XnView Software

XnView MP offers the option of saving metadata in the XMP-area. I use CustomFields1 to 10 here, which means that searching and assigning to categories also works without any problems.
I use Tools -> Search with condition XMP - Field.

One question arises: How can I search for images that have no entry in CustomField<n>?

Unfortunately, there is no “is empty” operator.
Using the operator “contains” and the regular expression “^$” (without the quotation marks) does not lead to success either.

Is there a tip on how to find images without metadata in the CustomField1?

Many thanks in advance!
Bernd

See issue for current status and some details.

This problem is supposed to be fixed in XnView MP 1.8.7. Please check and confirm the bug fix here.

Thank you very much for your support!

Unfortunately, I cannot confirm the correctness of the fix.
Did I use the function incorrectly?
I’m using version 1.8.7, date Mar 26 2025

Here are the steps I took.
Setup: 10 images, 3 with some text in custom field 2.

Evaluation: Correctness of the field name and finding a predefined text.
Checkmark: "Eve" is part of custom field 2 on three pictures.
Expectation: 3 fields should be listed.

Search: XMP:Field: "CustomField2", operator = "contains", Text = "Eve" -> 3 files found.
Result: The custom field is entered correctly and a given text is found.

Evaluation: Search for images without an entry in custom field 2.
Expectation: 7 images should be listed

Check 1: Is there an operator like "is empty" -> No
Check 2: Search with operator = "is", content = <blank> -> 0 files found
Check 3: Use regular expressions = no, operator = "is", content = "^$" -> 0 files found
Check 4: Use regular expressions = yes, operator = "is", content = "^$" -> 0 files found

B e r n d wrote: Sun Apr 13, 2025 12:20 pm Check 2: Search with operator = "is", content = <blank> -> 0 files found

this should work, please send us some sample files?

Thank you for looking at the problem.
Attached the samples.
Thanks

you can use directly 'XMP:Custom field 2' from menu

Thank you very much Pierre for your great support!
My problem is solved.

The cause was the attempt to search for empty fields in the XMP-area by using XMP->Field.
Thanks for the hint to use the custom fields directly from the drop-down menu instead. E.g. "XMP->Custom field 2" with operator "is" and leave the input field empty. This works as desired.