When I run the exiftool from the cmd line (see below), I have 3 problems with the directory column that it creates:
1. Slashes in the directory names are / instead of \.
2. Spaces in the directory names should be ASCII 32 and instead they are ASCII 160 (non-breaking spaces?).
3. It is returning strange Unicode characters in some cases, usually where there would be a space. Like: Waitemata and Gulf Ward
These character problems do not exist when viewing the directories with Windows File Manager or when using VBA code like: Set fso = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
Exiftool is doing something to create these characters. I added "exit=utf8" but it did not help. Any assistance appreciated.
exiftool -r -ext jpg -csv -filename -filemodifydate -datetimeoriginal -charset exif=utf8 -directory -IPTC:ObjectName -IPTC:Category -IPTC:Keywords -IPTC:City -IPTC:Sublocation -IPTC:Province-State -IPTC:Caption-Abstract -GPSLatitude -GPSLongitude D:\C4 >output.csv
Quote from: BrooksR on June 01, 2025, 02:51:20 PM1. Slashes in the directory names are / instead of \.
You can change all forward slashes to backslashes by adding
-api filter="tr(/)(\\)" to the command (but of course this will change slashes in other tags too).
Quote2. Spaces in the directory names should be ASCII 32 and instead they are ASCII 160 (non-breaking spaces?).
I don't see how ExifTool could be doing this.
Quote3. It is returning strange Unicode characters in some cases, usually where there would be a space. Like: Waitemata and Gulf Ward
These character problems do not exist when viewing the directories with Windows File Manager or when using VBA code like: Set fso = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
Exiftool is doing something to create these characters. I added "exit=utf8" but it did not help. Any assistance appreciated.
exiftool -r -ext jpg -csv -filename -filemodifydate -datetimeoriginal -charset exif=utf8 -directory -IPTC:ObjectName -IPTC:Category -IPTC:Keywords -IPTC:City -IPTC:Sublocation -IPTC:Province-State -IPTC:Caption-Abstract -GPSLatitude -GPSLongitude D:\C4 >output.csv
Your "
-charset exif=utf8" has no effect because you are not extracting any EXIF tags (other than the GPS tags).
Have you read FAQ 10 (https://exiftool.org/faq.html#Q10) and FAQ 18 (https://exiftool.org/faq.html#Q18)?
- Phil
Quote from: BrooksR on June 01, 2025, 02:51:20 PM2. Spaces in the directory names should be ASCII 32 and instead they are ASCII 160 (non-breaking spaces?).
As Phil says, it isn't exiftool doing this.
Check you directory names to make sure the directories themselves don't have non-break spaces instead of spaces.
Are you using PowerShell or CMD? Make sure and use CMD, as PS tries to convert everything into UTF-16 when it is redirected/piped.
Make sure you're not loading the text into a word processor/Google Docs/etc. Programs like these will "help" you by converting some characters into others, with quotes being a big example of this.
Thank you for the reply, Phil.
[I don't see how ExifTool could be doing this.]
It could be coming from the Apple iPhone that way.
[{Have you read FAQ 10 (https://exiftool.org/faq.html#Q10) and FAQ 18 (https://exiftool.org/faq.html#Q18)?]
There is an overwhelming amount of information there. :) Prior to running exiftool, I'm moving the JPGs from an iPhone to a PC using a utility called iMazing. When I talk to them about these problems, they say they are just bringing the data over as it sits in the iPhone Photos area.
Could you please suggest what parameter(s) I should try? Thanks!
Quote from: StarGeek on June 01, 2025, 04:48:16 PMQuote from: BrooksR on June 01, 2025, 02:51:20 PM2. Spaces in the directory names should be ASCII 32 and instead they are ASCII 160 (non-breaking spaces?).
As Phil says, it isn't exiftool doing this.
Check you directory names to make sure the directories themselves don't have non-break spaces instead of spaces.
Are you using PowerShell or CMD? Make sure and use CMD, as PS tries to convert everything into UTF-16 when it is redirected/piped.
Make sure you're not loading the text into a word processor/Google Docs/etc. Programs like these will "help" you by converting some characters into others, with quotes being a big example of this.
Checking the directory names is a good idea (I should have thought of that).
Everything is CMD.
No, not using a Word Processor. But the data is coming from an iPhone. I don't see special characters when I use File Manager to view the folders on the PC. They show up when I run exiftool.exe and output to the CSV.
Quote from: BrooksR on June 02, 2025, 04:21:52 PMI don't see special characters when I use File Manager to view the folders on the PC. They show up when I run exiftool.exe and output to the CSV.
They won't necessarily show up when you just look at the directory name.
Try selecting the problem directory, hit F2, hit Control+C. That will copy the directory name to the clipboard.
Then paste the results into this website (InvisibleCharacterViewer) (https://invisiblecharacterviewer.com/). If nonbreak space characters are part of the directory name, then they will show up in the second text box.