---- ExifTool ---- group and subsequent tags?

[Shelia]

I'm pretty new to exiftool.  It's slow going but I'm persistent and catching on.

While using the command line tool I see that there is a group at the top of the list entitled ---- ExifTool ---- along with two tags below it, as follows:

exiftool filename.ext -a -s -g
---- ExifTool ----
ExifToolVersion                 : 12.41
Warning                         : [minor] The ExtractEmbedded option may find more tags in the media data
...

Is this data actually embedded into the file I'm working with?  If so, is exiftool responsible for creating that group and tags?  I try to remove it (ExifToolVersion) using this command and receive the shown error:

exiftool -ExifToolVersion= filename.ext
Warning: Sorry, ExifToolVersion is not writable
Nothing to do.

Is there anything I can do to remove this group and the tags below it?

[StarGeek]

No, these entries are not embedded data.  See the Extra Tags page.

ExifToolVersion is simply the current version of exiftoo that is running.  Warning is a tag which indicates what warnings occurred while running that command.  They are not necessarily problems with the file.  For example, the warning in your example doesn't mean there's something wrong with the file, just that there may be more data in the file that is not extracted with the current command.

See also the Composite tags page, which are tags that exiftool creates on the fly based upon other data that exists in the file.

[Shelia]

Thank you, StarGeek, and thank you for the extra info.

Regarding exiftool creating Composite tags on the fly, I'm seeing numerous writable tags in my file that are listed on the Composite tags list you provided the link to.  Were those tags likely created by exiftool?  If so, is there a way to stop exiftool from doing that?  My intention is to keep the tags within my file identical to the way they were before using exiftool.

[Phil Harvey]

Use the -e option when reading a file to prevent ExifTool from generating the Composite tags.

- Phil

[StarGeek]

Regarding exiftool creating Composite tags on the fly, I'm seeing numerous writable tags in my file that are listed on the Composite tags list you provided the link to.  Were those tags likely created by exiftool?

Composite tags never directly exist in a file.  Exiftool will read the multiple tags listed to create them.  When writing to any of the few writable composite tags, exiftool will write to the multiple tags listed.  It is meant to be used as a simpler interface to write multiple tags at once.  For example, when writing to Composite:GPSPosition, exiftool will write to GPSLatitude, GPSLatitudeRef, GPSLongitude, and GPSLongitudeRef all at once.  This was added so it would be easier to capture coordinates from Google Maps and copy/paste them directly into a command line.

If so, is there a way to stop exiftool from doing that?  My intention is to keep the tags within my file identical to the way they were before using exiftool.

As long as you don't write to the file, i.e. explicitly set a tag to a new value, exiftool will not write any data.  But FAQ #13 might be worth reading.

[Shelia]

Excellent info, you two - thank you for taking the time to respond.

I've been dabbling with the -htmlDump option as well - enlightening.

Thanks again.