Release
Archyv 1.7.0
A speed release. The biggest change is how quickly a large batch gets going after you press Start.
Large batches start writing in seconds
Before Archyv writes anything it checks every selected file: what metadata it already has, whether it is protected, and which fields must not be overwritten. On thousands of files those checks could take longer than the writing itself.
Archyv now starts reading your files as soon as you choose a process, and you’ll see “Reading files ahead” while it works. When you press Start, it picks up from where that reading has got to instead of starting again, and it shows how many files it has read rather than just “Running…”. The reading itself is also several times faster.
On a 10,000-photo test, the checks before the first file was written took about half an hour in 1.6.2. With the files read ahead, writing began in under 20 seconds after pressing Start. Which files and fields are treated as protected is unchanged.
Cloud files download only when you press Start
Files kept online only (for example in Google Drive or iCloud Drive) are no longer downloaded just because you opened their folder or chose a process. They download when you press Start, a few at a time, with their own progress row, and Archyv reads each group as it arrives. The run log records one line such as “Downloaded 320 of 320 files”.
Species Tagging is about three times faster
Species Tagging now saves all of a photo’s species details in one step instead of four, which makes it roughly three to four times faster on large runs. Its saved run report now shows the correct counts.
Metadata Editor: rehearse, then run for real
After a run in Simulation Mode, the Metadata Editor now keeps your staged change on screen and Start stays available. Turn Simulation Mode off and press Start to apply exactly what you rehearsed. The rehearsal now counts each photo once and only counts photos that would actually change.
While Simulation Mode is on, the Editor no longer warns that values “will be overwritten” or “will be removed”, because a rehearsal changes nothing. The warnings come back as soon as you turn Simulation Mode off.
Unreadable images are held back, and Strict protection says so
With file protection on, a file that only looks like an image (an empty file,
or a web page saved with a .jpg name) used to be approved as normal and
then fail when Archyv tried to write to it. It is now treated as uncertain
and handled the way your protection settings say, like any other file
Archyv cannot check.
With file protection set to Strict, files Archyv cannot check used to be left out of a run without a word. Each one now gets a line in the log saying it was skipped and why, and it is counted under “Skipped” in the run’s summary. The Strict setting’s description no longer suggests you can override it: to process such files, switch file protection to Warn.
Photos with duplicated metadata are saved in full
Some photos carry their XMP metadata block twice. Saving to such a photo could store part of the change and silently leave out the rest, while the run reported success. Archyv now saves these photos in full (the duplicated block is merged into one), and if a photo still cannot be saved completely, it is reported as failed rather than done. This applies to every process that writes metadata.
Smaller fixes
- After a run with Strict file protection that skipped some files, the Metadata Editor could reopen on the previous folder’s photos after you refreshed and moved to a new folder, and pressing Start then changed nothing. It now always opens on the photos you have ticked.
- The saved run report now counts skipped files the same way as the run’s summary, and lists each skipped file once, under its own name, with its reason.
What to do: nothing. Install the update and work as usual.