mla mapping/display xmp metadata

hi david

thanks for the reply.
perfect, the “template:([+xmp:Creator+])” works fine for me.

regarding the “all_xxx” isue, please find two of the images which i’m trying to display here:
https://www.ptzo.ch/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/GOPR8697.jpg
https://www.ptzo.ch/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/scharlachrot-1-2.jpg

thanks

silvio

hi david

additionally to the not yet solved “all_xxx” issue, some other questons came up:

i have maintained the meta information of another test image and uploaded the image to wp.

according to an online meta display website, the xmp SupplementalCategories parameter is filled with text (more than 32 char):
https://metapicz.com/#landing?imgsrc=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ptzo.ch%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2016%2F05%2Fscharlachrot-1-4.jpg

unfortunately, the iptc parameter “2#020 supplemental-category” which could be used in the mapping screen is defined with a lenght of 32 chars only (beside the limit to 32 characters, this mapping works fine).
https://www.biaggi.ch/supplementalcategory.jpg

therefore, i have now tried to map the description with the xmp parameter value “template:([+xmp:SupplementalCategories+])” which does not return any value at all.
https://www.biaggi.ch/supplementalcategories.jpg

could you please have a look on this one as well once your back from your travels?

thanks

silvio

hi again

after hours of testing i figured out the following:
the “all_xxx” issue occurs only when the jig justified image grid plugin is activated.

additionally i have figured out, that also coding examples like this ones don’t work when the jig plugin is active:
[mla_gallery columns=1 post_parent=all mla_caption=”ObjectName: {+iptc:2#005+}
Headline: {+iptc:2#105+}
ByLine: {+iptc:2#080+}
Keywords: {+iptc:2#025+}”]

so i dug into the jig documentation and there is a setting of the jig plugin (Use JIG as MLA display) which controls the handling of the mla_gallery shortcode:
https://www.biaggi.ch/jigsettingsmla.jpg

unfortunately, this has been installed/set (i have not worked with jig so far, only installed and checked successfully if/how the mla_alt_shortcode parameter works) to the second option:
“Yes, but allow overriding on a per-shortcode basis with mla_alt_shortcode attribute.”
once i’ve selected the first option:
“No leave the [mla shortcode] alone”
the “all_xxx” and other meta info display issues did not occur any more. so obviously the problems occur while jig is dealing with the mla shortcode, even if the shortcode which is in use is just a normal mla_gallery shortcode without the option mla_alt_shortcode=justified_image_grid. this means, that none of the shortcodes code – like i’ve used in this thread (“all_xxx” or mla_caption=”ObjectName: {+iptc:2#005+}” etc.) – will not work as long as the options 2 or 3 are selected in the jig settings (Use JIG as MLA display). maybe it’s the curly brackets/braces, maybe the +, but jig definitely doesn’t like it.

i will now investigate further to figure out, which jig settings option allows me to work in the easiest way with the meta information. i guess that the “mla_alt_shortcode=justified_image_grid” parameter will give me control about the jig on a mla_gallery shortcode to shortcode basis. so i will most likely leave the jig settings (Use JIG as MLA display) on option 1 and use the “mla_alt_shortcode=justified_image_grid” option to still be able to use the “all_xxx” (and similar) functions.

anyway, i need to dig into jig further since i guess by default they use caption and title from wp. maybe i anyway need to string the various meta info into these wp standard fields during the upload of the pictures, we’ll see.. it would have been nice to put the jig gallery caption string in an easy way together like your example (mla_caption=”ObjectName: {+iptc:2#005+}
Headline: {+iptc:2#105+}”()
ByLine: {+iptc:2#080+}
Keywords: {+iptc:2#025+}”).

are you aware of this “malfunction” (well, it’s not really malfunctioning, i agree) and is there a workaround somehow? don’t get me wrong, i’m not looking for a workaround which uses wp standard fields or php coding involved. i was just wondering if an easy workaround e.g. like using two “{” instead of one or adding a “\” in front of “}” would help (why and whatsoever ;-)).

regards

silvio

Thank you for re-posting your question to the MLA Support Forum and especially for all the work you have put in to tracking down the interaction between MLA and JIG. It will take me a day or so to reproduce your work and investigate further. I have worked with the JIG author on some other issues and have had good results.

