to drive P: in Windows. There are three top level folders: mine, my wife's and another called xnview_db where I set the catalog to be saved (Settings> Integration > Paths > Folder for Catalog). Catalog > Base path of your pictures is set to P:\.

Most photos were originally tagged with keywords and GPS with GeoSetter when imported. After moving all photos to the network share, and setting the database to that location, I ran View > Update Catalog from files. Now in the Categories pane, I can see a list of all the Categories it got from the photos' keywords. Also, there is a 306,464 KB file called XnView.db in the catalog folder.

However, when I try to search, I get no results. In the Search dialog, I've left Filename blank, set the directory to P:\ (or my folder), selected "Match Any of the following conditions", checked Use Catalog and Recurse through Subfolders. Then I added a condition Categories - contains - (check any Category). Alternately, I tried the condition IPTC:All fields - is any of - (any Keyword). Unfortunately this always returns "Finished: 0 file(s) found..." even if I first open a folder containing photos that have that category assigned.

I referenced this post: viewtopic.php?t=30199 when setting up the file locations, and it seems like it should work.

Can someone tell me what I'm doing wrong?

Since I just imported all keywords, there is no structure to the Categories. I want to go through and make proper category sets, but I need to get search working first. I'd like other computers to be able to access and search the pictures too. Thanks!

the photos on your share drive are already in the catalog of XnView?

Sorry for the delay in my reply.

the photos on your share drive are already in the catalog of XnView?

I thought they were, after I ran "View > Update Catalog from files". Every time I open XnView, the XnView.db file (on the share drive) Modified Date changes to the time I opened the program, even if I have only viewed Categories and not modified anything. Is there another way I should check?

I'm having success today! I tried assigning some new Categories to pictures and now the search is working - the pictures with the Categories I check show up in the search results. I don't know what changed exactly, except that I the edit made it write a change to the database file.

Now I can get to work using this wonderful Category feature the way it's designed, and actually enjoy looking at some of my photos.

After working with this more, and on other Windows PCs on the network, I've found that everything is fine when I use the share name and network path for the catalog location and when browsing photos.

On the other hand, using a mapped drive letter results in the catalog search not giving results, even though all of the Categories show up. Perhaps it's the way that the Catalog references the image files.

Anyway, I just use the network path now and everything works, so if you're not getting Catalog search results, try that.