Conditionally write to XMP file based on type of source file

[Joanna Carter]

It's me again 

In trying to optimise the number of commands I am executing, I'm trying to enumerate a list of urls, which can be either image files or xmp files, using the same code.

So, I need to detect whether the source file is a RAW file or not. I'm using this command to test...

exiftool -if '$fileType eq "NEF"' -tagsfromfile JNA_0052.NEF "-format<mimetype" JNA_0052.xmp

It always fails, no matter what file extension I put in the condition. Any ideas please?

[StarGeek]

You're processing an XMP file.  That Filetype will never equal NEF and always be Filetype eq "XMP".

[Joanna Carter]

Even if I replace NEF with XMP, it still fails the condition.

I have an array of files which can be either RAW or XMP. What I am trying to do is to transfer two tags from the NEF (or other RAW file) to the XMP file, but only if the "source" file is a RAW file.

Can you help with the correct syntax?

[Joanna Carter]

So, can anyone help with this?

To clarify what I'm after...

1. I have a list of files that can be either NEF or XMP.
2. I want to process them in such a way that, if the file is NEF, an XMP file with the same name should be either created and/or written to with two tags copied from the NEF file.

Helllppp!!! 

[Phil Harvey]

See Example 13 here, and add as many -ext options as you want for the various raw files you want to process.

- Phil

[Joanna Carter]

See Example 13 here, and add as many -ext options as you want for the various raw files you want to process.

Thank you for that lead but I don't want to process a whole directory, just a list of files that I am generating in code.

Is that possible with one command per file?

[Phil Harvey]

You just put whatever files/directories you want to process on the command line.

Doing one command per file is much slower.  You can put as many file names on the command line as you want.  (There is a command-line-length limitation, and if you are getting close to that you should use the -@ option and put the file names in an argfile.)

- Phil

[Joanna Carter]

Thank you once again. Most of the time I am only dealing with writing to one file at a time; it just depends on how many images the user selects in the software but it would be rare to select a whole directory.

So, for unconditional code, am I right in saying that my code should be creating these (or more) "arguments"?


-xmp:subject=Didier JNA_0052.NEF
-tagsfromfile JNA_0052.NEF "-xmp:subject<xmp:subject" "-SidecarForExtension<filetype" "-format<mimetype" JNA_0052.xmp
-api compact=onedesc

What I now want to do is execute the second two lines only if the first line applies to a RAW file, hence my idea of the -if '$filetype eq "NEF"' to test the file type of the source file but that seems to test the target file instead.

[Joanna Carter]

My software searches for keywords, which could be found either in a standalone RAW file or in a related sidecar. If the search returns the URL of an XMP file, I then need to get back to the RAW file in order to show its thumbnail instead of an icon for the RAW file.

This whole effort is all about the faint possibility of having more than one RAW file type, with the same name, in the same directory and trying to avoid writing to an XMP file for the wrong RAW file.

I know it is not normal to have more than one RAW file with the same name because of just such confusion. But it is still possible that someone could add a second RAW file after the XMP has been written for the first.



It might seem unlikely but I feel I should cover the eventuality.

[Alan Clifford]

This whole effort is all about the faint possibility of having more than one RAW file type, with the same name, in the same directory and trying to avoid writing to an XMP file for the wrong RAW file.

Can't you name your xmp files as

myphotosname.nef.xmp
myphotosname.nrw.xmp

[Joanna Carter]

Can't you name your xmp files as

myphotosname.nef.xmp
myphotosname.nrw.xmp

If they were my files, yes. But this app is for photographers who already have their EXIF data in XMP files. It us my job to be provide a search facility that looks into their files, whether they be RAW or XMP and, if they are XMP files find the RAW file that it is based on

[Phil Harvey]

So, for unconditional code, am I right in saying that my code should be creating these (or more) "arguments"?


-xmp:subject=Didier JNA_0052.NEF
-tagsfromfile JNA_0052.NEF "-xmp:subject<xmp:subject" "-SidecarForExtension<filetype" "-format<mimetype" JNA_0052.xmp
-api compact=onedesc

What I now want to do is execute the second two lines only if the first line applies to a RAW file, hence my idea of the -if '$filetype eq "NEF"' to test the file type of the source file but that seems to test the target file instead.

Try this.  (I list the arguments in -@ argfile format):

Code Select Expand

-xmp:subject=Didier
JNA_0052.NEF
-ext
nef
-ext
cr2
-ext
arw
... (all the raw extensions you support)
-execute
-if
$ok
-tagsfromfile
JNA_0052.NEF
-xmp:subject<xmp:subject
-SidecarForExtension<filetype
-format<mimetype
JNA_0052.xmp
-api
compact=onedesc

- Phil

Edit: forgot newline after -api

[Joanna Carter]

Wow! Almost 

Since your reply, I have realised that I really shouldn't be writing anything to the RAW file if the user has chosen to use XMP files.

So, now I end up with...


-xmp:subject=Didier JNA_0052.xmp
-tagsfromfile JNA_0052.NEF "-SidecarForExtension<filetype" "-format<mimetype" JNA_0052.xmp
-api compact=onedesc


... to write the subject to the XMP file followed by copying the tags from the RAW to the XMP file.

But I realise that this is actually two commands. Since I am now only concerned with writing to the XMP file, how do I best combine the two?

[Joanna Carter]

Aaaarrrgghhh!!!

Why do I have to think of the answer after posting an obvious error?

I now have...


-xmp:subject=Didier
-tagsfromfile JNA_0052.NEF "-SidecarForExtension<filetype" "-format<mimetype" JNA_0052.xmp
-api compact=onedesc


Which is exactly what I wanted, once I realised what I thought I wanted wasn't what I really wanted 

Phil, thank you so much for taking the time and effort to help me figure this stuff out.

[Joanna Carter]

Well, thanks to your help, I now have the code I need for writing to an XMP file without needing to write to the RAW file as well, and setting the tags from the RAW file that I will need for searching.


    -preserve
    -ignoreMinorErrors
    -overwrite_original_in_place
    -mwg:keywords=Didier
    -tagsFromFile /Users/joannacarter/Pictures/JNA_0052.NEF '-SidecarForExtension<filetype'
    /Users/joannacarter/Pictures/JNA_0052.xmp


But, even though everything works, I am getting a minor warning peeking through...

Code Select Expand


Warning: No writable tags set from /Users/joannacarter/Pictures/JNA_0052.xmp


This doesn't happen from the command line

Any ideas?