If you have read the “Support for Other Gallery-generating Shortcodes” section of the Settings/Media Library Assistant Documentation tab you know that the mla_alt_shortcode parameter divides the work between MLA (for the data selection part of the gallery composition) and some other shortcode (such as JIG) to compose the gallery display. When you use mla_alt_shortcode, none of the MLA display parameters like mla_caption will be processed.

As you suggest, the best approach might be to set up mapping rules to pre-populate the standard WordPress Title, Caption, Description and other fields.

I will also have a look at the SupplementalCategories metadata as well, and I will post an update when I have progress to report. Thanks for your patience during my travels.

I had a look at your SupplementalCategories metadata in the 05_scharlachrot-1-4.jpg file. This value is part of thephotoshop namespace:

'photoshop' =>
    array (
      'DateCreated' => '2015-12-23T17:04:54.00',
      'Category' => 'iptc inhalt kategorie',
      'AuthorsPosition' => 'iptc kontakt berufsbez.',
      'Headline' => 'iptc inhalt ??berschrift',
      'CaptionWriter' => 'iptc inhalt autor der beschreibung',
      'City' => 'iptc bild stadt',
      'State' => 'iptc bild bundesland/kanton',
      'Country' => 'iptc bild land',
      'TransmissionReference' => '',
      'Instructions' => 'iptc status anweisungen',
      'Credit' => 'iptc status anbieter',
      'Source' => 'iptc status quelle',
      'SupplementalCategories' =>
      array (
        0 => 'iptc inhalt andere kategorien iptc inhalt andere kategorien iptc inhalt andere kategorien iptc inhalt andere
...
kategorien iptc inhalt andere kategorien ',
      ),
    ),

You can access this value by prepending the photoshop qualifier to it, e.g.:

mla_caption="{+xmp:photoshop.SupplementalCategories+}"

Let me know if that works for you.

thanks for your reply.

mla_caption=”{+xmp:photoshop.SupplementalCategories+}” works perfectly, but it’s quite frustrating for me, not to find this information by myself.

there are many “show meta data” websites available, but almost every site displays different results for exactly the same image.
https://www.imgonline.com.ua/
https://www.imageforensic.org/
https://regex.info/exif.cgi (aka jeffrey’s image metadata viewer)

to document this, i’ve done some tests and screenshots, maybe someone else would be happy about this information:

*************************
they (with they, i mean the varioust online tools but as well the mls mapping interface or other tools) also use different names for the same fields:

e.g. IPTC supplemental categories:
imageforensic.org shows the variable in
iptc metadata
–segment APPLICATION2
—-SuppCategory
https://www.biaggi.ch/forumlinks/imageforensicSCIPTC.jpg

but in the mla mapping rules, the field is called
IPTC ApplicationRecord
Tags 2#020 supplemental-category
https://www.biaggi.ch/forumlinks/mlaSCIPTC.jpg

taking this example, i’m sure they both are referring to the same filed, just with a different name: supplemental-category vs SuppCategory.
**************************

**************************
some applications don’t show the field at all:

e.g. XMP supplemental categories (xmp/photoshop):
imageforensic.org shows the field in
XMP metadata
–segment PHOTOSHOP
—-SupplementalCategories
https://www.biaggi.ch/forumlinks/imageforensicSCXMP.jpg

imgonline.com.ua doesn’t show it the xmp or photoshop section at all:
https://www.biaggi.ch/forumlinks/imgonlineSCIPTCPS.jpg

regex.info (jeffreys) shows it under section XMP (with no reference to photoshop)
https://www.biaggi.ch/forumlinks/regexSCXMP.jpg
and doesn’t mention it in the photoshop section at all:
https://www.biaggi.ch/forumlinks/regexSCPS.jpg
**************************

to keep the topic as complicated as possible, the various fields have different lengths which means e.g. that the iptc SuppCategory is limited to 32 chars while the photoshop/xmp supplementalCategories is much longer (and therefore more relevant to me).

me, working a week on this topic now, i think the best/most accurate online meta information display tool is https://www.imageforensic.org. they display the correct technical names and provide the information in a proper structured manner.

regards

silvio

Thanks for confirming the mla_caption=”{+xmp:photoshop.SupplementalCategories+}” suggestion and for your extended comments. Welcome to the wonderful world of metadata “standards”. I have been working in this area for a few years now and I continue to find new details and issues in image and PDF files shared by MLA users.

