ExifTool is not available??

[Maik Qualmann]

Ok, the last screenshot looks good. If you now restart digiKam, does the 
ExifTool error message still appear? If so, create a debug log from a terminal 
as described here for macOS:

https://www.digikam.org/contribute/

Maik

Am Mittwoch, 26. Juni 2024, 23:13:56 MESZ schrieben Sie:
> Ah. I see.
> 
> This has:
> 
> 
> lrwxr-xr-x   1 root  wheel    22B Mar 19 07:09 Image-ExifTool ->
> ./Image-ExifTool-12.70
> drwxr-xr-x  16 root  wheel   512B Mar 19 07:09 Image-ExifTool-12.70
> lrwxr-xr-x   1 root  wheel    25B Mar 19 07:09 exiftool ->
> ./Image-ExifTool/exiftool
> -rwxr-xr-x   1 root  wheel   338K Mar 14 15:28 ffmpeg
> -rwxr-xr-x   1 root  wheel    67K Mar 14 15:28 kbuildsycoca5
> -rwxr-xr-x   1 root  wheel   114K Mar 14 15:28 solid-hardware5
> 
> 
> So why does DK not detect it?
> 
> Settings look like this:
> 
> On 26/06/2024 19.14, Maik Qualmann wrote:
> > I made a mistake with the path, it should be "/Applications/digiKam.org/
> > digikam.app/Contents/bin".
> > 
> > Maik
> > 
> > Am Mittwoch, 26. Juni 2024, 22:07:39 MESZ schrieben Sie:
> >> I am confused about this. If I should not use an external exiftool
> >> (meaning that DK will use the exiftool it comes with) then why am I
> >> shown a scary looking warning? The path /opt/local/bin does not exist on
> >> my system. I dont think it ever has? It is still unclear to me whether I
> >> have a problem with DK that needs attention or not.
> >> 
> >> Well, 10 seconds was not sufficient for me to even read the message -
> >> even when I tried multiple times. I am perhaps not the fastest reader
> >> but not the slowest either. Many people would be reading slower than me.
> >> Add in the stress of seeing such a message from a program used to manage
> >> what many people might consider their most valuable digital asset.
> >> 
> >> Typically, when other apps shows warnings that disapper after a while
> >> there will be a clear way to stop the count down. Or the countdown will
> >> automatically stop if message is hovered by the mouse cursor.
> >> 
> >> On 26/06/2024 17.50, Maik Qualmann wrote:
> >>> Regarding ExifTool, you should not use an external ExifTool, digiKam
> >>> usually finds its own ExifTool. The path has probably been changed
> >>> before. You should find ExifTool from digiKam under "/opt/local/bin".
> >>> 
> >>> Personally, I think that the message display time of 10 seconds is
> >>> sufficient, and it shouldn't be too intrusive. It is now highly
> >>> recommended to have a functioning ExifTool running in digiKam, DNG
> >>> conversion only works with ExifTool, and many Exiv2 problems are avoided
> >>> with ExifTool.
> >>> 
> >>> Maik
> >>> 
> >>> Am Mittwoch, 26. Juni 2024, 19:49:08 MESZ schrieb Thomas Damgaard:
> >>>> Hello again,
> >>>> 
> >>>> In an attempt to fix this issue, I went to Settings -> Metadata ->
> >>>> ExifTool. It said it already had exiftool 12.70. However, I have a
> >>>> newer
> >>>> version installed with brew, so I figured I might need to change it. So
> >>>> I clicked change and navigated to /opt/homebrew/bin/exiftool and
> >>>> selected this. Then digikam detected this as v 12.76 which is all good.
> >>>> Then I clicked OK in Settings. Now DK froze up for like 10-15 minutes.
> >>>> Then it prompted me for this:
> >>>> 
> >>>> 
> >>>> I did /not/ change my digikam database folder. I only changed the
> >>>> ExifTool.
> >>>> 
> >>>> Now I am worried about DK might do something to my database?
> >>>> 
> >>>> 
> >>>> How to proceed from here?
> >>>> 
> >>>> I think neither of the choices here are good - and I see no "cancel"
> >>>> action available :-(
> >>>> 
> >>>> 
> >>>> BR
> >>>> 
> >>>> On 26/06/2024 12.22, Thomas Damgaard wrote:
> >>>>> Hi,
> >>>>> 
> >>>>> 
> >>>>> When I start Digikam on my Mac I briefly see this error message
> >>>>> flashing
> >>>>> 
> >>>>> 
> >>>>> 
> >>>>> 
> >>>>> Why do I see this error?
> >>>>> 
> >>>>> 
> >>>>> I already have ExifTool installed:
> >>>>> 
> >>>>> $ brew install exiftool
> >>>>> 
> >>>>> ==> Downloadinghttps://formulae.brew.sh/api/formula.jws.json
> >>>>> ######################################################################
> >>>>> ##
> >>>>> ##
> >>>>> ############################ 100.0%
> >>>>> ==> Downloadinghttps://formulae.brew.sh/api/cask.jws.json
> >>>>> ######################################################################
> >>>>> ##
> >>>>> ##
> >>>>> ############################ 100.0%
> >>>>> Warning: exiftool 12.76 is already installed and up-to-date.
> >>>>> 
> >>>>> To reinstall 12.76, run:
> >>>>>     brew reinstall exiftool
> >>>>> 
> >>>>> How do I fix this?
> >>>>> 
> >>>>> 
> >>>>> About the error and the UX:
> >>>>> 
> >>>>> I really love DK it is a pure open source gem. However, this UX
> >>>>> pattern of flashing scary looking messages briefly is pretty bad. It
> >>>>> took me like 5 digikam startups to actually be able to read this as
> >>>>> the message is only shown for 10 seconds. DK takes probably over 30-60
> >>>>> seconds to start up on my mac. So keeping attention while just
> >>>>> watching the splash screen is difficult. Then when it finally appears,
> >>>>> this message is only flashed for 10 seconds./
> >>>>> /
> >>>>> 
> >>>>> /Please/ do not just flash a seemingly important message for only 10
> >>>>> seconds without even providing the user a way to keep the message up
> >>>>> (there is only a close button).
> >>>>> 
> >>>>> Preferably, either decide if the message is important or not. If it is
> >>>>> not then do not show it. If it /is/ important, keep the message
> >>>>> available.
> >>>>> 
> >>>>> It is unclear from the message text what this actually means. I am a
> >>>>> fairly technical user and I have no idea really. I know what exiftool
> >>>>> is, but I have no idea if DK actually /needs/ it - or if it relies on
> >>>>> its own internal libexif or similar if external exiftool is not
> >>>>> available?