Getting the most out of Metadata

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Although all this about metadata sounds very complicated, FilFolio™ handles standard and MakerNote metadata in the same way without worrying you about the details. There is, however, one aspect you should be aware of when deciding on which metadata to include in your Portfolio™ catalogs.

It's this: There are overlaps between the standard and MakerNote metadata items.

Here is an example: most digital cameras record the White Balance. So

	·	There is a standard metadata item called WhitePoint
	·	Canon has an item of metadata called WhiteBalance
	·	Casio has an item of metadata called WhiteBalance
	·	Fuji has an item of metadata called WhiteBalance
	·	Nikon, in its first list, has an item of metadata called WhiteBalance
	·	Nikon, in its second list, has an item of metadata called WhiteBalance

Here is another example, to do with the flash during an exposure:

	·	There is a standard metadata item called Flash
	·	There is a standard item of metadata called FlashEnergy
	·	Canon has an item of metadata called Flash
	·	Canon has an item of metadata called FlashBias
	·	Canon has an item of metadata called FlashDetails
	·	Canon has an item of metadata called Flashmode
	·	Casio has an item of metadata called FlashIntensity
	·	Casio has an item of metadata called FlashMode
	·	Fuji has an item of metadata called FlashMode
	·	Fuji has an item of metadata called FlashStrength
	·	Nikon, in its second list, has an item of metadata called FlashSetting

When you are planning what metadata to include in your catalog, you could say "I'll have 6 different fields for the 6 metadata items to do with White Balance". And you could also say "I'll have 12 different fields to handle the 12 metadata items describing things to do with flash".

If you take this approach you'll end up with a not-very-useful catalog. Why? Well, suppose you want to find those images taken indoors under ordinary lighting conditions. How do you do this? Simple - search for a white balance set to tungsten or fluorescent. Actually - not so simple when you have to do the search over 6 different fields.

A better approach to this problem is to map all of the 6 metadata items to a single Portfolio™ field called, say, WhiteBalance and then use FilFolio™ to extract the metadata from the image files into that one field. Then, any searches you want to do involving white balance will only need you to search that one field.

To achieve this "many-to-one" mapping, you need to use the Append mapping mode which you can set in the Options Pane.

If you do use this facility then also bear in mind that the custom field will potentially hold the text from several metadata items, and so when you are defining it (as described in Changes you need to make to your Portfolio™ catalog) you will need to set its length to an appropriate size.

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FilFolio©2001 T F Letocha. All Rights Reserved.

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Last edited: 28/06/01
FilFolio©2001 T F Letocha. All Rights Reserved.