Regarding IPTC fields like “2#020 supplemental-category”, the only official tag is the “2#020”. Anything else like SuppCategory or supplemental-category is an invention by a tool author. I tried to follow the labels mentioned in the IPTC specification. You can find a link to the specification in the “Prefix values” section of the Settings/Media Library Assistant Documentation tab:

You can find more IPTC information in the IPTC-NAA Information Interchange Model Version No. 4.1 specification (PDF document).

Regarding EXIF values, the Documentation tab contains:

There is no official list of standard field names, so you just have to know the names your camera and software use; field names are case-sensitive.

You can find more information in the Exchangeable image file format article on Wikipedia. You can find External Links to EXIF standards and tag listings at the end of the Wikipedia article.

Parsing the newer XMP data has been a challenge as well. I finally implemented my own parsing code from scratch because I couldn’t find any (free) code library or component for it.

WordPress uses a subset of the excellent getID3() script, but does not include the code for image or PDF files. I installed the complete script on my test system and use the demo.browse.php demonstration browser they supply to analyze image files. It does a good job with the XMP data.

I certainly share your frustration with the effort required to make sense out of all this. Thanks for posting all the information and links to online tools for displaying the data embedded in images and other files.

Thanks for your patience while I did some testing with the MLA/JIG combination.

You wrote “I will most likely leave the jig settings (Use JIG as MLA display) on option 1 and use the ‘mla_alt_shortcode=justified_image_grid’ option to still be able to use the ‘all_xxx’ (and similar) functions.” There are two options for the “Use JIG as MLA display (automatically take over)” option on the Settings/Justified Image Grid General Settings screen you can consider:

1. If you use “option 1” (“Yes, but allow overriding on a per-shortcode basis with mla_alt_shortcode attribute.”) JIG will intercept ALL [mla_gallery] shortcodes. To turn JIG off and use native MLA gallery display you must add mla_alt_shortcode=no to the [mla_gallery] shortcode.
2. If you use “option 1” (“No, leave the [mla_gallery] shortcode alone.”) JIG will ignore [mla_gallery] shortcodes. To turn JIG on you must add mla_alt_shortcode=justified_image_grid to the [mla_gallery] shortcode.

As you discovered and as I suspected, JIG does not use any of the MLA Gallery Display Content parameters, e.g.,mla_caption="{+xmp:ALL_AMP+}". You can change some JIG settings that might work for your application:

1. In the “What text to show inside the lightbox” section of the Settings/Justified Image Grid Lightboxes screen you can choose the two fields JIG will display when the lightbox is active. The radio buttons give you some choices, including the ability to use a WordPress custom field for either field. You can define MLA mapping rules to populate one or more custom fields and replace the JIG defaults with anything you like.
2. In the “What text to show on the thumbnails” section of the Settings/Justified Image Grid Captions screen you can choose the two fields JIG will display for the initial gallery display. Again, you can define MLA mapping rules to populate one or more custom fields and replace the JIG defaults with anything you like.

With the above suggestions you can combine MLA and JIG along the lines you’ve outlined for you application.

I am marking this topic resolved, but please update it if you have any problems or further questions about the metadata access and MLA/JIG aspects of your application. Thanks again for your thoughtful commentary and for working with me on the topic.

thanks again david for the follow-follow up of this thread. you’re providing jig information which is very helpful and saves some time to search for… once again, much more than expected has been delievered by you. thanks
silvio

ps: i guess you have a copy/paste typo in:
1. If you use “option 1” (“Yes, but allow overriding on a per-shortcode basis with mla_alt_shortcode attribute.”)

shouldn’t it be “option 2” instead of “option 1” in this paragraph?

You are most welcome; thanks for the kind words.

You’re right, (“No, leave the [mla_gallery] shortcode alone.”) is the first option and (“Yes, but allow overriding on a per-shortcode basis with mla_alt_shortcode attribute.”) is the second option. The numbering is confusing but the labels are right. I regret any confusion.