ExifTool Forum

[Originally posted by johnbeardy on 2007-04-14 14:11:12-07]

First post here - so let me give you some well-deserved praise for the work you've done on exiftool.

I'm experimenting with exchanging XMP information between iView and Lightroom, using iView on Windows to control the process. For example, I would want to set a coloured label in Lightroom, then run a script in iView that reads that value from the XMP, and sets the field value in iView.

I've almost figured out the command line, but I've hit a small issue. A number of image formats could be involved, some like DNGs which contain the XMP in the file, but others like NEF where the metadata is in a sidecar file. If I am reading the documentation correctly, I should be able to use srcfile to read the sidecar. So I'm trying this:

exiftool.exe -xmp-xmp:Label -b -srcfile xmp "031214 001348 Tate.nef" > output.txt

My understanding is that this should look at "031214 001348 Tate.xmp" (all files are in the same folder for testing) but I'm getting a File Not Found message. Any ideas? Am I misunderstanding how this srcfile argument?

John

[Originally posted by exiftool on 2007-04-14 19:08:27-07]

Hi John,

Good point.  Maybe I should make the -srcfile option a bit more
similar to the -w option.  Currently -w works with EXT or FMT,
where EXT is a file extension and FMT is a filename format string,
but -srcfile only works with FMT.  I think about changing this.

For now, what you want is "-srcfile %d%f.xmp" to process
sidecar XMP files.

But the question is: Why do this when you can just use the command


?

- Phil

[Originally posted by johnbeardy on 2007-04-14 19:37:14-07]

Thanks Phil, I'll give that a try. I suppose what I'm trying to do is avoid separate code for different file types. At least in my Adobe-centred world, there wouldn't ever be a sidecar for DNG, TIF, PSD, JPEG, while there wouldn't be XMP metadata in a NEF. I'd like to say "just get me the metadata" so I'm hoping I can send the filename and the srcfile will do the "if" for me.

But iView seems to be able to force XMP into a NEF, and one can generate sidecars for the Adobe-documented file types, so I may well do as you suggest and switch my script to look at the sidecar for raw files.

John

[Originally posted by exiftool on 2007-04-14 23:19:23-07]

Hi John,

It's good you have an alternate solution, because the -srcfile doesn't
do an "if".  If you do "-srcfile %d%f.xmp" and the xmp sidecar doesn't
exist, then the command will fail.

- Phil