IMatch Changelog

What's new in IMatch 2020.7.3

Aug 25, 2020

Bug Fixes:
Attributes Filter #01226:
Under some conditions, the Filter always returns an empty result.
This behavior is caused by an unrelated performance optimization included in the May edition of IMatch. It was undetected until now.
Relation Manager #01227:
A bug was identified in two routines which might be used when determining buddy files during certain database operations, depending on the scope size in use. This could lead to buddy files not being correctly identified.

New in IMatch 2019.2.3 (Mar 4, 2019)

New in IMatch 2018.7.3 (Jul 25, 2018)

New in IMatch 2017.9.2 (Sep 5, 2017)

New in IMatch 2017.8.1 (Aug 1, 2017)

If you run a 64-bit edition of Windows 7, 8 or 10 (most likely) you can now switch to the 64-bit edition of IMatch.
File Relations: New Variable-based Version Detection:
You can now use IMatch variables to detect versions, or to further restrict versions detected by the other existing methods to find versions. The new option can be used in addition with all existing version detection modes (file name, EXIF timestamp etc.). Whether you want to detect versions based on arbitrary metadata tags or you want to limit versions only to files created with a specific software, taken with a specific camera or by a specific photographer, all this can now be achieved easily.
Viewer: Load Indicator:
Improved visibility of the load indicator for vertical film strips.
CSV Import:
The import fails when trying to import into an Attribute set. The problem is caused by a missing update in the CSV Import app.
@Developers: /folders/files endpoint:
When this endpoint is used with an idlist, IMWS may return all files in the database
@Developers: /categories endpoint:
When this endpoint is used with an idlist, IMWS may return all files in the database.
@Developers: IMatch.showProtectedFiles property:
Fixed a typo in the property name. The resolved promise now returns a showProtectedFiles object, before it was showProtectedfiles (lower-case F).
Keyword Panel:
The Keyword Panel now remembers the last active tab (Recent, Top-50,...) and restores it when the panel is re-created.
Keyword Panel: Suggestions:
The automatic keyword suggestions have been improved and use an internal keyword graph to produce better suggestions.
@Developers: Attribute Data Format:
IMWS now always expects floating point Attribute data in string form with a decimal point. Also updated the Developer Documentation (Code Recipes and Tips) to specify the data format returned and expected.
German Names for GPS Tags updated.:
There was a swap between Breiten- and Längengrad.
IMWS Race Condition:
Under very heavy load (multiple clients, very fast machine, 50+ parallel requests per second) IMWS could run into a race condition while accessing the database. This could cause an internal exception, possibly even a crash of IMWS/IMatch.
Map Panel:
IMatch now uses different label colors, depending on the selected map type, to make the labels better readable. Before the black text was often unreadable on Satellite or Hybrid map types. The now used white text color is much better. For street or terrain maps, IMatch uses black text as before.
Impossible to select App Panel for Favorites:
This was a regression error caused by a problem in the resource file.
Batch Processor Preview:
The preview did not always apply the embedded color profile when previewing a file. This affected the preview only, not the resulting output file.
Collections and Annotations:
Fixed a long-standing issue with dynamically updating collections after adding new tags to face annotations. Under certain conditions the new tag collection could get a duplicate internal id. This means that it maybe did not update correctly or display in the wrong place. The problem resolved itself after the database was closed and re-opened. This made this hard to find.
Collection View:
New Face tags added in the Viewer were not sorted correctly until the database was closed and re-opened.
Cache Images:
IMatch did not log a warning when a cache image could not be saved (e.g., because of too low disk space or file system permission issues).
If a user uses IMatch sometimes while being logged in as an Administrator, and cache files are created in that session, these cache files are only writable for administrative users. If the user now logs into Match under a normal user account and cache images need to be regenerated, IMatch will fail to update the 'admin-only' cache images produced earlier. This is still silent but logged to the log file for easier analysis and support.
@Developers: Updated and extended the documentation for IMWS, IMatchLib.js and IMWSLib.js
Metadata Templates:
The Metadata Template editor accidentally may show a 'Complex Tag' warning messages for non-complex tags.
@Developers: Output Panel may open hen console.log is used.:
Using console.log in an app could cause the output panel to open.
File Finder App:
There is no an option to show or hide the detailed descriptions for each find mode. This makes the app better usable on small displays.
Customer Portal Updates:
Updated the customer portal to the latest version, with support for 64-bit editions of all products.
File Window: Remember Layout:
The Remember Layout option in the File Window has been enhanced.
If this option is enabled, IMatch now not only remembers the File Window layout (per folder, category) but also the selected sort profile and the reverse sort order setting. This makes it now possible to setup and automatically restore different layouts, including sort orders. Very handy if you, for example, regularly switch between folders containing PDF documents, video files or image files.
IMWS Caching:
Under some circumstances the IMWS cache did not updated modified files due to a local time zone / UTC zone issue. If the file was modified within the time zone offset for the current locale of the last update/creation of the IMWS cache image, the cache image was not regenerated.

New in IMatch 2017.5.4 (May 31, 2017)

New in IMatch 5.5.3 (Dec 4, 2015)

IMATCH DESIGN AND PRINT:
The new printing module enables you to produce photo books, portfolios, contact sheets, reports and a wide range of other document types. Needless to say that, this being IMatch, you also have full metadata support and flexible automation features which are both powerful and unique.
FASTEST VIEWER EVER:
The Viewer has been rewritten to use the new hardware-based render engine (GPU rendering based on DirectX technology).
This means that zooms are now instant, that you can zoom smoothly between 10% and 800% and that everything works a lot faster - even when you use images with 36, 48 or even 80 Megapixels. This is one of the major enhancements in IMatch 5.5.
The number of images you can see in parallel in the Viewer has been reduced to 8 images in order to conserve resources.
The maximum size of images that can be displayed depends on your graphic hardware and the installed DirectX version. Typically images up to 16,384 pixels in either dimension can be displayed. If you attempt to display files which exceed the limits of your hardware, (e.g., 30,000 pixel panoramas), the Viewer loads the image at the maximum size supported by the graphic card.
Options to configure on-screen sharpen have been removed. They are no longer needed. The Viewer (and the Quick View panel) now use the high-quality resampling algorithms provided by the graphic hardware. This produces the best possible image quality at every zoom level.
Panel Linking:
You can now turn panel linking on and off using the L key. If panels are linked, zooming or panning is synchronized between all visible panels in the Viewer. If you turn linking off, you can zoom and pan each panel individually.
FASTER QUICK VIEW PANEL:
The Quick View Panel has been rewritten to use the new GPU render technology. This is a major performance improvement. In addition, the Quick View Panel now supports zoom ranges between 10% and 800%, instant dive zoom, smooth Alt+pan zooms and more. The panel now retains the configured zoom mode when you switch between files and uses an improved adaptive pre-loader for even faster navigation.
EXIFTOOL:
Updated to version 10.06, released on November 26, 2015.
FILE WINDOW:
Multiple Selections:
You can now select and de-select multiple ranges of files by Ctrl+clicking the first file and then Ctrl+Shift+clicking the last file you want to select or unselect. Individual files can be selected/unselected as before using Ctrl alone
New Goto Commands:
New commands added to quickly jump to the first (Ctrl+G,F), last(Ctrl+G,L) and the focused file (Ctrl+G,O). These are very handy when you work with large file sets, selections and you scroll around in the File Window a lot
Layouts:
Font sizes in point now automatically adapted to screen DPI settings
Custom Sort' Profile:
The Additional Functions > Reset Custom Sort from the context menu in the File Window now works different. If more than one file is selected when you run this command, only the custom sort order of these files is reset. Else the custom sort order is reset for all files in the folder / category.
This new behavior allows you to partially reset custom sort orders, which can be very helpful in some situations.
The Custom sort profile is now displayed as [Custom] and always as the first element in the drop-down list. The special Edit entry has been renamed to [Edit...].
NEW 'FILE CATEGORIES' PANEL:
This new panel shows the same information as the 'Current' tab in the Category Panel. This allows you to both edit categories for files and to see the categories already assigned to these files. Use F9, D to show or hide this panel.
UPDATE CHECK:
Under some conditions, the automatic update check of IMatch was not run automatically, even when enabled in the application preferences.
METADATA PANEL NAVIGATION:
You can now use Ctrl+PageUp and Ctrl+PageDown in the Metadata Panel to move to the previous or next file without using the mouse. Press Tab afterwards to start editing again.
This works the same as in the Keyword Panel. I've added these commands also to the context menu as a reminder. This improves editing speed and minimizes switching between mouse and keyboard.
METADATA WRITE-BACK:
The write-back progress dialog now displays the number of files to write in total, and the number of files already written. It also correctly adapts when metadata propagation is performed during the write-back. For example, when you write back 10 masters and each master propagates to 10 versions, it will correctly show that 100 files need to be updated. This was not the case before.
VARIABLES:
Added the negate and negateint variants to the cast: formatting function. These cast can be used with Boolean variables to negate the result and to convert the negated result into an int.
Added the limitstr function which allows you to limit the output length of strings and to optionally append a postfix. This can be useful e.g., for printing, when you want to ensure that text is cropped to fit and that a postfix like ... is appended when text is shortened.
VERSIONING:
The command to unlink a manual version link now works differently when a file has multiple manually linked masters. If such a file is selected but no master is selected, IMatch cannot determine, which master to unlink. Previously, IMatch responded with an error message. Now IMatch asks if you want to unlink the file from all masters.
This change can be very helpful for certain situations, e.g., accidental multiple links of the same file, a script that produces false links etc. Before it was quite tedious to manually unlink each file from each master.
NEW MAP PANEL FUNCTIONS:
Added a Goto File command to the popup windows you get when you left-click a marker in the map. This command locates the clicked-on file in the current file window.
Find files nearby... commands have been added to the context menus of target markers, file markers and locations. These new commands make it easy to find all files within the area covered by a location or all files nearby the target marker.
FILE NAME DIGIT MATCH SCRIPT ENABLED:
The script now saves and restores its settings. Instead of assigning all matches to a category, you now can optionally open the matching files in a new result window.
STACKS AND THE VIEWER:
When only one file is selected and this is the top of a collapsed stack, IMatch automatically opens the entire stack in the Viewer.
When only one file is selected and this is a master and the version stack is collapsed, IMatch now automatically opens the entire stack in the Viewer.
This new behavior should feel more logical to the majority of users. You can restore the old behavior under Edit > Preferences > Application: Viewer.
VERSION STACKS:
Changed the keyboard shortcut to toggle versions stacks from Ctrl+Shift+S to Ctrl+Shift+Q to avoid a clash with the Open Stack in Viewer and Open Stack in Result Window commands, which use the same keyboard shortcut as a prefix.
SCRIPTING:
Added methods to the Database class to create print jobs and to enumerate available print templates.
The SelectFoldersDialog now handles ++ selections as documented.
THIS AND THAT:
Various adjustments for first-time installs, proper applying of default values, messages in German language adjusted.
Recent' tab in the categories panel now properly adapts to system font size settings
Automatic refresh of @Keywords after modifying keywords in the Keyword Panel was not always working. Fixed.
The Stack Tops / Master counts are no longer displayed for protected files - before the count overlapped the protected icon, making everything unreadable.
The preset name drop-down list in the Renamer dialog now resizes when you change the width of the dialog. This makes longer preset names easier to read.
Added icon to clear filter button in the category selector dialog box.
The RunBatchProcessor method of the Database class now always requires a preset.
Fixed a bug where the version stack state of manual versions was lost when a folder was rescanned. After the rescan, all version stacks were shown as expanded.
Paste Attributes now synchronizes XMP back into IPTC/EXIF when enabled in the metadata options. This was not always the case before.
Manual File Relations: When you create a manual file relation, the dialog now offers an option to automatically collapse the version stack. This can speed up certain workflows quite a bit.

