Mapping standard tags to ExifTool tags

[Jom]

Hello.
I haven't read the ExifTool documentation for a long time and forgot where I got the tag mapping from.
Please help me find tag mapping.
For example:

Code Select Expand


Exif | BodySerialNumber  -> exif:serialnumber
XMP  | xmp:Nickname      -> xmp-xmp:nickname


[StarGeek]

Using the command in FAQ #3 will show you the tag names and the groups they belong to.

The Tag Names pages lists all the groups and tag names.

[Jom]

Yes, I've looked at these pages, but it's the opposite for me - I don't extract tags from the image.
I take tags from the standards and then look for a match for them in ExifTool.

[StarGeek]

In most cases, the name will be the same or really close.  In the case of EXIF, the notes column will show the changes.  For example, under SerialNumber, the note says "(called BodySerialNumber by the EXIF spec.)"

I don't see any similar notes under IPTC IIM and XMP is usually the same except in the case of some flattened tags, which are usually shorted to remove duplicated parts.

[Jom]

I create a list of the main metadata tags to watch out for in my photos. Now I do everything manually: I look through several standards, select the necessary tags and then look at the "ExifTool Tag Names" page and compose full tag names from the namespace and ExifTool-name to use them in commands.
It is very difficult and easy to make a mistake.

For example, now I do this:
1. look XMP-standard and select necessary tag — xmpDM:comment
2. look "ExifTool Tag Names", select XMP-link and go to page "XMP Tags"
3. find (ctrl+F) on this page "comment" word
4. look notes "(called comment by the spec)" and I see ExifTool-analog — DMComment
5. look namespace for this table in string "These tags belong to the ExifTool XMP-xmpDM family 1 group."
6. compiling the final version of the tag name to use it in ExifTool-commands — XMP-xmpDM:DMComment

Is there an automatic way to find out for standard tags their correspondence in ExifTool?

[Phil Harvey]

The easiest way is if you have a sample file that contains these tags.  Then just use ExifTool to read the file.

But if you are working from standards documents, unfortunately I think that you are stuck with the process you described.

- Phil

[Jom]

I don't understand what you mean when you talk about a file with a these tags? Is it a photo or a text file?

[Phil Harvey]

I mean a photo.

- Phil

[Jom]

I still don't understand... Should I create this file for myself and use it or do you mean something else?

[Phil Harvey]

If you can find a sample file containing the metadata you are interested in, or use some other software to produce one for yourself.

[Jom]

So my way is the only way if I first look for tags in the standards and don't use third party software?

[StarGeek]

This thread has a sample file which contains over 1,400 tags already set.  It's what I use to test what data various programs and websites actually read.  There's also an .args file there to create your own.

[Jom]

Thanks for the link, I'll check it out later.
Now I want to know if my method is correct and the only one, or are there any nuances?
I must clarify this directly in order to close this question for myself and move on.

[Phil Harvey]

I can't answer this question.  There are many nuances in metadata, and I don't understand the nuances of your workflow.

I may suggest, however, that you are over-thinking this.  You can't possibly tame the wild world of metadata, so you must do whatever works best for you.

- Phil

[Jom]

My question is simpler than you think.
Here we are not talking about a workflow, but only about a way to find for tags from standards their ExifTool-analogues.
My question is only about this and has no nuances. Everything is exactly as I described early.

Now I do everything manually for each tag separately. Probably, if there was a way to do it more automatically using Exiftool, you would have already told me about it.
I was hoping that Exiftool would be able to give me its tag mappings to standard tags automatically, for example

xmpDM:comment -> XMP-xmpDM:DMComment

but as I already guessed, there is no such possibility.

If such complex documentation and site is generated for Exiftool, then why can't a list of mapping be generated?
Can this feature be added?