Time Line Problem

Started by erichaas, August 14, 2019, 09:06:30 PM

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erichaas

All of the sudden, I have a group of photos taken on 2013-10-21 that started showing up in the timeline at 2019-08-07. I did a Rescan - Force Update on them, and now they're showing up in the timeline with today's date. The metadata window shows Date Digitized, Date Created, and Date Modified as 10/21/2013. Database diagnostics reports no errors.

Mario

See How IMatch uses Date and Time Information

What does the variable {File.DateTime} show (VarToy App) or the date/time Attribute in the File Window? These are derived from the XMP timestamps of your files.
-- Mario
IMatch Developer
Forum Administrator
http://www.photools.com  -  Contact & Support - Follow me on 𝕏 - Like photools.com on Facebook

erichaas

{File.DateTime} and the date/time Attribute in the File Window both show today's date.

erichaas

Okay, I fixed the problem. I copied the files to a folder outside of the database, then deleted the images from IMatch. I moved the files back into the original folder and rescanned the folder. They are now showing up correctly in the timeline.

Mario

When this happens again:

1. Secure the IMatch log file (copy it). See log file
2. Do a forced rescan of the problem file by selecting it and then pressing Shift+Ctrl+F5

Note all relevant info, like which other apps were running at the time etc.
If ExifTool cannot read the EXIF timestamps in your files for some reason, we should see more info in the log file.
-- Mario
IMatch Developer
Forum Administrator
http://www.photools.com  -  Contact & Support - Follow me on 𝕏 - Like photools.com on Facebook

erichaas

#5
So, something similar happened again. A bunch of old photos showed up in the Time Line with a recent date. I saved a copy of the log file. In this case, they were all scanned photos for which I did not have an exact date. I had entered estimated dates when I first added them to IMatch. A lot of them were in .PNG format, which IIRC doesn't allow for  internal metadata.

I did a forced rescan, but that did not fix the problem. However, I re-entered the estimated dates using the Metadata panel, and which fixed the issue this time (this did not work the last time).

I'm not sure what I was running at the time, because apparently the problem occurred on the 21st, but I didn't notice it until the 24th.

Mario

If your files have no metadata, IMatch will use the "last modified on disk date and time". See: How IMatch uses Date and Time Information
When you then set the XMP created/subject created timestamps in the Metadata Panel and write back, IMatch uses these dates to position the file on the timeline. Until then, it will always use the file system date.

PNG allows for embedded XMP metadata.
-- Mario
IMatch Developer
Forum Administrator
http://www.photools.com  -  Contact & Support - Follow me on 𝕏 - Like photools.com on Facebook

erichaas

Yes, I understand if the photos don't have metadata, IMatch uses the last modified date/time. However, I had added a date and time to these files using the Metadata Panel when I originally added them to IMatch. These images were showing up in the Time Line with the date and time I had entered, and that was the date and time showing up in the metadata panel.

Recently, I modified the keywords in these files. When I did that, the date/time in these images changed to the last modified date/time. The date/time I had previously entered via the Metadata Panel had been lost.

Mario

There is a ton of reasons for this to happen.

XMP dates are synched with EXIF and legacy IPTC dates in your files. Much potential for damage if data in the file is out-of-sync initially and overrides what IMatch stores on re-import...

At least we need one example image which exhibits this behavior (loosing the XMP date and time set in the MD panel when writing back).
Also your Edit > Preferences > Metadata 2 settings when different from the defaults.
Also your File-format metadata settings when different from default.
-- Mario
IMatch Developer
Forum Administrator
http://www.photools.com  -  Contact & Support - Follow me on 𝕏 - Like photools.com on Facebook