New in IMatch 5.4.14 (Jul 22, 2015)

New in IMatch 5.4.12 (Jul 22, 2015)

ExifTool:
Updated to version 9.96, released on May 20. 2015.
Indexing - Added Option to Skip Hidden & System Files:
Added an option to skip files marked as hidden or system when scanning folders
Improved Support for High-Resolution Displays:
Did some work in various areas to make IMatch adapt even better to high-resolution monitors. Created several new icon sets, adapted DPI-sensitive markup rendering code etc. IMatch 5 now looks really good on monitors from 1280 to 3200 pixels and from 96 to 200 DPI. Since I now own a high-res monitor myself, I could test all this
Large Icon Sets Added:
Under Edit > Preferences > Application you can now also enable a large icon set. This affects the size of icons used in the File Window, the Rating & Label filter, Metadata Panel, thumbnail windows, Viewer etc. The new icons are 32 x 32 pixels (twice as big as the regular set), which makes them ideal for screen resolutions of ~ 2000 pixel and higher.
Tree Controls:
Reduced the indent again which results in more compact tree layouts with less horizontal extent. Let me know if you experience problems by this change. The Windows default produces a too deep indent when using with large icons, but there is no real 'best' way to determine the optimal indent for various display resolutions and monitor layouts. I used a setting depending on the screen DPI and the chosen icon size that should work across all systems.
Map Panel:
Added a new Option (Edit > Preferences > Geo & Maps) to use a browser zoom level > 100%. This can improve the readability of text on maps if the map provider does not scale the map to match your screen resolution and you work on high-res monitors
Variables: New Functions Added:
Added a new cast for integer variables. You can now output numbers (>= 0) using Roman formatting, e.g. I, II, IV or XXIV. This is useful now, but even more so for a feature which will be shipped with in IMatch 5.5!
Added the length function to get the length of a variable in characters.
Added the between, numcomp, datecomp and strcomp formatting functions. These functions allow you to compare the text or numerical value of a variable with a fixed value or another variable. You can now do things like if is less than 500 then 'Not good!' else 'Good'. Very useful for many purposes.
Batch Processor
I have changed the way the Batch Processor treats variables when you use the Custom Metadata feature on the Metadata tab with variables.
Before this release, IMatch parsed and prepared the arguments for ExifTool only once. This is no problem when copying tag groups or individual tags, but becomes one when you use variables to fill individual tags. All output tags have the same value! The Batch Processor now updates the variables for each file and when sending the commands to ExifTool the data of the current file is used to resolve the variables.
File Relations - Metadata Propagation:
Added a new set of copy options for metadata. You can now copy frequently used XMP tags (e.g., title, description, copyright info, rating, label, location data..) individually, and there is even a step to strip existing XMP data from the version. These new features give you very fine control over which XMP metadata you copy, which is especially useful in typical upload/agency scenarios where you want to propagate only a limited set of XMP tags.
Filter for Media & Folders, Categories:
You have now a new option which allows you to optionally display the children of the folders / categories matching your filter expression. For example, if you search for folders with names containing "Color", IMatch now optionally displays also the child folders of the folders matching this filter term. Before you would only see the matching folders.
GPS Filter:
When you search by location, the distance controls are now disabled. Instead the filter uses the radius defined for the selected location(s) to control the search radius. This is the area covered by the yellow circle representing the location in the Map Panel.
Viewer:
You can now pan larger images easier while holding down Shift because the pan distance is proportionally scaled, based on the ratio of image size to Viewer window size. This is especially useful if you process files with 5000+ pixels.
This and That:
Performance improvements when accessing metadata in the UI while background tasks update metadata (e.g. when you work in the front-end and IMatch is importing files in the background). Less potential for long-term database locks, resulting in better responsiveness overall.
Improved reload logic of the Category Panel to avoid unnecessary reloads and scrolling when the user assigns or un-assigns files in this panel.

New in IMatch 5.4.10 (Jun 5, 2015)

ExifTool - Updated to version 9.95, released on May 9. 2015.
Data-driven Categories Enhanced:
Manual Update Option:
You can now exclude a data-driven category from the automatic background update. This is especially useful if you have many data-driven categories you don't always need, or you use data-driven categories based on variables.
Category Filters:
IMatch now allows you to limit the files used as input for a data-driven category by specifying one or more group filter regular expressions, similar to the @Category formula. This new feature makes it possible to create data-driven categories using only files in specific categories.
Variable-based Data-driven Categories:
In addition to metadata tags, you can now create data-driven categories based on arbitrary variables. This for example enables you to create data-driven categories based on Attributes, which was impossible before. But there is a catch: performance. See the details in the help topic linked below.
File Window:
Clicking the file window caption bar now also sets the focus to the file window (makes it the active window).
Protected Files:
File formats which use the player interface in the Quick View panel (e.g. video or MP3 files) now respect the current protected files visible state.
If protected files are hidden, folder thumbnails based on protected files are now hidden in the folder properties panel.
Scripting: SearchEngine:
Added the SetScope, GetScope and ClearScope methods to the SearchEngine class.
Modified the CSV Import script to use a different approach for caching. The script now also works reliably with huge databases containing more than 200,000 files.
File Relations: XMP Regions (Face Data):
Added an option to the propagation tab in File Relations. You now can explicitly exclude XMP regions from being propagated. This can be useful if you are concerned about privacy (you should!), and in situations where your versions are not only resized but also cropped or rotated differently that the master and thus the regions won't fit anymore.
IMatch has no feature to 'fix/adjust regions' while propagating XMP data.
Also added a work-around to handle the XMP regions produced by LR 6, which are missing the required unit element.
Write-back For Non-supported Formats:
IMatch now can create and update XMP files even for user-defined file formats which are not in ExifTool's list of supported formats. In previous versions the creation of the XMP file failed because IMatch attempted to produce it via ExifTool using the -tagsfromfile option. Now, IMatch creates an XMP file with minimal info first, then it uses ExifTool to write-back metadata as usual.
Large Tree Icon Set Added:
Added a second set of icons for all tree control elements (Media & Folders, Categories, Collections). The new set uses icons with 32x32 pixels (the standard set uses 16x16 pixels). For new installations, IMatch automatically activates large toolbars and large tree icons if the horizontal display resolution is > 2000 pixels. You can switch to large icons manually via Edit > Preferences > Application: User Interface > Tree Icon size.
Delete Folder:
IMatch now scans the folder for unmanaged files before deleting it. If the folder contains files not indexed by IMatch, a warning message is displayed
This and That:
Explicitly enabled write-back support for legacy EXIF, legacy IPTC and XMP metadata for .MPO files.
Performance improvement for File. variables by delaying calculation of more rarely used variables until they are actually accessed.
Added FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) as a standard format.

New in IMatch 5.4.6 (Apr 30, 2015)

ExifTool:
Updated to version 9.93, released on April 25. 2015.
imatch_et.config File Check Added:
IMatch now also checks the last modified timestamp of the imatch_et.config when loading a database. If this file is newer than recorded in the database, IMatch re-imports all ExifTool tags and groups. This is the same procedure IMatch performs when a new version of ExifTool is detected.
This change has been introduced to make it easier for users who want to include custom XMP metadata schemas by modifying the IMatch and ExifTool configuration files. You now can just 'touch' the imatch_et.config file to force a reload of modified tag definitions into the database.
Panel Improvements:
You can now switch between panels using Ctrl+Tab (forward) and Shift+Ctrl+Tab (backward). Alternatively, use the View > Panels menu.
A new Maximize button is available in the panel caption bar. This allows you to temporarily maximize the panel size.
The keyboard shortcut F9,F9 now activates and focuses the file window. This allows you to jump to the file window from other panels quicker.
Auto hide panels now by default use a much faster animation. This means they expand and contract faster. You can disable this new behavior under Edit > Preferences > Application: User Interface.
Viewer:
Using the collection overlay to change ratings now works like the rest of IMatch - you can toggle ratings by clicking the stars (on/off).
New: Protected Files Feature:
IMatch now supports a feature which allows you to hide files in the File Window, Viewer, Slide Show, Quick View Panel etc. IMatch displays only a shield icon for protected files, until you explicitly enable the display of protected files. The general idea of this feature is to allow you to hide visually disturbing or potentially offensive images unless you explicitly want to see them.
This and That:
Fixed a small issue when stacking files which are already part of a stack (combining files from different stacks into one). This now works properly.
Dropping files on collections is working again in the Collection View.
Added support for vCard files (electronic business cards), not also supported by ExifTool.
Added the MOD, TOD and MOI file formats as standard video formats.
A number of smaller bug fixes, usability enhancements, stability improvements.

