Metadata Support, PM and Windows 7

[Waters]

Hi - great product - and thanks to an earlier thread I'm now a PM/Capture NX2 combination user.

I recently installed Windows 7 RC 7100 (which is an enormous improvement over Vista). Despite being a release candidate - this is now my main desktop OS.

However, Microsoft have made changes to the handling of metadata (via the Windows Imaging Component - WIC) - which affects not only the shell extensions for image details  - but any application using the platform SDK or Windows Presentation Framework applications that use the BitmapMetadata classes.

I have the contact details for the team responsible for the development of WIC at Microsoft and would be glad to send these to Camera Bits.

The response from the senior tester on this team to this issue was...

"The problem you’re seeing here is due to the changes we made to implement the Metadata Working Group guidelines (www.metadataworkinggroup.com). WIC is now fully MWG compliant, meaning we follow the rules in those guidelines for reading metadata. The metadata is still in the file, however the mapping between the fields and actual metadata locations has changed."

There are a few problems caused by these changes - but the two most serious are that the caption field edited in PM or Capture NX2 - no longer appears in the Windows 7 - meaning that it's no longer available to the shell/explorer - or any application using WIC or WPF. Also if the metadata is updated via the Windows 7 SDK (via explorer/details or a WPF application) then ALL of the metadata for the image disappears in PM.

I was wondering if Camera Bits are aware of these changes? Or if anyone else was?

I'm a bit stuck in my workflow at the moment since I was using the SDK in Vista and a WPF application to generate galleries for publication online (which worked - with everything in sync between PM, and Capture NX and the Vista SDK).

The problems noted here affect Capture NX as well, and even the uploader to Flickr - with the description/caption not appearing there either.

Thoughts? Suggestions? Any news or information on the topic greatly appreciated.

Kind regards- and thanks for the great product....

Tony

[Kirk Baker]

Tony,

Hi - great product - and thanks to an earlier thread I'm now a PM/Capture NX2 combination user.

I recently installed Windows 7 RC 7100 (which is an enormous improvement over Vista). Despite being a release candidate - this is now my main desktop OS.

However, Microsoft have made changes to the handling of metadata (via the Windows Imaging Component - WIC) - which affects not only the shell extensions for image details  - but any application using the platform SDK or Windows Presentation Framework applications that use the BitmapMetadata classes.

I have the contact details for the team responsible for the development of WIC at Microsoft and would be glad to send these to Camera Bits.

Photo Mechanic does not use WIC, or WPF, or the BitmapMetadata classes.  We have our own code that has been honed over more than a decade.

The response from the senior tester on this team to this issue was...

"The problem you’re seeing here is due to the changes we made to implement the Metadata Working Group guidelines (www.metadataworkinggroup.com). WIC is now fully MWG compliant, meaning we follow the rules in those guidelines for reading metadata. The metadata is still in the file, however the mapping between the fields and actual metadata locations has changed."

There are a few problems caused by these changes - but the two most serious are that the caption field edited in PM or Capture NX2 - no longer appears in the Windows 7 - meaning that it's no longer available to the shell/explorer - or any application using WIC or WPF. Also if the metadata is updated via the Windows 7 SDK (via explorer/details or a WPF application) then ALL of the metadata for the image disappears in PM.

I was wondering if Camera Bits are aware of these changes? Or if anyone else was?

No, but it sounds like Microsoft needs to fix this issue pronto.

I'm a bit stuck in my workflow at the moment since I was using the SDK in Vista and a WPF application to generate galleries for publication online (which worked - with everything in sync between PM, and Capture NX and the Vista SDK).

The problems noted here affect Capture NX as well, and even the uploader to Flickr - with the description/caption not appearing there either.

Thoughts? Suggestions? Any news or information on the topic greatly appreciated.

Well, until they make it possible for their code to write out metadata in the currently accepted formats, I suggest avoiding the use of their functionality completely.  In the meantime I'd like to see a sample JPEG file from you, (well two since I want a before and after version to see what they're doing.)  Please click on my name to the left of this message, then click on the 'personal message' link.  I will respond with upload instructions.

-Kirk

[Waters]

Hi Kirk - thanks for the quick reply.

I was aware that PM was using its own (and excellent) metadata management system.

The problem is really for those who expect any kind of platform support from Windows 7 (WIC,WPF,BitmapMetadata etc..) The most obvious issue appears to be that Windows 7 is writing comments to the title/object name field.

Just sent you a personal message (and have prepared a set of test images as well).

Best,

Tony