Re: [Shotwell] how to transfer/update tags in Ubuntu?

[rikona <rikona sonic net>]

Sorry for the long delay, but I fiddled around quite a bit to see what
I could do. I did use the exact same directory structure as the
original machine, but that did not seem to help. Looking at the
database, it seems as though Shotwell uses the thumbnails, and their
references, to keep track of the actual pictures. 

The problem seems to be that the sequence of cataloging pictures is
different in the original machine and the new machine. In the original
machine, groups of pictures were added at different times, in
different amounts, and in the appropriate file directories of the
original machine. These were catalogued as they were added. In the new
machine, all the files were transferred over, and the cataloging order
was very different from the original machine. This results in a
different reference number for each thumbnail, and seems to be the
reason why using the original database points to all the wrong
pictures for the same tags. I'm not positive about this, but that's
the way it looks. 

Fortunately, I had a duplicate copy of most of the pictures on a
different machine which was still running okay. I found out that
Shotwell will write the tag information if the pictures are exported,
and so I exported all the pictures on this different machine. I
uninstalled everything on the new machine, reinstalled Shotwell,
copied the exported pictures to the new machine, imported them, and
the resulting tags are generated at import, and do point to the
correct pictures. This leaves quite a few pictures which were not
duplicated on the second machine, but I will have to just retag these.
Also, by having to use the exported pictures, I lose the really useful
directory structures I had on the original machine - all the pictures
are now in one directory. 

So, for now, it looks like the only way to preserve the correct tags
is to make sure you have an exported copy of all your pictures, and
these would be used instead of the original pictures if you're moving
to a new machine. 

And, I'd like to thank the folks who responded to my original posting.

-- 

 rikona