New in IMatch 5.4.4 (Apr 30, 2015)

New in IMatch 5.4.2 (Apr 9, 2015)

Minor Version Number now '4':
I decided to increase the version number to 5.4 with this release. The build number was already fairly high (14!) and many changes have been introduced in the past and this release.
Missing WIC Codec Warning improved:
When IMatch finds a missing WIC codec while indexing files, it informs you with a message (this has been added in 5.3.12). IMatch now mentions the file name for which the problem was encountered in the message box and also writes it to the log file (search for the text WIC Codec missing).
Filters:
Added the Show files which are part of a stack filter to the File Properties filter. You can now show only files which are part of a stack (top or element). Via the invert option you can as easily hide stacked files (and tops).
Scripting:
Added the RemoveFile and RemoveFiles methods to the Database class. These methods allow you to remove files from the database, but to keep the physical file on disk. You can also use this method to explicitly remove off-line files from within a script.
Added the CloseResultWindow method to the Database class.
Fixed a bug in the Item method of the FileHistory class. The method always returned nothing.
Added the ReadTextFileJS method to the Application class. This method can be used from JavaScript to read a local text file, without the need for using a JavaScript FileReader. The returned data is automatically converted into UTF-16).
Import & Export Panel:
You can now rearrange modules in the list. This allows you to move the modules you use frequently to the top for quicker access. Please note that you can create Favorites from Import & Export presets for immediate access.
New: Juicebox Web Gallery Exporter 3.0:
You can now create web galleries which use a navigation based on IMatch categories. For details, see the help file for the Juicebox Exporter (click on the 'I' icon at the upper right of the Juicebox Web Gallery options dialog). This screen shot shows the HTML navigation created from IMatch categories. The styles included in IMatch work best with up to three or four levels.
This and That:
Fixed a small issue with the XML formatting for the Text Exporter.
User-defined file formats which are reported as 'writable' by ExifTool IMatch now display the XMP sidecar file options under Edit > Preferences > Metadata 2: File Formats. This allows you to force IMatch to embed XMP data in the user file format instead of using the default sidecar file.
Worked a bit on the events generated when IMatch changes metadata. This helps to avoid unnecessary file reloads in the Viewer and speeds the Viewer up when you use it to assign @Keyword categories.

New in IMatch 5.3.14 (Apr 9, 2015)

New in IMatch 5.3.12 (Mar 27, 2015)

ExifTool:
Updated to version 9.89, released on March 7. 2015.
Added support for the new CHARSET FileName= parameter option to all argument files produced by IMatch when interfacing with ExifTool. This new option allows ExifTool to process UTF-8 encoded file names properly. This should solve the rare cases where ExifTool was unable to process file names not the local code page / ANSI code page and where the Windows GetShortPathName used by IMatch failed to return a shortened (and thus ExifTool compatible) file name. This was the case for files with special file names on USB sticks, removable drives and some network media. I hope that these problems are now gone for good.
This and That:
Added a work-around for a rare bug caused by the user interface toolkit when building popup menus with drop-down arrows. Sometimes, depending on timing (computer speed etc.) this produced an invalid menu and then, at some later time, a crash.
A runtime routine used frequently by IMatch apparently has stress issues when used by multiple threads. This problem was the cause for many reported crashes. I have solved this problem by implementing the functionality myself and then updating the 80 places in IMatch where the original routine was used. No more stress issues, no more crashes. Two days of work.
Spent several days (!sigh!) tracking down an obscure memory overwrite bug that was sometimes caused by setting or changing ratings. It took me more almost two days to find a reproducible case (one specific database, one View, changing the rating from 1 to 2 for a specific set of images in a specific order) to reliably reproduce this problem. After installing and integrating everything I had related to application checking and analysis. I'm still not entirely sure why the problem happens (I suspect wrong code generation by the compiler I use).
Memory overwrite bugs are the most dreaded bugs because they are a) immensely hard to find, b) are random, c) can cause all kinds of problems d) even minutes or hours after the the memory was overwritten. I use tools & techniques to test IMatch for such issues and usually the IMatch, but under very rare occasions, a problem may remain undetected. Until it later comes out in the open after changing code elsewhere in the program...
Fixed a potential dead-lock problem if more than two code features try to update/access collections while writing to the database at the same time, under just the right circumstances. This issue may have caused IMatch to become unresponsive.

New in IMatch 5.3.10 (Mar 27, 2015)

New in IMatch 5.3.8 (Mar 2, 2015)

ExifTool:
Updated to version 9.85, released on February 14, 2015.
See the ExifTool release notes for detailed information about this release.
Improved monitoring for ExifTool. IMatch monitors ExifTool in order to tell whether it is still processing data or just 'hangs'. IMath does this by monitoring the responses received by ExifTool and it's CPU usage and file I/O. This is done to prevent IMatch from waiting forever in the rare cases where ExifTool stops working because it encounters badly corrupted metadata or infinite metadata chains in damaged files. Under some conditions this check failed for users processing gigabyte-size files over very slow network connections (e.g. NAS boxes).
Maximum File Size:
You can now configure a maximum file size (in MB) under Edit > Preferences > Cache. This size allows you tell IMatch that files above a certain size should be skipped when producing thumbnails, CRC checksums and cache files. If you work with very large files (several hundred megabytes or even gigabytes in size) you can save a lot of time that way during the indexing phase. IMatch includes the files into the databse as usual, but represents them visually (e.g. in the File Window) via an icon only.
Rating & Label Collections - Performance Improved:
When I get my hands on a customer database for debugging / bug fixing purposes, I always run performance tests as well. This gives me invaluable feedback about real customer databases and how they perform. Every database is different and there is always room for improvement.
One thing I've learned by this is how slow the rating and label collections can become, especially for larger databases (100,000+ files) or databases stored on remote storage. I've seen execution times of 3 seconds or more (!) for each collection. Not good. And there are 5+1 rating collections and 5,10 or more label collections!
The rating and label collections are essential. They are not only used in the Collection View, but also in filters, the file window (!), category formulas and many internal operations. On my to-do list for this release was to improve how IMatch loads the data from the database, and to minimize how often IMatch invalidates these collections (and thus causing a reload from the database).
It was not easy, but I think IMatch is now handling these two special collections more intelligent and a faster. You may notice this when changing ratings and labels, when switching to the Collection View, when you use Collections in your filter panel etc. Also the load time for large databases may drop a bit. My large test databases seem to feel faster. I've also fixed two issues in the collection code which may, under rare conditions, may have caused IMatch to become very slow or even unresponsive.
Pack & Go:
Pack & Go now performs a deep check on all restored databases. This step check for database damage for cases where a database was packed without running a diagnosis (which is optional).
Juicebox Gallery Export Module:
Enhanced the script to check for the jbcore sub-folder in the output folder. If the folder is not found, the user is reminded to download and install Juicebox as explained in the help file. The gallery won't work without the jbore files.
Category Timing:
For those users who use complex and potentially slow category formulas (e.g. FileRegExp) IMatch now logs all categories (with names) to the log file which require more than 2 seconds to calculate. This timing is enabled when you enable Debug logging under Help > Support. Search the log file for ##SLOWCAT to find categories which are slow to update.
This and That:
Updated the default metadata panel layouts to include an Office 2013 and later layout. This layout displays the XMP data embedded in the 'X' formats (DOCX, XLSX, ...) and the OpenOffice XML data
Improved concurrency behavior for collections based on knowledge gathered from log files I have received
Added a short help topic about WIC codecs
Added a check for missing WIC codecs and a message to inform the user that he/she is processing files for which IMatch requires WIC codecs but for which no codecs are installed
Worked on the code which manages collections to handle rare fringe cases where IMatch could run into a deadlock when users change collections in quick succession in large databases while IMatch is ingesting files in the background
Fixed a very hard to track down but nasty problem caused by the locale subroutines in the runtime libraries. They could fail under stress, when called by multiple threads simultaneously. Under specific conditions the runtime libraries tried to free invalid memory areas - which in turn caused Windows to shut-down IMatch with an access violation :-/ This single issue could be responsible for quite a number of crashes reported by users
Fixed a rare deadlock problem when accessing collections. Depending on the disk speed, number of processors in the system and what the user did with collections, IMatch may have deadlocked while attempting to access collections and update the database at the same time. Deadlock mans that IMatch stops responding and needs to be closed via the Windows Task Manager. No data loss was caused by this

New in IMatch 5.3.6 (Mar 2, 2015)

New in IMatch 5.3.4 (Feb 3, 2015)

