Quantity album collections

[Andrew Goodbody]

On 29/12/2023 10:23, frederic chaume wrote:
> Hi Andrew
> 
> thanks for your feedback
> no issue in having one collection with 100K+ pictures  in it ?

Having multiple collections creates more complexity in the database. In 
no way will it make the database more performant by having multiple 
collections. All the images are referenced in the database. If it is OK 
with your multiple collections then it will be OK with a single 
collection. Once again, a collection is just the point in the file 
system at which digiKam starts looking for images in the directories below.

> For the "migration" I guess I just have to delete all exiting 
> collections and then creating a new one based on the parent directory ? 
> I suppose creating a new unique collection would take some time 
> regarding the quantity of pictures , and no information will be loss 
> (tags, rating, DK versions, ...) do you confirm ?

I confirm nothing. I have not done this nor am I going to try.

Be cautious, be conservative. Backup your database first. Then back it 
up somewhere else. A wise person said 'If you do not have your data in 
at least three places, you do not have your data.'

No, do not delete your collections, at least not yet. Create a new 
temporary one then move all contents into that one. Only when the child 
collections have nothing in them and you have checked that you have 
successfully moved the images and associated metadata should you even 
think about deleting the child collections. Backup your database again. 
Twice. Then you can create the new permanent collection and move 
everything into it.

If at all possible do a test first on a copy of some images so that you 
can just delete this test environment and try again if something 
catastrophic happens. When you have a working set of steps to achieve 
what you need, write it all down. Then test again with the written 
instructions. If all is still OK, then you may be ready to work with 
your actual images as long as you use the written instructions exactly 
as tested and you confirm each step worked before proceeding to the next.

Good luck. YMMV.

Andrew