Exiftool - MWG mode

[herb]

Hello Phil,

Because a running Exiftool which is in MWG mode (e.g. started with -stay_open and one task used -use mwg) cannot return to normal mode, it is important to know when exiftool changes into MWG mode.

Of course the option -use mwg will force Exiftool to run in MWG mode and also in case of writing a mwg-tag (e.g. -mwg:city="my city") will do so.
I also suggest that Exiftool - in case of display and copy -  with -mwg:all  will run in MWG mode.

But does Exiftool also run in MWG mode when I start it with -all:all --mwg:all?

Is this all true or do I miss a golden rule?
Thanks for your help in advance.
Best regards
Herb   

[Phil Harvey]

If you explicitly request any tag with an MWG group name, then -use MWG is implied (this includes copied tags, and tags in arguments to -if, -list, -listw and -listx, but I just noticed that it doesn't work for -p -- I will fix this).  Ignoring MWG tags with --mwg:all does not load the MWG module.

- Phil

[herb]

Hello Phil,

thanks for your quick reply. Please allow an additional question to MWG tags:

E.g.: for tag -city="my city" (without any groupname) it depends on -use mwg whether -iptc:city or -mwg:city is used?

Best regards
Herb

[Phil Harvey]

Correct.  I should make this clear in the documentation.

- Phil

[herb]

Hello Phil,

Thanks for your comments. In meantime I have another question to MWG mode:
When I try to delete all MWG-tags with
   exiftool -mgw:all= <file>
I get as answer: mwg not a deletable group.

This is all 100% ok (for me), but the question is: does Exiftool change into MWG-mode?
Both are ok for me, but knowing it would be very helpful.

Thanks for your answer in advance.
Best regards
Herb

[Phil Harvey]

Hi Herb,

   exiftool -mgw:all= <file>
I get as answer: mwg not a deletable group.

This is all 100% ok (for me), but the question is: does Exiftool change into MWG-mode?

Yes.  This loads the MWG module.

- Phil