ExifTool:
Updated to version 9.82, released on January 15, 2015. This version includes new ARG files which prevent ExifTool from accidentally modifying proprietary XMP namespaces, e.g. Adobe's xmp:crs. Thanks Phil!
Category View:
Added a Paste Alias command to the Clipboard sub-menu in the context menu in the Category View. This allows you to 'copy' a category into the clipboard and then paste an Alias category for it somewhere else. Alias categories can be very helpful in many situations, e.g. managing for family trees.
Thumbnail Tooltips:
Size can now be set between 60 and 300 pixel. This should be sufficient even for large 4K screens. Tooltips are now also shown for off-line folders - the off-line info has been moved into the tooltip footer below the thumbnails. This way we can have both now.
Scripting:
Added the GetKeyState method to the Application class. This method allows you determine if a key is pressed or toggled.
@CatDistinct[]:
This category formula now supports an optional 2nd argument. This argument allows you to specify where to search when determining if a file is exclusively assigned to a category. This new feature solves all kinds of problems, e.g. when you want to answer questions like: "Show me all files only assigned to 'Persons|John' but no other category under 'Persons'".
Reverse Geocoding:
A neat feature has been added that allows you to apply the same location data (or changes made in the dialog to a file) to all files within a specific distance to a given file. This speeds up batch processing or manual address corrections considerably.
Metadata Background Write-back:
If you enable background write-back (the default is off and that's also the best setting for optimal performance) IMatch now monitors the user interface activity better and may temporarily delay background write-back operation to interfere less with certain features, e.g. re-creating cache files while you work in the Viewer.
IMatch does not stall the write-back for ever, even if you keep the rest of the IMatch system interface really busy. At some time, IMatch continues with the write-back, at least for a number of files. Anyway, the optimized monitoring should make IMatch feel more responsive for users who require to write-back data immediately for whatever reason.
Legacy IPTC:
When creating new legacy IPTC in a file, IMatch now automatically adds the IPTC:CodedCharacterSet tag with a value of UTF8 to the file. It does this before it runs the XMP2IPTC argument file supplied by ExifTool, which performs the mapping of XMP data into legacy IPTC data. This change causes ExifTool to retain the UTF-8 encoding of the XMP metadata when writing it into IPTC, creating UTF8-encoded legacy IPTC data that way. This solves potential character set issues caused by the default character set
This change only affects situations where IMatch did not find legacy IPTC data in a file but the user's options cause it to create a new IPTC record. The character set of existing IPTC data is never changed
This and That:
Sometimes a dark text color was used in tooltips in the Media & Folders and other views (e.g. to inform about off-line folders). This made for real bad reading.
Viewer now hides the 'Favorites nnn was executed' screen overlay immediately when you navigate.
Keyboard shortcuts assigned to scripts are now displayed in context menus as well.
Improved detection of database damage in Pack & Go.
The thumbnail tooltip sometimes showed the wrong files (actually too many files) in category view.
Many smaller changes and usability enhancements here and there.
Fixed some long-standing bugs, e.g. the slide show issue on monitors configured to scale fonts to sizes > 100%.

New in IMatch 5.3.2 (Feb 2, 2015)

ExifTool:
Updated to version 9.79, released on January 4, 2015.
Workspaces - Behavior Changed:
IMatch before used a concept of switching workspaces: You select a workspace from your saved workspaces and this workspace then becomes the active workspace. All changes you make from then on are stored to this workspace.
There were a number of feature requests and discussions about this concept. I thus decided to change it for IMatch 5.3.
IMatch now has a 'virtual' active workspace. All workspace-related settings you make are automatically stored to this workspace. When you close and reopen IMatch, this workspace is restored. You can save the active workspace under name to persist the current state.
Loading a saved workspace no longer makes it active, but instead copies the settings from the saved workspace into the active workspace. All changes made to the active workspace after that are again stored in the active workspace but don't affect the saved workspace.
Category Colors in the File Window:
IMatch now 'folds' identical category colors into one segment when displaying them in the file window. So, even if you have assigned a file to five categories under the same parent, the color will now occupy only one segment in the file window panel. Before you would have five segments with the same color, which could be irritating and space grabbing.
Tag Manager:
You can now explicitly disable many (proprietary) XMP namespaces, including Extensis, Adobe Album, MicrosoftPhotoInfo and especially the XMP:other namespace which is produced by some Adobe applications. This namespace is often filled with massive amounts of proprietary metadata, e.g., by Adobe Lightroom. This namespace is now disabled by default. If you are interested in one or more tags from that namespace, re-enable them in the Tag Manager.
As usual you can disable or enable selected tag groups and tags under Edit > Preferences > Metadata 2: Tag Manager.
Metadata Panel Layouts:
Added an option to apply the standard Windows number formatting when the raw value option is enabled for a tag. If the new option is enabled and the tag is of type real (floating point) or integer, IMatch applies the corresponding numeric format as configured for the current user in the Windows control panel.
This can be useful in cases where you want to display less decimals or thousand separators. For example, a raw GPS Altitude of 123.4567343289 can be displayed as 123.46 this way.
Scripting:
Changed the behavior of the RunBatchProcessor method of the Database class. You can now make it display the standard Batch Processor dialog box by specifying an empty PresetName.
Added methods to get and set global application variables to the Application class (GetGlobalVarText, GetGlobalVarNumber, ...).
Category and Folder Properties:
When you change color-coding settings, these changes are now applied to all selected categories / folders. Before only the focused category/folder was updated, which made it somewhat burdensome to change color-coding settings for several categories and folders.
For categories, the sealed property and the direct assignments only property also affect all selected categories.
Standard Tag 'User Comment':
This tag has been changed to be based on XMP-exif:UserComment tag (instead of the native EXIF:UserComment) to make it writable. If you use the old standard User Comment tag in one of your Metadata Panel layouts, you may want to remove and re-add it.
Updated the User Interface Toolkit:
For this release I have migrated IMatch to the latest version of the user interface toolkit I use. Let me know if you experience any problems, especially display issues, strange things in dialogs or panels etc.
Relations:
Improved performance of propagation by up to 40% for users who propagate @All or a larger number of categories.
Map Panel:
When creating a location from an existing file, the address data (city, location etc.) of the file is used to pre-fill the location.
Viewer:
You can now switch between panels in the Viewer using Ctrl+Tab and Shift+Ctrl+Tab.
When you display one of the grids (G,G), the center of the image is now designated by a cross mark.
Favorites:
Executing a Favorite now shortly displays the name of the Favorite near the top of the IMatch window (similar to the Viewer). This makes it easier to track if and which Favorite you have executed.
This and That:
Fixed a glitch in the File Name filter. The ends with mode only worked when the search pattern was only contained once in the file name.
Favorites Panel in the Viewer now shows tooltips with keyboard shortcuts.
Added the XMP User Comment (from EXIF user comment) to the Default Metadata Panel layout.
Changed the wheel scrolling for the Metadata Panel to scroll by "number of rows configured by user in Windows control panel for the mouse wheel" x caption row height. Before IMatch scrolled 1/4 of the height of the Metadata Panel, which was a bit too much if you have a very large monitor or configure the Metadata Panel to use the entire height.
The selected folder / category / collection is no again reliably restored when you switch between different databases.
Creates some new icons for the help

New in IMatch 5.2.18 (Feb 2, 2015)

File Formats: Alpha Channels:
Added a per-format option to enable/disable the use of alpha channels. If you use PSD/TIFF files with multiple alpha channels, you can now tell IMatch to ignore these channels and to not display transparent areas.
Batch Processor:
Added a best fit option for the Fill resize modes. If enabled, IMatch automatically rotates the resize dimensions to match the orientation of the input image. If you dial in a fixed size like 1920 x 1080 and you process a portrait image in the Batch Processor, the resize dimensions will be applied as 1080 x 1920, automatically matching the input image orientation.
Viewer:
Added a new command to the film strip context menu. You can now disable the automatic tooltip.
Added a separate sharpen setting for the 100% display (Edit > Preferences > Application: Viewer). This enables you to dial in different sharpen settings for fit-to-window / zoomed and for the 100% display sizes. You can now even to disable sharpen for each mode separately. The sharpen range was also increased a bit so you can apply more sharpness with a finer stepping.
Pack & Go:
Performance improvements for the Pack/Restore operation: up to 25% faster processing, especially for small files.
Added a new mode for controlling how old packages are retained/deleted. You can now configure Pack & Go to retain the last n packages, n being 1,2,3,5,10. This enables you to keep a specific number of older packages around, independent from the date the packages were created.
Load Progress Dialog:
The dialog now displays the folder and name of the last processed file, updated about once every second. This gives you additional information about which files IMatch is currently processing.
Tag Manager: JPEG 'embedded comment' tag supported:
Added support for the JPEG embedded comment tag. This tag is filled by some applications which do not support any of the proper metadata standards like EXIF, IPTC or XMP. The user comment / embedded comment tag in the JPEG COM section was previously not imported by IMatch.
If you have data in that tag, you may want to reload the Metadata for the affected files after installing the current version of IMatch. Also make sure the Tag is enabled in
Labels:
Setting labels in the File Window and the Viewer now uses the same toggle behavior as ratings. It you press, for example, Shift+1 to set a label, you can press the same key combination again to reset the label back to none. This is easier on the hands than pressing Shift+0 to reset a label (which still works), especially in the Viewer.
Scripting:
Added the methods GetRenamerPresets and RunRenamer to the Database class. These methods enable you to retrieve the available rename preset names and to run the Renamer from within your scripts.
This and That:
Identified and solved a rather nasty and long-standing resource leak in the code that is used to calculate the height of entries in the property grid. The code leaked GDI resources on every call, which could sum up more or less quickly, depending on how the IMatch workspace was configured. If IMatch was heavily used or run for a long time (a day or more), IMatch could run out of resources and crash for that reason. Several DUMP files I have received over time contained hints about this, but no way to tell what exactly was the problem. It took me an entire weekend to track this one bug down.
Fixed a number of issues in the Metadata panel when working with more than one file selected and repeatable tags. Also fixed a problem when all tags had values, except the focused file.
Updated the database core and switched to a more modern approach of nested transactions.

New in IMatch 5.2.16 (Dec 15, 2014)

ExifTool:
Updated to version 9.77, released on November 28, 2014.
This version includes the bug fix for the invalid XML generated when a file with certain Apple maker note was processed. IMatch could not import metadata for these iPhone image files. This now works again. You need to force a metadata reload via Shift+Ctrl+F5 for affected files.
Batch Processor:
The Batch Processor now supports a new Fill Resize mode. This mode enables you to produce output images with specific dimensions, regardless of the dimensions and aspect ratio of the input files.
This new mode is very useful if you want to create output images with dimensions matching a specific device, e.g. a HD-TV or a smart phone. IMatch scales the input image to fill the required width/height and crops edges as needed. Various sub-modes allow you to control how IMatch aligns the input image before cropping in order to keep the important areas of the image unchanged.
A new clean output folder option has been added to the Folder & FileName tab. This option enables you to delete existing files and sub-folders in the output folder automatically. This is useful when you always use the same output folder for your Batch Processor runs.
Juicebox Web Gallery Export:
IMatch can now create galleries for the Juicebox HTML gallery system. Juicebox is a free ('Lite') or paid ('Pro', if you need more options) web gallery toolkit. The resulting web galleries run in all major browsers (no Flash required!) and across all platforms and devices, from PC to Mac to tablet and mobile phones.
Although the feature set implemented in this exporter is basic, you'll get read-to-run web galleries with just a simple drag and drop operation. You can even control image size, colors and the information you want to display for each file - with full support for IMatch variables.
The new module is accessible via the Import & Export panel. Click on the info icon in the export module to open the dedicated help page.
This and That:
The Apply button in the Filter Panel is now always active, even if no filter is enabled (checked). This allows users who disable auto-apply and then manually disable all filters by un-checking them to Apply this 'empty' filter to the File Window.
A number of minor enhancements here and there.
Lots of major/minor bug fixes.

