copy/edit dates

[fbungarz]

Hi,
am I the only one who struggles with using PSU's date entry mask?
It seems it is not possible to manually copy and past dates from one XMP field to the next. Also, it appears that macro codes do not work in date fields.
Also, using the small calendar gadget I find it impossible to add dates to several selected files simultaneously. Selecting several thumbs and entering a date, then applying the metadata apparently does not work.
This means it is virtually impossible to edit date entries for several images at once.

Any workaround? Any chance that could be changed?
Thanks,
Frank

[Stephen]

I was able to do this recently in the details panel.

[fbungarz]

Hi Stephen,

I was able to do this recently in the details panel.

Could you be more specific? Do you say in your version copy/paste works for dates? Do you suggest that copying via macro codes works?
In my version both definitely does not work...

Frank

[sanphotgn]

Which date fields are you trying to change?

One way to redate: Right click on an image or images and go to Operations - Redate Files.

[Stephen]

Hi Stephen,

I was able to do this recently in the details panel.

Could you be more specific? Do you say in your version copy/paste works for dates? Do you suggest that copying via macro codes works?
In my version both definitely does not work...

Frank

I cannot find the button to upload a screenshot, so I will describe it.
On the details pane under technical, there are 2 fields for original date + date digitized.
I selected all the images I wanted to re-date and then changed these 2 fields and OK.

Hope it works for you!

[fbungarz]

Hi all,
OK, sorry for the confusion. Let me be more specific then:
I am NOT (!!!) talking about re-date images. I am talking about changing entries in XMP date fields and copy/apply these edits to several files at once. I know that it is fairly easy to change standard dates like "original date", "date digitized" etc. That is not what I am interested in. I am talking about XMP metadata.
In my case I am extensively using DwC XMP: I take images of specimens from natural history collections. The dates when images of these specimens were taken are quite irrelevant, but I would like to store the date, when a specimen was collected and the date when that specimen was identified. Often several specimens have the same collection dates or the same identification dates. So I would like to apply one such date to several images. Also, many historic specimens were not recently collected, some as long ago as from the 1800's. Using the calendar applet to dig through years and years back and re-doing that for one file at a time is VERY inconvenient, essentially impossible. Finally, for specimens that I collected and took a reference photo in the field the "collection date" and "date image taken" are actually the same. And in this case I would like to be able to use XMP macro codes to quickly and efficiently simply copy those dates over....

So, unfortunately we are not talking about the same subject...
Still: thanks for your suggestions!

Cheers,
Frank

[sanphotgn]

Hi Frank,

I asked about which date fields you were trying to change, because I know you work with a lot of custom XMP.

I downloaded the DwC XMP. I chose the earliestDate and latestDate fields in the Events section to experiment with.

It seems it is not possible to manually copy and past dates from one XMP field to the next

Agree.

Also, it appears that macro codes do not work in date fields.

Agree.

Selecting several thumbs and entering a date, then applying the metadata apparently does not work.

I selected several thumbs, entered a date, and clicked on the OK button. The metadata was saved. If I changed a date for one thumb and didn't click on the OK button and then clicked on another thumb, PSU recognized I made a change and wants to know if I want to apply my changes. For me - the easiest way to enter the date for blank date fields: highlight the month "field" or "mask" whatever you want to call it, type in the month, tab to the day, type in the day, tab to the year, type in the year. No need for the mouse. No need for the calendar gadget. The calendar gadget is kind of cool in that if you click on the month, you get a list of the months to select (no need to cycle through them), and if you click on the year, you get a list of the years. Definitely handy for some data entry.

Kevin

[fbungarz]

Hi Kevin,
Have you tried out the DwC collection date field?

I selected several thumbs, entered a date, and clicked on the OK button. The metadata was saved. If I changed a date for one thumb and didn't click on the OK button and then clicked on another thumb, PSU recognized I made a change and wants to know if I want to apply my changes.

It looks like this might work. That in fact would be what I expect to happen. However, entering a date is virtually impossible. In fact PSU has now crashed a couple of times when I tried. Too bad that screenshots here do not work. I really struggle with this!!!

