ACDSee Pro 2 and 2.5

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File Search Not Finding All Files

(5 posts)

  • nhoeller
    Member

    I managed to corrupt my ACDSee database (laptop overheated in the middle of doing some image reorganization).  I recovered the database from a backup taken without thumbnails.  I figured that the thumbnails would be re-created as I browsed folders.  However, I discovered that searching on an image filename was NOT working properly - files that I knew were there were not showing up in the search until I had browsed the folders first. 

    Does this mean that my restored catalog is not valid?  I see ratings, tags and notes that I recently added, but those could have been pulled in from the embedded database information that I finally got working yesterday. 

    If the thumbnails need to be in the catalog before search will work, what is the best way of doing that?  Database->Rebuild Thumbnails does not appear to handle sub-directories.  http://community.acdsee.com/forums/topic/rebulding-thumbnails suggests using 'Database->Catalog Files'.  I would feel safer if the Help clearly stated what this does when an image already in the catalog is re-cataloged.

    I am running ACDSee 2.5 Build 363.

         Thanks, Norbert

    Posted On June 28, 2009 - 03:38 PM (4 months ago) (Permalink to this post)

  • Marc Sabatella
    Moderator

    Search shouldn't depend on thumbs.  Is there a way to verify if ratings and other tags have come in from files that search isn't finding by name?  Eg, search for a a keyword present on a file that search won't find by name - does it show up?  If so, that would seem very strange.  If not, it suggests your restore wasn't actually successful at all.

    Posted On July 1, 2009 - 04:47 PM (4 months ago) (Permalink to this post)

  • nhoeller
    Member

    Marc, I will admit that I thought what I was seeing did not make a lot of sense.  I just happened to notice this because I was cleaning up duplicate files and knew what I should be seeing in the search results. 

    I do not recall seeing any errors reported after the restore. 

    If I get some time, I will:

    • do a file backup of the ACDSee catalog
    • do a backup without thumbnails of the ACDSee catalog
    • do some keyword and file searches so that I know the results
    • restore from the ACDSee backup and repeat the searches

    Thanks, Norbert

    Posted On July 1, 2009 - 09:09 PM (4 months ago) (Permalink to this post)

  • nhoeller
    Member

    I did a bit more digging.  I had duplicate copies of a file in \Pictures\Abacos and \Pictures\Abacos\Original\2004_11_13.  The first image appears in the catalog, the second does not (verified by doing a search and also through a text dump of the database).  I went to the earlier backup that I had used to recover the catalog and only found one copy of the file in the Asset.dbf file.  The implication is that ACDSee had never fully cataloged the subdirectories of \Pictures\Abacos.

    The odd part is that I found an old file backup of the cataog from 2007/09/28 where I see two references to the file.  I had installed ACDSee Pro 2 Beta in August of that year when I switched to Vista at the time.  It appears I ran with the Beta until October when I installed the final version.  My notes are skimpy but I believe I just had ACDSee Pro 2 Final pull in the beta database since I could not export the ACDSee beta database (would not launch).  I have no backups of ACDSee after the upgrade to ACDSee Pro 2 Final so I have no documentation on when the catalog entries disappeared. 

    This has been one of the concerns I have had with ACDSee - it is difficult to verify the integrity of the catalog.  In previous attempts at upgrading to newer versions of ACDSee, notes, keywords and ratings often vanished.  Since I was only sporadically using these features at the time, it might be quite a while before I noticed that information had been lost.  Even if I had a backup of the old catalog, other changes would often cause database records to become 'orphans' preventing me from extracting the relevant information.  The ability to produce a text dump of the database is a step in the right direction - I should be able to write some automation that will compare pre- and post-migration database information.

    Long story, short question: is it safe to do an ACDSee Database -> Catalog Files against all my images to pick up those not currently in the database?

    Posted On July 2, 2009 - 05:55 PM (4 months ago) (Permalink to this post)

  • Marc Sabatella
    Moderator

    At this point, I am not sure what would be safe and what wouldn't, but if you have backups of your images and your catalog, then sure, anything is safe to *try*.

    As for verifying db integrity, I agree with your concerns.  That's why I am a big fan of the text file export, but I also write all my db info to IPTC fields.  And as of 2.5, I'm also quite enamored of the new embedded metadata facility - because it preserves category hierarchy - the one thing that IPTC cannot.  Unfortunately, it uses proprietary XMP fileds rather than the standard IPTC Core Schema fields where appropriate, but by writing my info to both IPTC and XMP, I get the best of both worlds - just wish it didn't take two steps.

    Anyhow, with all my db info written to both IPTC and XMP, plus the text export I do before any major upgrade or other operation, I don't worry so much about db integrity.  Truth be told, I rarely even back up my db any more.

    Posted On July 8, 2009 - 06:32 PM (4 months ago) (Permalink to this post)

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