New in IMatch 5.2.14 (Dec 15, 2014)

New in IMatch 5.2.12 (Nov 17, 2014)

New in IMatch 5.2.10 (Nov 10, 2014)

The New Tag Manager:
IMatch now applies more restrictive policies regarding which metadata tags are imported into the database. It is not unusual nowadays for a RAW file which has been 'touched' by a RAW processor to contain 600 to 800 (!) metadata tags. Which is really quite a lot. Especially since most of this data is proprietary and of no use for you. You will never display it anywhere in IMatch or use it for anything.
Beginning with this version, IMatch by default skips most of the software- and camera-specific metadata and maker notes. Metadata like XMP, legacy IPTC, EXIF and GPS is imported as before. Also PDF, video, audio and Office metadata. And parts of the proprietary Camera RAW XMP tags (for cropping) and the Lightroom namespace (hierarchical keywords).
For a typical RAW image, I could reduce the amount of data to store by 40% to 50%! And this means only 50% of the data needs to be imported, stored, searched, sorted, filtered, considered for data-driven categories etc. This makes everything a bit faster.
As before, IMatch imports all metadata that is required for it to work properly. All other tags are now considered optional. You can use the new Tag Manager feature to see these optional tags, which are imported, how many records are stored for each tag etc. You can include/exclude entire tag groups and individual tags as you see fit.
For the rare case that you need to import a tag that is not imported by default (e.g. a maker note your camera writes), you can enable it in the Tag Manager and IMatch will import it as before.
File Window:
Clicking outside a thumbnail panel while Ctrl, Alt or Shift are pressed no longer resets the selection. This prevents you from accidentally losing a selection while you select individual files.
This and That:
Collapsed Value Filters no longer update. They update when you open (expand) them. This may result in better performance when switching folders/categories, depending on what you filter for or how many value filters you have open in the Filter Panel.
Quick Preview Panel now loads the current image when activated/shown. This did not work for the first file.

New in IMatch 5.2.8 (Nov 6, 2014)

ExifTool:
Updated to ExifTool version 9.74, released October 15, 2014.
Variables:
Added the File.Folder.Media.SerialNumber and File.Folder.Media.Label variables. These variables can be used to determine information about the media containing the file.
Added the File.Created variable which returns the 'created' file system timestamp for the file.
Added the File.BuddyFiles variable which returns all buddy files of the file.
Metadata Options:
Some RAW formats (.NEF, .NRW, .CR2, .CRW, .ORF and .ARW) now by default enable write-back of IPTC/EXIF metadata, but not creation. This solves the problem for users who have old RAW files in these types which contain legacy IPTC. IMatch now can automatically synchronize XMP with IPTC/EXIF for these formats. If a user does not want IMatch to update these formats, he can disable this under Edit > Preferences > Metadata 2 > File Formats.
Stack/Version Panel:
The Stack/Version Panel context menu now includes a command to reject the clicked file.
Keyword Panel:
The Keyword Panel (and the thesaurus panel inside the Keyword Panel) now use a more clever find algorithm. The drop-down result list in the Keyword Panel now also considers partial matches in the keyword path, not only the leaf (bottom) keywords. To test, just start typing in the Keyword Panel.
Read-only and Shared Databases:
IMatch was no longer able to open shared databases in read-only mode. This problem crept in while switching the database to a faster caching mode which works better with multiple program modules accessing the database simultaneously. This had unexpected side effects on IMatch's ability to share databases in read-only mode between multiple instances/users. IMatch just stalled for a very long time when this situation was encountered :-(
I had to rewrite a part of the IMatch sharing code in order to detect this new situation and to open the databases properly. Or inform the user if there is a problem and how to handle the situation. Quite a lot of work and digging, actually...
XMP Face Regions and Google Picasa:
IMatch now can import and export face annotations from and to XML metadata.
The Metadata Working Group XMP namespace can store so-called regions, and a sub-type of these regions are face regions. A face region specifies an area in the image which is supposed to be a face, and associates a name ('tag') with that region.
IMatch now can import regions from XMP and automatically convert them into IMatch Face Annotations. When saving metadata to XMP, IMatch can convert Face Annotations to XMP regions and store them in the file. This makes the Face Annotations you add in IMatch available to other software which supports XMP regions.
Scripting:
The Application class now has the methods GetFileCRC, GetFileMD5 and GetFileSHA1 to calculate various checksums.
The CRC property of the File class is now writable.
Added the frmAttributes mode to the Rescan method of the Database class. This new mode updates only file-system attributes like size, last modified and checksum.
Script to find off-line Files:
Added a script to find off-line files. This script scans the database for all off-line files and assigns them to a category. An easy way to check for missing files. You'll find the new script in the System > Utility node.
File Verification Script:
This new script calculates checksums for all selected files and then compares them with the checksums stored in the IMatch database. If there is a mismatch, the file on disk has been changed after being added to your IMatch database. This may indicate a file corruption due to a media or disk error. This script can be found in System > Utilities in the Script Manager.
A bug fixed for this version (5.2.8) may have resulted in outdated checksums in your IMatch database. Under some conditions IMatch did not update the checksums for files after metadata has been written. This was not discovered until now because file checksums were created, but never used.
Fix Checksums Script:
I have created a script named Fix Checksums which you can run on selected or all files in your databases. This script calculates the checksums of these files on disk and updates the checksums in the database if there is a mismatch. This script needs to be run only once. IMatch now keeps the checksums up-to-date automatically.
Favorites Panel:
After introduction of placeholder favorites in the last version, the Favorite Panel now favors a compact layout, arranging as many favorites per row as possible. This behavior can be changed back to the old layout method under Edit > Preferences > Application.
Batch Processor:
Improved the logic of how the Batch Processor copies metadata into the output file. If the output file has different dimensions than the original file, the Batch Processor now updates the related metadata tags in XMP and EXIF (if copied), and also the applied-to dimensions when XMP data is copied and it contains face regions.
Add new options to skip face data, Camera RAW data and Lightroom data (Note: This includes hierarchical keywords!) when copying XMP metadata to the output file.
Help:
Started a Scripting Recipes topic. This topic contains easy code snippets for beginners. If you have specific ideas or want to provide a code snipped, contact me via the Feedback link at the bottom of the Scripting Recipes page.
This and That:
Copy to clipboard in the Collection View now copies the names of all selected collections
Copy Image to clipboard command (File Window, context menu) now renders annotations before copying the file
Fixed a problem where English was used for month and day names when using DDD... or MMM... in variables. This also fixed a problem where . instead of , was used as the decimal separator under some conditions
Added a warning message to Commands > Images > Set EXIF Date & Time when the user attempts to update files which contain EXIF data but for which EXIF data write-back is disabled under Edit > Preferences > Metadata 2
Added a warning message to Commands > Images > EXIF Orientation when the user attempts to change EXIF orientation for files for which EXIF data write-back is disabled under Edit > Preferences > Metadata 2
Renamed the Text step in the Renamer to Text and Variables
When writing data back, IMatch now stays more responsive, even when ExifTool takes more than a few seconds to update a file. Less ghosting (white screen) I hope
IMatch now stores selected structured tags in XML format in the database. Before this version, IMatch could only work with flat metadata, but in order to support the new region features and other features I have planned for the upcoming releases, the ability to retain structures was required
Write-backs of more than 10,000 files no longer shows a warning
IMatch now automatically runs an integrity check on the settings database to ensure it is OK. It does this while performing the other start-up checks carried out while IMatch starts
The Visual Query dialog now allows you to select between 5 and 1,000 results per original (before: 50 to 1,000)
Had a very hard time tracking down a seemingly random error which shows up in some of the DUMP files sent to me. The cause of the crash was always invalid memory being freed by the Microsoft runtime library. But I could never see which part of IMatch was active at that time, which made it virtually impossible to analyze. After spending days on this, I finally was lucky and had the same crash on my development system. As it turned out, a runtime routine used to switch the locale (date and time formatting), when used by multiple threads in IMatch at the same time failed and crashed. After goggling and digging deeper and deeper I found a solution (I hope). This behavior was responsible for quite a number of random crashes in various parts of IMatch. Hopefully it's fixed now. Duh
Thesaurus Manager now allows you to press ESC to stop a lengthy search operation. In case you work with thesauri of several ten thousand elements

New in IMatch 5.2.6 (Oct 31, 2014)

ExifTool:
Updated to version 9.70, released on September 3, 2014.
Stacks:
Select all files in stack (Shift+H) now also works if a stack element is currently focused. Before this command only worked when the stack top was focused.
The Remove Manual Version Link command (context menu in the File Window) now works with all selected files, not only the focused file.
Fixed a problem where removing the last manual version also removed the stack (if the files were also stacked in a real stack).
Scripting:
Added methods to create and delete manual version sets from a script.
The new methods are part of the Database class. With CreateManualVersion you can create a manual version set and with DeleteManualVersion you can delete a manual version set. The method GetRelationDefinitionNames enables you to get the names of all relation definitions, e.g. to preset a script user with a list to choose from.
Create Versions Set from Stack:
A new sample script Create version set from stack has been added under System > Utilities. This script shows how to load and display the relation definition names and how to create a manual version set from all files in the currently selected stack.
You can use this script to create a version set from all files in a stack. The stack top becomes the master, all other files in the stack become versions. If you setup a dedicated manual only relation definition you can achieve a lot with this new feature.
@Translators (For users who help me translate IMatch - Thanks!):
Introduced a special notrans attribute which allows me to flag resources which don't need translation. This looks like
in code. This cleans up the Check for non-translated resources report for you.
Also changed the test behavior for object properties without desc or group nodes. A missing translation is now only reported if there is no desc / group node at all. This allows for object properties which have only a name. I use that for several features.
This and That:
Fixed a problem in the Viewer which could cause IMatch to remove files currently displayed from the memory-cache when the system memory was quite full.
Added a section to the File Window help, fleshing out the explanation of the groups displayed when the hierarchical display mode is enabled.
Fixed a long-standing bug in the Viewer. After a quite considerable amount of diagnosis I've identified a situation situation where the Viewer under low-memory conditions or when the maximum amount of memory available for the Viewer was reached removed files currently being loaded or displayed from the in-memory cache. This resulted in a 'black' display.

