Warning: No writable tags found -- confusion

[nms]

Window XP SP3, exiftool 8.64

C:\>exiftool -tagsFromFile "w:/%d/%f.%e" -@ nms.args -overwrite_original -r rimages\misc
Warning: No writable tags found - w:/rimages/misc/1980-08/20070118210446-00091.jpg

Well, the message lists the file, which should not be wriiten, thus confusion.

Can the word 'writable' be replaced with 'suitable'?

[Phil Harvey]

I can see how this could be misleading.  What about something like this?:

Warning: No tags set from w:/rimages/misc/1980-08/20070118210446-00091.jpg

- Phil

[nms]

Too cryptic for my non english native eye ;-)

[Phil Harvey]

Well, maybe I'll just stick with the original message then.

- Phil

[nms]

"No tags for writing found from"?

[Phil Harvey]

"No tags for writing found from"?

Re-arranging this, we get "No writable tags found from".  Maybe just changing the "-" to "from" makes the message more understandable.

But I don't like the sound of this.  "No writable tags set from" sounds better to me.

- Phil

[nms]

On second thought I suggest

Code Select Expand


No tags for writing to (filename)

or

Code Select Expand


No writable tags set for (filename)

It does not matter where tags can came from.

[Phil Harvey]

It does not matter where tags can came from.

But this is what the error message is for.  If this doesn't matter, then I should just remove the message.  It is generated when tags are read from the -tagsFromFile file, not during writing.  It is possible to read tags from a single file and write them to any number of files.

If no tags are written to a given file, the file is unchanged and no warning is issued.

- Phil

[nms]

Then issue 'No tags found' message.

[Phil Harvey]

Then issue 'No tags found' message.

We're starting to go around in circles a bit because simply "No tags found" is not accurate.  Tags may have been found but none that could be written.  So this would more accurately be "No writable tags found".

- Phil

[nms]

We're starting to go around in circles a bit because simply "No tags found" is not accurate.  Tags may have been found but none that could be written.  So this would more accurately be "No writable tags found".

- Phil

OK. The last circle ;-)

As I understand there are one destination file and many source ones. Would it be better to include in the message the name of the destionation?

[Phil Harvey]

Actually, there may be many source files and many destination files.  But that isn't the problem.  The problem is that all source files for the -tagsFromFile option are processed at once before exiftool even knows about any destination file.  So doing this would be difficult and result in repeated identical error messages for multiple destination files.

However, after thinking about this a bit I think "No writable tags set from" gives the best indication of what actually happened.  I'm leaning towards changing the message to this.

- Phil

[buelensc]

Still using 8.48, I saw this original message arriving, and decided to search for an explanantion.
I found this forum and upgraded to 8.89 and now I get the new -indeed much better- message, but, I don't understand why.

I am not asking exiftool to extract tags from a file, and still get "No writable tags set from"

I'm using a REXX script to set EXIF info in JPGs that I worked on with editing tools.  My REXX script finds the tags to set in a .txt file and passes everything to set as parameters to exiftool.  (This .txt file is created earlier on -by exiftool to- when I upload my photos to my PC).

Here information from my REXX script: the file it will update, and the location information it is about to add.

Update:Z:\dias\onaf\2011-09-09FR\Af\FR2011_7386.jpg
City: Bedoin, Subl: Blauvac Province: Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur

Here the complete list of parameters I pass to Exiftool (as I said, most are extracted from a .txt file)

-overwrite_original "-DateTimeOriginal>FileModifyDate" -all= -comment="P: Blauvac (Bedoin)" -ImageDescription="P: Blauvac (Bedoin)" -
Artist="Kris Buelens" -Copyright="® Kris Buelens, 2011" -ExposureTime="0.004"  -Fnumber="8"  -ExposureProgram#="2"  -ISO="200"  -Exif
Version="0221"  -DateTimeOriginal="2011:09:20 18:43:38"  -CreateDate="2011:09:20 18:43:38"  -Exposurecompensation="-1"  -Focusdistanc
e="14.9623565609443"  -Flash#="0"  -ColorSpace#="1"  -ExposureMode#="0"  -WhiteBalance#="AUTO        "  -SceneCaptureType#="0"  -Cont
rast="0"  -Saturation="0"  -Sharpness="0"  -Make="NIKON CORPORATION"  -Model="NIKON D300"  -FocalLength="35"  -FocalLengthin35mmForma
t="52"  -MeteringMode#="5"  -Lens="18 200 3.5 5.6"  -GPSLatitude="44.0344225299983"  -GPSLongitude="5.2083832"  -GPSLatitudeRef="N"
-GPSLongitudeRef="E"  -GPSMapDatum="WGS-84"  -GPSDateStamp="2011:09:20"  -GPSTimeStamp="18:43:38"  -GPSLatitude="44.0344225299983"  -
GPSLongitude="5.2083832"  -GPSDateTime="2011:09:20 18:43:38Z"  -Keywords="Bedoin, Frankrijk"  -City="Bedoin"  -Sub-location="Blauvac"
  -Province-State="Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur"  -Country-PrimaryLocationCode="FRA"  -Country-PrimaryLocationName="Frankrijk"  -Applic
ationRecordVersion="4"  -CountryCode="FRA"  -Location="Blauvac"  -Subject="Bedoin, Frankrijk"  -Country="Frankrijk"  -State="Provence
-Alpes-Cote d'Azur" "Z:\dias\onaf\2011-09-09FR\Af\FR2011_7386.jpg"

and here the warnings I get

Code Select Expand


Warning: Not an integer for ExifIFD:WhiteBalance
Warning: No writable tags set from Z:/dias/onaf/2011-09-09FR/Af/FR2011_7386.jpg
    1 image files updated


Thanks,
Kris Buelens, Belgium

[BogdanH]

Hi Kris,

When you specify tag ending with #, then you must specify a number as parameter:

-Exif:WhiteBalance#=0 -that is, you specify numeric value (in this case, for "AUTO")
or
-Exif:WhiteBalance=AUTO -now ExifTool will take care to write value 0 into tag.

And maybe to make you easier: If tag value doesn't contain spaces, then you don't need to put values in quotes. For example:
-Exif:Make=Canon
-Exif:Model="Canon EOS 450D"
-Exif:ISO=200

And I'm qute sure that the way you're writting keywords (into Keywords and Subject), is not what you want. In your case:
-Keywords="Bedoin, Frankrijk"
..will write Bedoin, Frankrijk as one keyword -not as two keywords (Bedoin and Frankrijk), as you probably expect.

Bogdan

[Phil Harvey]

Hi Kris,

The "no writable tags" error occurs because you are copying DateTimeOriginal to the FileModifyDate with "-DateTimeOriginal>FileModifyDate".  With this syntax, -tagsFromFile @ is implied.

- Phil