I think there may be an error in the new Licensor metadata Postal Code data field.
The objective:
I wanted to create a licensor that would replace the metadata Contact info because (a) Contact does not have a person's name and (b) because the Contact info is non-searchable.
Here is what I did: I entered the variable names for the Contact into the appropriate fields for the Licensor. e.g., I entered {cizip} in the Postal Code for the Licensor. Note that this is a typo--the correct variable name is {cizp}. I did the same thing for all of the Contact variables, but spelled them correctly.
The result: When the metadata template was run, the misspelled variable name was treated a text string and the word "{cizip}" was entered into the Licensor Postal Code 19092 times. All of the other variables transferred the correct Contact information to their respective Licensor fields correctly.
When the mistake was discovered, the 19092 images were selected and the correct Zip Code was entered into the Licensor Postal Code. All other Licensor fields were cleared. The concatenate checkbox for the Licensor fields was selected. As I understand it from tech support, with the checkbox selected and the field left blank, all of the information in the respective Licensor fields should not be changed, but a blank be concatenated. Thus, the only change I expected was that all of the Postal Codes with "{cizip}" should have been changed to 01960, the correct Postal Code.
The result: Nothing happened--the Postal Code remains "{cizip}"
In an attempt to correct this result, the concatenate box was unchecked and the correct data (and not their variable names) were entered into each Licensor field.Every image in the collection was selected (some 36,000 images) and the template was reapplie to every image. The Postal Code was not corrected. This run took about 4 hours because all of the images are on an external Thunderbolt drive.
Do I misunderstand something, or is there an error in the Postal Code processing software?
Finally, there is another issue. When I applied the last template to the Licensor, the filled-in fields were applied to most of the metadata fields, but not all. Typically all but a few hundred fields were filled in. The fields that had <none> for their data entry seemed to be stable--there was no activity. Then, there might be a small flurry of activity, and then the changes halted. But, if one waits long enough (say 5 or 10 hours, the number of these fields would change. The number changed in this manner was consistent over the entire database.
Are there any suggestions as to (a) is there a bug that needs to be eradicated? or (b) how I should enter the data such that this situation goes away?
Bob Hendricks