New in IMatch 5.2.4 (Oct 31, 2014)

New in IMatch 5.2.2 (Oct 31, 2014)

Minor Version Number Increased:
Since IMatch 5 was released three months ago and we've had 8 updates (!) so far, I decided it was time to increase the minor version number to .2 for this release. As usual, the licensed version uses an even build number (.2) and the trial version uses the odd number below (.1).
Remove Folder Command:
When you use the Remove Folder command in the Media & Folders View and the selected folder has sub-folders, IMatch now asks if you want to retain the sub-folders. This allows you to remove a parent folder but keep the children in the database, e.g. when you have accidentally indexed a root folder you now want to remove from the database.
Stacking:
Added an Open Stack in Viewer command. You can access this command via the File Window context menu, and also via the Stack Panel context menu.
The Select files in stack command now also supports the keyboard shortcut Shift+H.
Favorites Panel Improved:
I've worked a bit on the Favorites Panel, adding some features from my to-do list. The panel now supports Placeholder Favorites. This new favorite type does not perform any action, but allows you to structure your Favorites Panel by adding some space. It is now also possible to fill the entire favorite with the background color and to use a custom text colors. As usual, right-click the favorite and choose Properties from the menu.
Copying Metadata Improved:
I have rewritten the code behind Paste Attributes in the File Window. This command is used to copy collections, IMatch Attributes, rating, label and metadata like XMP, EXIF and IPTC between files.
The improved version of this feature now supports all per-file format settings you can configure under Edit > Preferences > Metadata 2. This includes the IPTC/EXIF write modes, the Allow create IPTC/EXIF modes and the Force/favor sidecar variants for XMP metadata. Depending on which data is copied, the the code internally splits the copy operation into multiple parts, updating the XMP sidecar file and/or the original file as needed.
Copying XMP without Rating and Label:
I've also added two new options to copy XMP data without rating/label and XMP data without the lr/crs namespaces and rating/label. The old Rating/Label modes are still available and allow you to copy rating/label only, without copying XMP data. But you are now also able to copy XMP data without copying rating/label.
Propagation:
Propagation and Versioning is now also properly handled. Before, if data was copied to a master, all versions received the same data, despite probably different propagation settings. IMatch now first copies the data to the master, and then runs a normal propagation afterwards. A lot of work went into this. Metadata is a mess, really!
Also solved one obscure issue which caused keywords to "stick" when copying XMP data between files which use XMP sidecar files. It could happen that ExifTool created a new embedded (!) XMP record from existing IPTC data because of the -use MWG parameter used.
KML/KMZ Exporter:
A new script allows you to export GPS coordinates and arbitrary metadata in KML/KMZ format. KML is the native format used by Google Earth™ and other software. The new script has been implemented as an export module and is accessible via the Import & Export Panel.
Variables:
Added a new Application variable: Application.TimeZone returns the local time zone offset to UTC in the format +/-HH:MM, e.g. +01:00 for Germany.
File.AspectRatio now returns 0 when no aspect ratio can be determined for a file (e.g. a text file).
The count variable function now works again, and also for File.Categories and in combination with a filter like ^@Keywords.
Scripting:
Added a new method to the Application class: CreateZIP. This method allows you to create a ZIP file and to add one or more files to it. A pretty basic method but very useful nevertheless.
The ResourceFile class now supports a dontparse attribute. This allows you to disable the automatic parsing and escape code replacements for data read from resource files. This is useful when you want to store HTML or XML data in resource files.
The RemoveFolder method of the Database class has a new optional Parameter: KeepSubFolders. This parameter allows you to keep the sub-folders of the removed folder in the database. This new parameter enables you to mirror the new behavior of the Remove Folder command.
Reverse Geo-coding Dialog:
The dialog now retains the fractional part of the Altitude value as delivered by the geo-coding provider. Formatting of altitude in the Metadata Panel now shows the full precision as well.
Metadata Propagation:
Metadata propagation now correctly handles the Allow create IPTC/EXIF/GPS settings which can be configured per-file format under Edit > Preferences > Metadata 2: File Formats. Before, IMatch may have created e.g. IPTC data in files which support IPTC, but had no IPTC before while propagating data.
Write-back Code Rewritten:
For this release I have rewritten parts of the code which performs the write-back to image files. It now handles all standard and fringe cases properly, including splitting writes between XMP sidecar files, embedded IPTC/EXIF/GPS/PDF data as needed.
This and That:
Found and fixed reason for the occasional double write-back problem in conjunction with copying metadata between files. The problem was caused by an embedded XMP record generated by ExifTool because of the -use MWG option. This was an unexpected a side effect of the normal processing.
Data-driven categories now have the Other element enabled by default.
Changed the default File Window panel colors to use a darker color set for the non-selected thumbnail panels.
Changed the default label color opacity to 50%.
Added a warning message when a user runs the ExifTool Command Processor in run once for each file mode in conjunction with {Files} or {XMPFiles}.

New in IMatch 5.1.14 (Oct 31, 2014)

Variables:
The numformat formatting function now supports hex as a new type option. This allows you to properly parse hexadecimal values and to perform format conversions etc.
File Relations and Propagation Changes:
Several changes to how IMatch detects versions and propagates data have been included in this release.
Automatic Detection:
If the new option Automatically search for masters for new and updated files is enabled in Edit > Preferences > Background Processing, IMatch searches for existing masters when files are added or updated. If a master is found, the files are included in the master's version set. This feature considers the folder to which the files are added (or which are reported as updated by Windows), and the folders below.
If Automatic Propagation is enabled, metadata is propagated to the new or updated files as needed.
When you produce new versions in external applications, IMatch will now automatically detect these versions and perform the propagation of ratings, labels and other metadata as needed. The new files will show up in the database properly versioned.
Single File(s) Propagation:
Versions now have a Propagate command in their context menu (keyboard shortcut F4,T). This command allows you to propagate data from the master to the selected version(s) only. If the master is pending, it will be written-back first automatically, else only the selected versions will be updated.
This new command gives you more freedom about when and which versions you update. If you want to update only one of the versions, e.g. before opening it in another application, you can do so now. The new command is also available in the Version Panel.
Scripting Propagation:
A new method, Propagate, has been added to the File scripting class. This method allows you to trigger propagation from a script. You can propagate to all or selected version. There is a new sample script named Propagate which demonstrates how to use the new method.
Rating & Label Propagation:
When you don't propagate Rating and Label (you leave the corresponding check boxes unchecked in Edit > Preferences > Relations) IMatch maintains independent ratings and labels for masters and versions in the UI.
When you propagated XMP data, the rating and label of the master file were copied to the versions at write-back time. This is because rating and label are part of XMP data. This behavior has changed for this release. When you don't explicitly propagate rating and/or label, IMatch automatically skips these XMP fields at write back time. The rating/label of the master are no longer copied to the versions, allowing versions to retain rating and label independent from the master if so desired.
Renamer:
Added two new steps to convert the file extension to upper or lower case.
The Copy step now uses the same file names as the original files. This was different before, in cases where the original names had to be renamed in order to prevent duplicates.
The Renamer now also checks if the target folder of the Copy step contains files which would result in duplicate file names and thus collisions. If such a case is found, it is considered when producing the target file names.
When duplicate file names are found, and a "unique number" step is included. The change is that the first file name now also gets a number (01). Before, the Renamer added numbers only to the second and following files. The new behavior produces better readable and more consistent file names.
This and That:
The Result/Preview dialog in the Renamer now properly displays file names containing one or more blanks (spaces).
Added a new script (System > Utilities > Find Files Without Off-line Cache) which produces a category containing all files without a cache image.

New in IMatch 5.1.12 (Oct 31, 2014)

ExifTool Updated:
Updated to version 9.69, released on July 27, 2014.
Support Legacy IPTC Custom Fields:
IMatch now imports the custom metadata fields CustomField1 to CustomField20 which are optionally available in the legacy IIM IPTC metadata. IMatch 3 allowed to display and write these fields because some of the pro workflow software used in the old days needed them.
ExifTool does not support these fields of of the box. I have now defined them in a custom ExifTool configuration file and ExifTool now exports them and IMatch can import and display them. If you have used custom IPTC tags in your files, you need to reload the Metadata for these files using the advanced rescan options. Hold down Ctrl while choosing Rescan from the menu.
Performance Improvements:
Implemented performance improvements in several areas. This is an always ongoing task - and very time-consuming and tedious.
Some of these improvements introduced in this release will become effective after opening, using and closing a database at least once. These changes improve the startup time of medium and large databases.
Faster Data-driven Categories:
I've also been able to improve overall performance of data-driven categories. Depending on the speed of your computer, the metadata tag(s) used for the category and the size of your database, re-calculating data-driven categories can be more than 25% faster!
Variables:
IMatch now supports Attribute variables (File.AT.Attribute_Name} which address Attributes in global sets.
Batch Processor:
Fixed a problem with alpha channel processing when overlays in TIFF format are used and a WIC-codec which supports TIFF is installed.
Files in CMYK Color Space:
Improved processing of files in CMYK color space by including and using a special color profile for the conversion/display processing.
File Formats:
Added LYTRO Lightfield camera formats .LFP and .LFR as standard formats.
This and That:
Media & Folder View: If you index multiple media from the same drive, the entries in the Media & Folders tree are now sorted by media label, not media serial number.
The HTML Report Export Module (sample script) now has a dialog box and allows you to specify which columns to create and which data to export. The syntax is similar to the syntax used by the Text Export module. There are now also two styles: Light and Dark. Although the main purpose of this script is to demonstrate how to produce HTML from an IMatch script, it's now more useful for users who just want to export HTML reports in some way.
Improved the performance of certain category operations by 100% percent. Especially data-driven categories benefit from that.

