[Digikam-users] Metadata of photos when moving between collections

[Wolfgang Mader]

Hi list,

This mail in concerned with RAW images, but I guess the same would be true for 
any other format. Metadata are written to the RAW file, or if this is not 
possible to a sidecar file.
What I want to do, is to import those files into a new Digikam installation 
using a mysql database and a shared folder on a server.

Server side:
The server exports a folder and hosts a mysql database server. Photos which 
will be inserted into a Digikam collection are stored in this shared folder, 
and Digikam is configured to use the mysql database also located on the 
server.

Client side:
On another computer, a Digikam installation is running. The shared folder is 
mounted (via samba) to a fixed path, and this path is added as a Network 
Collection to Digikam. Digikam is configured to use the mysql database running 
on the server.

Initial import of photos:
I have a bunch of RAW file which have metadata ether written to the file 
directly or to a sidecar file. I copied the photos and their respective 
sidecares into the shared folder (using tools outside of Digikam). Now they 
appear in the client side Digikam's collection, but their metadata not. Hence, 
I forced Digikam to re-read the metadata from files and sidecars. Then I 
checked via mysql command line that the metadata are stored in the database. 
So far so good.

Using the collection and database from an additional Digikam installation:
Now I configured a second client with a Digikam installation also using the 
same shared folder and the mysql Database on the server. The photos showed up 
immediately, but the metadata again were missing. I had to re-read them from 
files and sidecars.
And here is the question: Why do I have to re-read the metadata? It is present 
in the database which is configured in Digikam but Digikam does not use this 
information.

Thank you for reading this lengthily post.

Best,
Wolfgang