[Digikam-users] Update, clean, and move database?

[Daniel Bauer]

Am 09.01.2014 10:22, schrieb Jean-François Rabasse:
>
> Hello,
>
> On Wed, 8 Jan 2014, Peter Albrecht wrote:
>
>> Hi Jasper,
>>
>> I try to use the digiKam db only as a fast cache for image
>> meta information.
>> -> I configured digikam to store all important info (for me:
>> Tags, Comments, Rating) in the JPG's metadata (EXIF/XMP).
>>
>> At my last migration from 32 Bit to 64 Bit, I started with a
>> fresh digikam installation and copied only the jpg files to
>> the new installation.
>> Digikam db and thumbnail db were recreated well.
>>
>> I did not copy digikam settings, but went through all of
>> them again. Once in a while, new interesting settings are
>> added, which I wouldn't have found otherwise.
>>
>> This worked well for me. Maybe other people with other
>> settings/conditions might have problems with this way.
>
> I totaly agree with Peter.
> This may seem a somewhat rough method, but it's safe and portable
> for any environment changes, Digikam versions changes, etc., without
> having to cope with - possibly - migration problems and - possibly -
> metadata losses.
>
> I work exactly the same way. The only - minor - drawback is that
> rebuilding all from scratch may take a couple of minutes. Not really
> a problem when the operation is done once a month or every two months.
>
> And, as says Peter :
>> I try to use the digiKam db only as a fast cache for image
>> meta information.
> Digikam database is an application specific, working data format.
> It's fast for images filtering or collections searching, but should
> not be considered as a reliable, long lifetime, metadata archiving
> system.
> And, as all can be rebuilt via « Read metadata from images », it's
> not to be considered as critical information.
>
> (Also, metadata into images files is the only way to share informations
> with family, friends, and any people who are not Digikam users.)
>

Sorry, I disagree.

It is not always desirable that everybody can access tags, ratings etc.
(3 examples: models tagged with real name, but published with artist 
name only; selection ratings, comments on customers images that are not 
meant for their eyes; personal comments/reminders).

At least for me it is absolutely no option to save this information in 
the image files, and the reliability of the database therefore is very 
important for me...

Daniel

-- 
Daniel Bauer photographer Basel Barcelona
professional photography: http://www.daniel-bauer.com
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