New in IMatch 5.1.8 (Oct 31, 2014)

ExifTool updated to version 9.68, released on July, 19, 2014.
Scripting:
Added the method CreateFolder to the Application class. This method allows you to create an entire folder hierarchy in the file system.
Added the RunBatchProcessor method to the Database class. This method enables you run a Batch Processor preset on a set of files, optionally directing the output to a different folder. You can use this method to batch process one or more files in one of your scripts.
Also added the GetBatchProcessorPresets method to the Database class. This method returns the names of all Batch Processor presets.
Viewer, Quick View, File Window, Batch Processor: Better Quality:
I have upgraded the algorithm used for resampling (making images smaller) to a more sophisticated method. This produces better quality and generally sharper images when IMatch has to resize a larger image to a smaller image (e.g. for thumbnails in the file window, in the Viewer if you don't use 100% etc.). You may experience a more or less obvious improvement, depending on the scale you use for thumbnails, the size of the Quick View and Viewer. The new algorithm is maybe 5% slower than the old one, and for standard image files you won't notice this.
You may be able to dial down thumbnail sharpen (Edit > Preferences > Application: User Interface) and Viewer sharpen (Edit > Preferences > Application: Viewer).
JPEG Export (e.g. Batch Processor, Scripting) - Better Quality:
If a quality of better than 70% is requested (default in the Batch Processor is 85%) IMatch now disables chroma subsampling. This produces slightly (~ 5%) larger files but improves the color accuracy in the resulting JPEG files.
Behavior of @Cat... Formulas changed: Much Improved Performance:
The category formulas @Category, @CatNoRecurse, @CatDistinct support regular expressions. This is a very powerful feature, but it comes at a cost. You can find all files in a category named Beach anywhere in the category tree by using "@Category[Beach]" in a category formula. But this means that IMatch has to search all categories in your database to see which of them contain Beach. An operation which can take several seconds for large databases!
The optimized processing introduced in this version of IMatch utilizes the hierarchical nature of categories. When you start the category path with @All you explicitly tell IMatch where to search, and this can improve performance by a factor of 10 to 100!
This and That:
When setting a filter for the Media & Folder View, IMatch now jumps to the first matching element, not always to the database node. IMatch restores the folder focused before the filter was applied when the filter is removed, unless you have focused another folder while the filter was active.
When setting a filter in the Category View, IMatch now jumps to the first matching element, not always to @All. IMatch restores the category focused before the filter was applied when the filter is removed, unless you have focused another category while the filter was active.
Fixed the alpha channel problem sometimes visible in the ID plate.

New in IMatch 5.1.6 (Jul 21, 2014)

ExifTool:
Updated to version 9.66, released on July 1, 2014.
Scripting:
Added the CopyFolder and EnumerateFolder utility methods to the Application class. These methods allow scripts to copy entire file system folders and to get a list of all files in a folder, whether or not the folder is indexed by an IMatch database. See the description of these methods for details.
Auto-Stacking:
Added an option for the Stack using Variables mode. If you set the new option, IMatch does not stack files for which the variable expression returns an empty value. This allows you to stack only files with a value, leaving all other files un-stacked.
Folder and Category Filters:
The filter now work correctly again. When you filter your folder or category tree and you select a folder/category, IMatch keeps that selection when you remove the filter. Before, IMatch restored the selection that was active before you applied the filter.
File Window Search Bar:
Fixed a problem introduced by a performance optimization added in a previous release. Under some conditions if the file window was set to auto pause and the search bar was used after auto pause was activated, the search bar did not consider the entire scope but just a subset.
Attribute Variables:
Attribute Variables now support the format parameter, like Metadata variables. This can be used to change the format of date and time variables and for similar purposes. Please see the variables help topic for details.
Pending Write-backs:
Since the calculation of which files are in the state of needs write-back could be slow for large databases (100,000+ files) or databases stored on slower media (e.g. network storage) I have introduced a cache for this information. Please keep an eye on this and when you find a problem (e.g. files with pending pen not shown in the Write-back Collection) let me know.
Load Progress Dialog:
When IMatch is started and there are more than 100 entries in the background processing queue (importing files, writing files, ...) IMatch now displays the Load Progress dialog automatically. This is useful for situations where you have closed IMatch while many entries where still in the queue. You can disable this under Edit > Preferences > Application.
Reverse Geo-coding:
Improved the way IMatch interfaces with GeoNames.org and how the results are interpreted. If the location data returned for a given pair of GPS coordinates is on a lower level than city (e.g. a place name, suburb, ...) IMatch uses this for the SubLocation (field name: Location) and retrieves the info about the city level (PPL, PPLC, PPLA-PPLA4) as well.
Category Panel:
The Category Panel now shows a tooltip with the full category path and name. This is convenient when you work with deep hierarchies and have categories with the same name in different parts and levels.
The next / previous buttons in the search bar now have keyboard shortcuts: F3 and Shift+F3. Filter and search bar histories are now maintained and saved.
Added a Filter feature. The new filter bar works similar to the filter available in the Category View. You can open the bar via the filter button in the Category Panel toolbar or the associated keyboard shortcut Shift+Ctrl+F.
App Panel:
Added a new HTML template named Category Dashboard. This new template displays the categories of the currently focused file in the File Window.
This and That"
Slide Show no longer hides the cursor while a menu is open or the ribbon bar is expanded.
Renamer no longer removes unknown variables (terms in {}) to allow regular expression replacement patterns.
Fixed a glitch in how the Rating filter worked when the Boolean AND operator was used.
Added another test against invalid coordinates to the Map Panel. Apparently some cameras out there write total nonsense GPS coordinates when they cannot get a fix on a satellite. While this does not harm IMatch, it may cause the OpenLayer geo mapping routines used in the Map Panel to fall into infinite loop. IMatch becomes unresponsive until the JavaScript running in the Map Panel causes into a timeout and is aborted.
IMatch now checks coordinates before passing them to JavaScript and ignores files with invalid coordinates.
Info Popups are now hidden when you switch to another application. This prevents into popups displayed by IMatch to stay on top of other applications.
Search Bar in the Metadata Panel now supports keyboard shortcuts

New in IMatch 5.1.4 (Jul 21, 2014)

New in IMatch 5.1.2 (Jul 21, 2014)

New in IMatch 5.0.158 (Jun 18, 2014)

New in IMatch 5.0.156 (Jun 18, 2014)

New in IMatch 3.6.0.114 (Aug 23, 2011)

New in IMatch 3.6.0.112 (Jun 23, 2011)

New in IMatch 3.6.0.109/110 (May 23, 2011)

New in IMatch 3.6.0.94/93 (May 17, 2010)

New in IMatch 3.6.0.90/89 (May 17, 2010)

New in IMatch 3.6.0.82/81 (May 18, 2009)

New: Added support for HD Photo (Windows Media Photo) formats
This formats work when you have the WIC codec installed (from the Microsoft web site). You may also need to add the file extensions .wdp and .hdp under Options > Preferences > File Format Preferences in IMatch
New: IMatch now allows to search for images with dimensions larger than 10,000 pixels. The new limit is 32,767 which should be good for some time
New: Added support for some new lens types, maker notes from various camera vendors etc
New: Added some extra tests to detect changed media
Depending on the Windows version and device type IMatch may not have always been able to recognize changed media or added/removed drives immediately. This had an impact on certain features, e.g. the media changer dialog when you work with off-line files
New: Improved the overall render/output quality of the batch processor output when working with JPEG files as input. IMatch now internally performs some optimizations if only some of the features in the batch processor are used, which results in an overall output improvement when JPEG files are used as input
Bug: Fixed a problem with the installer. This problem caused IMatch to attempt to re-install itself whenever launched
Bug: ***SECURITY RELEVANT*** if you protect your IMatch database with a password
IMatch did not always check the full database password. Under some circumstances knowing the first letter of the password is sufficient. To ensure that your database uses a strong password, please use the Change Password feature available in the Database menu > Database Wizard (3rd option on the first page). Entering the same password as before is OK, IMatch will this time check the full password
This problem was introduced with the conversion to full UNICODE some time ago. I apologize
Note: Make a backup copy of your database before you change the password. In case something goes wrong, you can revert back to your previous database
Bug: Deleting images in the slide show may confuse the film strip. Sometimes deleted images still showed up in the film strip or navigation was not working correctly anymore
Bug: IMatch automatically maintains a set of standard buddy file relations, e.g. between .NEF and .JPEG/.JPG. If a user configured instead that .NEF is a buddy file of .JPG, IMatch had two concurring buddy file definitions. The built-in definition was then used
Bug: Sometimes IMatch was unable to find EXIF maker notes for files using certain variants of GPS records inside EXIF
Bug: Attempting to save a file in the PSD_24 format via the IMBitmap scripting class resulted in an error
Bug: Under certain conditions an Adobe RGB profile was applied when the IMBitmap LoadLowRes method was used to load the embedded preview, even if the image did use a different color space
Bug: Attempting to create a a circular reference in the category view via drag and drop was property handled and an error message was displayed. Under some circumstances IMatch crashed afterwards while attempting to recover from this problem internally. Fixed
Bug: Pasting attributes (IPTC data) to a Canon .CRW file did not work. IMatch failed to determine the correct output format for IPTC data in this specific case. Since IMatch cannot update CRW files, it uses the associated THM thumbnail to store the information. This should also work when pasting attributes, but did not. Fixed

New in IMatch 3.6.0.76 (Jan 3, 2009)

