Lightroom PM and hierarchy problem

[211Oakland]

I am trying to use structured keywords to add to existing keyword hierarchies in DNG files.

If I have a file that has an existing hierarchy as written by Lr, that shows in PM as both a flat list of keywords (US, CA, LA) and as a hierarchy (US | CA | LA). If I try to add the structure "animal | mammal | wolf" it fails; nothing shows up subquently in Lr.

If, however, I delete the flat list (US, CA, LA) then Lr does write the hierarchies, both old and new, appropriately.

Needless to say, I don't wanna have to manually delete the flat list every time I add to the hierarchies that exist. Am I doing something wrong?

EDIT: turning off the option to only write structured keywords to hierarchical keywords, and just appending the "|" piped list to existing keywords, seems to work better, but seems counterintuitive. So I'm still at a bit of a loss.

[Kirk Baker]

I am trying to use structured keywords to add to existing keyword hierarchies in DNG files.

If I have a file that has an existing hierarchy as written by Lr, that shows in PM as both a flat list of keywords (US, CA, LA) and as a hierarchy (US | CA | LA). If I try to add the structure "animal | mammal | wolf" it fails; nothing shows up subquently in Lr.

In which application are you trying to add "animal | mammal | wolf"?  PM or LR?

If, however, I delete the flat list (US, CA, LA) then Lr does write the hierarchies, both old and new, appropriately.

In which application are you deleting the flat list (US, CA, LA)?

-Kirk

[211Oakland]

I am trying to add structured keywords via PM (in the example, "animal...") (Lr uses "hierarchical" for essentially the same thing).

Obviously I can add "animal..." via Lr. But I'm trying to make use of PM instead.

It doesn't matter which application I use to delete the flat listing.

So, to reproduce: add a hierarchy via Lr. Open that image in PM: it will show both the hierarchy/structured list delimited by the | character and a list delimited by commas, the flat keywords. In PM add another hierarchy/structured list delimited by |. Lr will note the change in metadata, but when metadata is read from the file the new hierarchy does NOT appear in Lr. This is with the pref in PM to write structured keywords to hierarchy turned ON.

[Kirk Baker]

I am trying to add structured keywords via PM (in the example, "animal...") (Lr uses "hierarchical" for essentially the same thing).

Obviously I can add "animal..." via Lr. But I'm trying to make use of PM instead.

It doesn't matter which application I use to delete the flat listing.

So, to reproduce: add a hierarchy via Lr. Open that image in PM: it will show both the hierarchy/structured list delimited by the | character and a list delimited by commas, the flat keywords. In PM add another hierarchy/structured list delimited by |. Lr will note the change in metadata, but when metadata is read from the file the new hierarchy does NOT appear in Lr. This is with the pref in PM to write structured keywords to hierarchy turned ON.

If you're using XMP sidecar files, can you post your before and after versions of the files so I can take a look at them?

Use the 'Attachments and other options' link when you're composing your reply to this message and there you'll be able to upload your XMP sidecar files.

Thanks,

-Kirk