External Exhibits and paths

[elevator 0]

I recently had to reinstall my operating system for stupidity reasons and when reconstructing the family tree from backups (that I thankfully do weekly) I realized that all the external exhibits had on the old computer been on the F: drive while in the new installation I had removed a partition and so now the family tree was on the C: drive. This of course caused all the external exhibits to be missing. I have since gone through every single exhibit and updated the path, but I always thought the path stored in the database was relative?

 

So if I have set the external exhibit path in the configuration to be C:\FamilyTree\Exhibits\ and I choose the path \Person1\Portrait.jpg for the exhibit, it would make the total path C:\FamilyTree\Exhibits\Person1\Portrait.jpg right? But if I change the External Exhibit path to lets

say F:\Exhibits\ the path stored in the database remains C:\FamilyTree\Exhibits and so the exhibit cannot be found? Is this right? If so it makes it really hard to move the database from computer to computer, or am I missing a feature that lets you update paths to external exhibits easily?

 

Thanks,

Ken V. Nordberg

[John Cardinal 0]

Ken,

 

The paths in the database are not relative, they are absolute. The exhibit paths preference isn't used as a base address.

 

You can use my TMG Utility program (link below) to correct paths. It sounds like you already fixed the paths, but I figured I'd tell you for next time. TMG also has an ability to find exhibits that have moved but I've never used it and can't remember the details. Perhaps someone else will describe that. There is also another tool called PathWiz that provides a bunch of exhibit-related features. I don't know much about it.

[John Moran 0]

Ken,

 

The paths in the database are not relative, they are absolute. The exhibit paths preference isn't used as a base address.

 

You can use my TMG Utility program (link below) to correct paths. It sounds like you already fixed the paths, but I figured I'd tell you for next time. TMG also has an ability to find exhibits that have moved but I've never used it and can't remember the details. Perhaps someone else will describe that. There is also another tool called PathWiz that provides a bunch of exhibit-related features. I don't know much about it.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Speaking of exhibit-related features, why does this board exist? <g> The TMG-L listers are going hot and heavy with Albums and Exhibit Log wishlists, but nary a word over here.

 

FWIW, the subject matter intrigued me, and I went around in circles checking on the above mentioned Pathwiz, the external CSV file structure of the *.ab3 Album included in my 1999 version of PhotImpact 6, the internal jpeg caption/comment fields in the Windows XP operating system Explorer, and Microsoft's Picture It! 10 Image Editor.

 

Seems that Microsoft uses a few comment fields in XP Explorer thumbs viewer, and a few more in their Picture It! 10 Album. They reverse a couple of the headers on the fields, but the data still ends up embedded in the jpeg files and is readable in both places..

 

But it seems that the rest of the Photo Editor community may be doing an end run around this MS embedded system, and that newer versions of expensive PhotoShop 7 and CS down to free Irfanview, are embedding data fields in International Press Telecommunications Council (IPTC) format.

 

Note: That MS and IPTC do not seem to step on each other's toes with the embedding, and that meither intentionally overwrites Camera manufacturers' EXIF data without your permission. (Your mileage may vary).

 

If you want to give the IPTC data embedding a try on the cheap, while waiting on that TMG Exhibit Log upgrade, and keep your existing Photo Editing software linked as well, try an Irfanware download.

 

John M.

[elevator 0]

I think the exhibit system works satisfactorily, the only annoying part is the fact that paths are stored in their absolute form for external exhibits. Not that I would know; but could it possible be that much work "code-wise" to make these paths relative? I mean afterall I find it rather superfluous to have a config option to set the root-external-exhibit-path only to not really use it.

 

In any event, it hasn't really become an issue for me yet as I just barely have a thousand exhibits and going through and update the paths haven't been that much of a pain, but I can imagine later on it may be an issue.

 

About the 3rd party programs: I think if this is an important feature, maybe we should rely on TMG and not third party programs for this? I must assume that I am not the only one who move my database from home to the office to laptop with unavoidable changes in the root drive letter. I guess I am just naturally suspicious when in comes to third party programs and would rather rely on native functionality, although I do have to admit there are some pretty darn good TMG extensions out there.

 

Ken V. Nordberg

[John Moran 0]

. . . .About the 3rd party programs: I think if this is an important feature, maybe we should rely on TMG and not third party programs for this? . . .

Ken V. Nordberg

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Ken-

Sorry about changing your topic about modifying paths of TMG jpeg exhibits to a topic about embedding Captions/Comments/References, etc in those same jpeg external exhibits.

 

As to 3rd party Photo Editors, we have to create those jpegs somewhere, unless we scan them directly into TMG using its internal editor.

 

And you can be sure that if there are any problems in that area, the TMG developers will be the first to remind us of "third party, third party" deniability.

 

But back to embedding Captions, etc. It appears that Irfanview has indeed used the open source licensed "Adobe Photoshop 3 compatible" IPTC template to embed its data fields in jpegs and perhaps tiffs and other image files.

 

It looks good, and it looks simple to us non programmers. Adobe gets the first page in the jpeg file and Microsoft gets the second page. Most of the data and keywords seem readable as text (in the language of the user's choice).

 

Now all that is left for TMG is to find those data fields in the jpegs, whether created in Adobe (all operating systems) open source licensed . . . .or Microsoft XP (or later) operating system FIELDS and give the TMG user the option of copying them directly into TMG exhibit fields.

 

Note: Irfanview IPTC editing seems to work fine, but no sorting capability on IPTC fields exists at this time.

 

A web search indicates that other 3rd party Photo Album software companies are also trying to catch up with the sorting problems. No doubt Pathwiz will too.

 

At least that's what I think I read.

John Moran