When "Use 'descript.ion' file comments system instead of NTFS comments" is enabled, the user description given to a file appears to be written to both a "descript.ion" file and the file's NTFS Comment. I assume this should not be due to the option's use of "instead of" phrasing.
Deleting the "descript.ion" file does not remove the file's description (as seen via the Description column) due to it being stored in two places. One must additionally set the description to nothing via Opus, or remove the Comment value via the file's Properties window, for the description to be unset. I'm using the Ctrl+P shortcut to set descriptions.
Not sure if this is new to the current beta, I just happened to notice it whilst using it.
On a somewhat related note, the "descript.ion" files takes about ~10 seconds to appear (even with manual reloading of the lister) despite the description appearing in the Description column immediately once set. Maybe there is an issue here?
Thanks.
- Directory Opus Pro 12.26.1 (Beta) Build 8055 x64
- Windows 11 Pro v21H2 Build 22000.438
That's intentional, so that multiple changes to descriptions in the folder are batched up and written at once. That speeds up situations where several descriptions are changed in a row, which can happen in a lot of cases.
If descript.ion mode is turned on and there's already an NTFS description, it won't be removed, but it won't be modified either, and new NTFS descriptions won't be created. At least, that's how it is from my quick testing.
The description is cached in memory. Restart Opus via File > Exit Directory Opus to test things properly.
I had already tried restarting after deleting the "descript.ion" file, but due to the description also being written to the file's Comment, the description persists between sessions. I should've mentioned that the file I was adding a description to was a JPG.
To be sure, I just created a "New Text Document.txt" and added a description to it. Immediately I've noticed that viewing the TXT's Properties doesn't show a Comment (unlike for the JPG). At this point, deleting the "descript.ion" file removes the description from the TXT and the Description column (without needing to restart).
So it seems adding a description to a JPG writes it both to the "descript.ion" file and into its NTFS Comment. Whereas for a TXT, it is only written to the "descript.ion" file.
So it is expect for Opus to write the description to the EXIF data as well as the "descript.ion" file?
If that's the case, why is it one or the other when it comes to "descript.ion" file vs NTFS Comment, but not for "descript.ion" file vs EXIF data?
What is the purpose of the "descript.ion" file if we are duplicating the information into the image's metadata? When writing to "descript.ion" files, I think it would be preferable that the image/file is not modified.
descript.ion is a legacy / compatibility thing more than anything else. It's there so that other software which uses that format can read the descriptions.
I suppose it'd be possible create a script to only ever write descriptions to a "descript.ion" file, but that would forgo any checks that Opus does behind the scenes. If there was a way to request Opus to check for updates to descriptions, I'd have more confidence that manual edits to a "descript.ion" file would remain in sync with Opus. Currently, manual editing of the file necessitates a restart for the Description column to update.