New: Added support for Windows Imaging Components (WIC)
IMatch now can use WIC codecs installed on your system to read RAW image files. You can activate the usage of WIC codecs under Options menu > Preferences > File Format Preferences. If enabled, IMatch will use installed WIC codecs instead of using its internal RAW decoder or the libraries provided by camera vendors. You can easily configure for which file formats IMatch uses WIC codecs in the same dialog box.
To use WIC codecs in IMatch, download and install the latest codec from the web site of your camera vendor first. For more info about WIC and available codes, please see the Microsoft web site, the web site of your camera vendor, and this Wikipedia article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Imaging_Component
This page also contains links to the codec download pages of major camera vendors.
Please note that I consider this feature new and hence a bit experimental. My tests show that most RAW codecs provided by camera vendors are pretty stable and fast. And that the resulting images are of good quality.
Furthermore, since the codecs are produced by the camera vendor, they usually cooperate much better with proprietary "soft-edits" written to the RAW file by the camera or the software provided by the camera vendor. This allows IMatch to display the RAW files exactly as you see them in the software of your camera vendor, even if IMatch does not know anything about the proprietary and undocumented edits written to the RAW file.
Your milage may vary though, depending on your computer system, the Windows version and the RAW format you use. Your camera vendor may not support all of its RAW formats in the WIC codec. Or provide only codecs for Windows Vista but not for Windows XP. Or the codecs still got some bugs or issues.
I have tested quite a number of codecs with IMatch. In general they work pretty well. But I have seen some issues while processing large batches of images in one session. Some of the codecs suddenly start to allocate huge amounts of memory, or just crash. In such cases, please restart IMatch to release the codec from memory. Some codecs seem to "lock" files when you use Windows Explorer with enabled preview - which prevents IMatch or Windows from deleting or moving such a file until you restart your computer. If the problems persist, deactiate the WIC support to use IMatch's built-in RAW processing system and contact your camera vendor for assistance.
New: Added support for Panasonic RW2 RAW files.
New: Added several new lens types to EXIF maker note processing.
New: Updated the RAW support to use the latest available libraries from camera vendors.
New: Added support for different camera serial formats used by various Canon models.
New: The Sort Profile dialog now opens much faster, even for databases with hundreds of XMP fields.
New: The "Find Folder" command (Ctrl+F in the Database View) now allows to search for friendly folder names.
New: Changed the processing of windows file system notifications:
This chance has been introduced to improve the cooperation with some other applications which use rather unique renaming/temporary file schemas.
If you (or an application) renames a file in a folder indexed by your IMatch database and IMatch is running, IMatch will rename the file in the database to match the external change. IMatch needs to do this in order to keep track of the file. But this schema can cause problems when you work with applications which rename files (even temporarily) to an extension not supported by IMatch, e.g. from "1.tif" to "1.bak". If IMatch processes this change it moves the file "out" of the database because the extension ".bak" is not a supported file type.
With this update, this no longer happens. If Windows sends IMatch a "file was renamed" event, but the "to" extension is not a supported format (and hence would cause IMatch to remove the file from the database), the file is instead kept as an off-line file. If the other application renames the file bak from "1.bak" to the original file name, IMatch will bring the file back on-line automatically.
This chance has no impact on the standard background event processing in IMatch. I have just added a special case for this special situation. Everything else works as before.
Note: In order to make this work, you have to disabe the automatic folder refresh (Under Options > Preferences > Thumb View).
Bug: Windows context menu button not working in Datbase Tree and Thumbnail window. Fixed.
Bug: Under certain conditions and combinations of daylight saving time and local time zone settings, IMatch did not insert a + sign before the time zone offset value when converting EXIF timestamps into XMP timestamps.
Bug: DCF-compliant detection of Adobe RGB color space was not always working in third party imaging library. If an image does not contain an embedded profile but used the DCF extension method to record an Adobe RGB color space, this color space was not always applied when the producing application did not stick exactly to the methods described in the DCF spec

New in IMatch 3.6.0.58 (Apr 8, 2008)

New in IMatch 3.6.0.46 (Aug 8, 2007)

New in IMatch 3.6.0.42 (Aug 1, 2007)

New: Support extended for Panasonic LX2, Panasonic L1, Olympus SP320 and Nikon D40 (IMatch built-in Nikon support, not yet available via the official Nikon software libraries).
New: Added a new option for XMP (Options > Preferences > XMP). IMatch usually replaces the rating/label in the database with the rating/label found in the XMP record when it imports or updates an image. If the XMP record in the image file / sidecar file has no label/rating, IMatch will reset the label and rating in the database back to "none" too. If you don't like this behavior, you can enable the new option. If the XMP record of the image has no rating/label, IMatch will keep whatever rating/label you have assigned. IMatch will also update the XMP in the image/sidecar file with the rating/label in the database.
New: Fixed a problem with transaction processing which could cause problems when copying files (especially when the copy operation was aborted by the user). Such an abort could produce "ghost files" in the target folder. The folder here has a link to the file, but the file itself is not indexed in the database.
New: Changed the preemtive caching algorithm for the property database search function. When you search for properties in large databases or in databases connected via slow network connections, this change will improve the overall query performance, especially when you run more than one search. You may notice a small delay when you use the search for properties for the first time, but future searches will be much faster in the same session.
New: New option for variables based on image properties. By design, variables for properties return an empty string for NULL properties (properties without a value). The default value for the property is not used. This allows you to check variables for empty/NULL values in scripts, for example.
New: Database Diagnosis and Optimize now has an extra option to skip the optimize/compress step. This allows you to run a diagnosis (which is really quick) without running a full optimize and compress (which can take a while) The new #Default postfix added in this release allows you to override this behavior, and to force IMatch to return the default values for NULL properties. For example, if you have a property "Title" in your image property set, you can now use:{Image.Properties.Title} -> This will return an empty string for NULL properties, even if there is a default. When you use {Image.Properties.Title#Default} instead, IMatch will return the default value for the property if the property is a NULL value.
New: Added new methods to the database object: BeginTransaction and EndTransaction. These statements enable you to wrap database commands in a transaction, allowing you to rollback (undo) changes if needed. These statements also allow IMatch to optimize the internal database processing.

New in IMatch 3.6.0.39 (Jun 5, 2007)

New in IMatch 3.6.0.37 (May 22, 2007)

New in IMatch 3.5.0.18 (Jun 29, 2006)

New: Again, a major change in one of the underlying imaging libraries: IMatch no longer uses the OLE COM interface of the PolyImagePro.DLL. Instead it uses the 'C' interface, which does not require "registration" of this DLL on your system. Hence multiple versions of this DLL can be installed and used by different applications. This should help to solve many of the subtle problems caused by different applications requiring different versions of this DLL, especially for Canon users.
New: Added support for the Canon RSDK, which includes support for Canon 30D and other new models.
New: Added support for Fuji S3* Pro RAW format.
New: Added support for Pentax *istDL RAW format.
New: Added support for Sony R1 RAW format.
New: Category Assignment floater window can now be resized to a minimum of 10 pixels.
New: Data-driven categories not shown in the Categories tab below the thumbnail window.
This allows for an uncluttered view with only categories to which the image is directly assigned.
New: New option for Canon RAW formats: "Use camera defaults" overrides custom settings by the user and applies the camera defaults for sharpness, contrast, and saturation. You can control this setting under Options > Preferences > Canon CRW.
New: XMP Import for IPTC/EXIF: Comments found in EXIF do not longer overwrite IPTC caption imported into the "description" field.
New: XMP Import for IPTC/EXIF: EXIF artist field not longer replaces the creator field set by the IPTC By-line field.
New: Setting or removing bookmarks while a filter is active which filters on bookmarks now updates the thumbnail window.
New: Toolbar in Slide Show updated and extended.
New: Slide Show and Preview window now retain the current scroll position when you switch between images (if fit-to-window mode is not active).
New: Slide Show retains current zoom factor when loading new image.
New: When using low-res preview images and in fit-to-window mode in the slide show, IMatch automatically switches to 100% preview when the user zooms in and out using the and - button. This invalidates the cache and forces IMatch to load the full-size preview image from the image file, which gives better quality for zooming.
Bug: Quality Setting for file formats like JPEG not saved in Batch Processor. The batch processor always defaulted to 60%.
Bug: Visual Query feature not working for images added to/updated in the database after installing the 3.5.0.16. I unfortunately misinterpreted a parameter in the new imaging library I introduced in the 3.5.0.16 release.
This caused the image matching information stored per image in the database to be identical for all images. Hence the visual query feature does not work correctly, returning too many results.
Solution/Repair: After installing the new 3.5.0.18 version, perform a "force update of all files" rescan on the folders which have been added after installing the 3.5.0.16 release. This will re-import the files and re-create the (now correct) visual query information.
Bug: Setting the XMP label or rating for fresh imported files may not pick up the changed label/rating immediately. The XMP sidecar file or the embedded XMP record in the image is updated, but the XMP cache does not reflect the change. Refreshing the cache from the file correctly updates the cache.
Bug: Rescanning a folder with IPTC/EXIF import set to ON and XMP sidecar generation also set to ON may cause an endless loop, or at least several iterations for the folder scan.
Bug: Deleting a property in conjunction with custom property display orders may cause corruption of the property database in rare cases.
Bug: Non-supported characters in media label not correctly escaped in XML export.
Bug: TWAIN Scanner Support not working under all circumstances and drivers.
Bug: EXIF GPS not correctly displayed for certain GPS coordinate pairs (sign error).
Bug: Slide Show may display the thumbnail for TIFF files it the "Use low-res preview image" mode is set and the slide show is set to 100% display. IMatch should revert to loading the full TIFF in this case.
Bug: Oil Painting, Red-Eye Removal and Colorize not working for some images.
Bug: Various smaller issues related to the introduction of the new imaging library version fixed.
Bug: Some performance issues with partially connected remote storage systems fixed.
Bug: XMP editor value filter not always working on container-type values.
Bug: IMatch now unloads camera vendor DLLs more often to prevent excessive memory usage. These problems show up mostly when you process 5,000 or more (RAW) images in a single batch. Currently this is the only solution to the problem, until the camera vendor DLLs become a bit more "stable"
Bug: File format .THM listed twice in the database wizard (EXIF Thumbnail, and Thumbnail).