I can no longer see the pictures

[WhiteTiger]

I am new to XnView MP, so maybe I am not doing everything correctly.
I have hundreds of images and photos collected over years, some related to galleries purchased over time.
I reorganized the categories because with one alphabetical list of dozens of categories I was not comfortable working with; many were also duplicate, wrong, or misnamed.
Now they are grouped in a tree and I have associated the images by eliminating double assignments or creating new categories.

Meanwhile in Windows Explorer I have also reorganized the image folders.

I now see that in XnView not all images are visible because they are still identified as being in folders that are no longer there.

I would like to regenerate the catalog, but I don't want to lose the new category structure.
How can I do this?

[michel038]

If export options were enabled when you assigned categories, then iptc or xmp keywords are embedded in jpg files. (Settings > Metadata)
So Xnviewmp will be able to rebuild the catalog ...
- Try first to delete a small folder in the table in Settings>Catalog , and then use "Add folder" to make XnViewMP rebuild this part of the catalog.
If this try is OK, you can delete the full catalog the same way, and "add Folder" with the parent folder of all your jpg's
It will take about 1 min for 2000 photos
- If you have other image formats, or xmp sidecar files , tell us ...

If there are no keywords in your photos, its a problem.

note :
You can export your categories list in a txt file (Categories pane > top right drop down menu > Categories management > Export categories file)

[WhiteTiger]

If ...
So Xnviewmp will be able to rebuild the catalog ...
- Try first to delete a small folder in the table in Settings>Catalog , and then use "Add folder" to make XnViewMP rebuild this part of the catalog.
If this try is OK,

That test was not easy because it often involves folders that have been renamed or moved or simply have changes in image names.
The changes were already too many and in too many places.

I started from a consideration; the information is in the images and not in in the program. So I saved the new category tree about 650 categories that had cost me a day's work.
I saved the DB and then removed XnViewMP and reinstalled it.

Result?
I lost all the information of over 80,000 images in over 2500 folders. Basically 15 years of photos, images and clipart collected and mostly bought.


I did not change the default settings, and it is therefore evidently that they are incorrect or otherwise dangerously configured.
I find impossible to think that for such a complex program with so much information there is no comprehensive user manual.

Could it be that there is no option to do a refresh safeguarding what is already there?
It seems normal to me that most of the work is done in the file system and XnViewXP cannot replace it.
Many photos are uploaded with smartphones, from the Internet, with Dropbox, with new galleries purchased.
I find it absurd that if I simply move or rename pictures, XnView cannot handle them.
It is no longer here and now it is there, but it is still the same picture with the same information.
On the other hand, if I rename it in the file system, XnView should simply remove it from the list and then insert a new one that will have the same information as before.
Where is the complication?

Now I have the previously saved DB; what is in it I don't know, maybe with 80,000 photos but still with some placed in folders that no longer exist today or with a different name.

How can and should I manage it?

I am certainly not going to feed XnViewMP my photos so as not to lose any more information from the date on which they were taken.

The loss of categories is annoying, but I can survive.
Photos and images are distributed on the file system in folders describing their contents.
Of course it would have been convenient to be able to find all the photos classified with certain categories, but patience.
However, the information is something else and much more important: from the data of the shot to the copyright.
These cannot be lost because among the settings of XnViewMP there is one that had to be activated in another way.

So, after all, is there any documentation to refer to without having to rely only on a friend on the Forum?

[xnview]

you have changed the path of your picture files right? You can me the .db and i'll change it...

[WhiteTiger]

you have changed the path of your picture files right? You can me the .db and i'll change it...

There are many folders that have been moved or have changed their names; I have not simply moved the root folder of images.
Or images have been moved or their names changed, for example from "photo XYZ (3)" to "CityLife-066-800x600".
I find it hard to think of how to recover the damage.
Sure, I'd like to, but I'm afraid the damage is done now!

The point is not to find a friend to recover the tags.
If that is not possible, it will mean that I will insert new tags when I'll use the photos.

Instead, the point is how to prevent this from happening because it is normal for there to be some reorganization of folders or files over time; there will always be files and folders added, removed, moved, and renamed.

What would be needed in the meantime is a guide that explains each option well, how to use them and when to use them.
There is no point in having a page on EXIF and Metadata in the Wiki if they are then lost without knowing how it was possible.

It seems impossible for me to believe that a catalog cannot be rebuilt, for example by resetting it to zero and recreating it from scratch from an images "root folder".
(With a backup save, which seems to me to be an absent option.)

[xnview]

you have changed the path of your picture files right? You can me the .db and i'll change it...

There are many folders that have been moved or have changed their names; I have not simply moved the root folder of images.
Or images have been moved or their names changed, for example from "photo XYZ (3)" to "CityLife-066-800x600".
I find it hard to think of how to recover the damage.
Sure, I'd like to, but I'm afraid the damage is done now!

In this case it will be not easy. You need to move folders inside XnView to update catalog...

Instead, the point is how to prevent this from happening because it is normal for there to be some reorganization of folders or files over time; there will always be files and folders added, removed, moved, and renamed.

If you make all file operations from XnView, catalog will be updated correctly

It seems impossible for me to believe that a catalog cannot be rebuilt, for example by resetting it to zero and recreating it from scratch from an images "root folder".
(With a backup save, which seems to me to be an absent option.)

Do you use embedded metadata or sidecar to store rating/keywords?