For me - the easiest way to enter the date for blank date fields: highlight the month "field" or "mask" whatever you want to call it, type in the month, tab to the day, type in the day, tab to the year, type in the year. No need for the mouse. No need for the calendar gadget. The calendar gadget is kind of cool in that if you click on the month, you get a list of the months to select (no need to cycle through them), and if you click on the year, you get a list of the years. Definitely handy for some data entry.

Well, something is definitely NOT working for me then! The ONLY way I can enter a date is by selecting the drop-down menu and use the applet. I cannot place the cursor into an empty field. Not into the months, year or day. Those I can only select once a date has actually been entered. Then I can modify that entry. BUT: trying to do so then actually does not change the date, but deletes it!
Then, when the field appears empty again, it is actually not possible to enter a new date again at all!
Something very weird is going on here...
I'll see if I can upload a video of this to Mantis. [edit: here the bug report - http://mantis.idimager.com/view.php?id=2967; have a look at the videos; unfortunately the color scheme of PSu makes it almost impossible to see the cursor blinking in a data entry field. This makes it virtually impossible to show with a screenshot video, what actually happens. In my case I cannot manually place the cursor into an empty date field (not in day, month or year!). This is ONLY possible, when the fields have been "filled" with the applet. Then I can change the entry manually. But changing an existing entry deletes the entire date from the file. Trying to use the applet crashes the program]...


Frank

[fbungarz]

BTW - just an idea:
Could this have to do with the way my system date is configured on Windows?
I am using an US-American operating system, but under "Region and Language" my system is configured to use the "dd-MMM-yyyy" short date format (today's date for example 03-Feb-2016). In PSU the notation, however, appears to be "dd-mm-yyyy" (today's date: 03-02-2016). Could this cause a conflict? In PSU preferences I have selected English as the language, metric as the measurement system.
I am asking because I am using another database, which requires that I configure the date according to the format I use (dd-MMM-yyyy), else that database does not write dates correctly. With the US Americans generally accustomed to writing the month before the day, the MMM notation or Roman numerals are frequently used for collection data, to avoid that month and days are being mixed up.
Now, I am just wondering if PSU crashes because the date format of the operating system does not follow the default configuration.

[sanphotgn]

Hi Frank,

I tried these three fields from the dwc_IDI_ImageDetails (Version 2 (DwC_2013-02-07) downloaded from the repository).

Earliest Collection Date in the Darwin Core - Record & Occurence section
Latest Collection Date in the Darwin Core - Record & Occurence section
Date identified in the Darwin Core - Taxon & Identification section

All fields worked. I was able to enter new dates for one image and when multiple images were selected. I was able to change dates.

>For me - the easiest way to enter the date for blank date fields: highlight the month "field" or "mask" whatever you want to call it,

I am going to modify the above statement I made. Highlight works if there is a value there and in some cases it seemed I could highlight the area when there wasn't a value, but I also found just clicking (placing the cursor) in the month "field" or "mask" and start typing works as well (and is easier). If you are used to typing a leading zero for single digits ... for example "01" for "1" ... don't. Just type "1" and PSU automatically fills in "01".

Another observation: Empty month, day, and year fields do not appear enabled or editable when you click on them (but they are). The field does not "appear" after clicking in them compared with clicking in an empty text field.

(Just saw your latest post, but I will post this in case it is helpful.)

Kevin

[sanphotgn]

In my set-up PSU is using MM/dd/yyyy. Example: 03/01/2011. March 1, 2011. My short date formatting per the operating system is M/d/yyyy. Using the previous example: 3/1/2011.

[fbungarz]

Have you had a look at the videos? Have you tried changing the dates during/after entry? In my case, I can enter a date, write the metadata to the image, but changing it afterwards does not work. Also, when I try to change during data entry it does not work properly. Have a look at the videos...
I am using essentially the same XMP as is in the repository. So, if it works on your system, it* should* work on mine...
FYI - the collection date in the field is the "xmp:dwc:EarliestDate" (= Earliest Collection Date in the Darwin Core - Record & Occurrence section)
;-(

[fbungarz]

PS: I experimented with the Regional & Language settings under Windows to no avail. Using the slash / as a separator it is easier to see, where the cursor is in the field, but modifying the dates still does not work...

[fbungarz]

FYI - today's PSU update 2075 did not resolve this...
[not complaining; I cannot expect to get this fixed from one day to the next ]