[Digikam-devel] [Bug 309058] New: The digiKam database can't be synchronized with XMP sidecars.

[Elle Stone]

https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=309058

            Bug ID: 309058
          Severity: normal
               URL: http://ninedegreesbelow.com/temp/digikam-sidecar.html
           Version: 2.9.0
          Priority: NOR
          Assignee: digikam-devel at kde.org
           Summary: The digiKam database can't be synchronized with XMP
                    sidecars.
    Classification: Unclassified
                OS: Linux
          Reporter: l.elle.stone at gmail.com
          Hardware: openSUSE RPMs
            Status: UNCONFIRMED
         Component: Tags
           Product: digikam

The digiKam database can't be synchronized with XMP sidecars. digiKam writes
new tags to the sidecar file, but doesn't delete a tag that has been deleted
from the database. So when rearranging tags on the tag tree, the xmp file
contains the old tag tree and the new tag tree. The same thing happens when
renaming rather than rearranging tags.

Reproducible: Always

Steps to Reproduce:
1. Set digiKam metadata settings to only read and write to xmp sidecar files.
2. Create a tag tree and assign it to an image. The sidecar file and database
are in synch.
3. Move the tag tree. Now the sidecar file and database are no longer in synch.
The database only has one copy of the tag tree, in the correct new location.
The xmp file has two copies, in the old location and in the new location.
4. Rename the tag and apply/write. Now the tag is in the xmp file under both
the old and the new name, as well as in two different tag trees.
Actual Results:  
In the database, the tag tree is moved.  But in the xmp file, instead of one
tag tree in the new location, now there are two tag trees, one in the new
location, one in the old location.

In the database, a tag is renamed. But in the xmp file, instead of the tag
having the new name, now there are two tags, one with the old name and one with
the new name.

Sometimes, unpredictably, an outdated tag IS removed from the xmp file. See
http://ninedegreesbelow.com/temp/digikam-sidecar.html for an example. But not
all of the outdated tags are removed, and I can't reproduce what happened when
one of the outdated tags was removed. 

Expected Results:  
There should be a way to keep the xmp sidecar file in synch with the digiKam
database. There should be a way to write to the sidecar file that deletes
out-of-date tags, renames tags when they are renamed in the database, etc. At
present, digiKam only adds new tags to xmp sidecar files, but never deletes old
tags.

Reading from and writing to the sidecar files doesn't behave like reading from
and writing to the image itself, but it should, or else the sidecar files can't
be used as a way to avoid writing to the image file.

Sometimes, unpredictably, an outdated tag IS removed from the xmp file. See
http://ninedegreesbelow.com/temp/digikam-sidecar.html for an example.

I'm running OpenSuse 12.2, kde 4.9.2 release 511.

I left the severity at "normal" but basically this bug is a show-stopper for
me. I'm trying out the possibility of creating "image sidecars" for all my
jpegs, so digiKam can write to "an" image but not to the original image. But
that means doubling the number of images in the database and the whole process
is turning out to be time-consuming and awkward.

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