Tag: gps
ExifTool, moving from cmd line to Powershell

ExifTool, moving from cmd line to Powershell

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Previously I highlighted the issue in using Exiftool and getting it to add GPS data to a photo. Now that that issue is resolved (see here) we move on to getting it to work within Powershell.

Getting it to work within Powershell is important for myself as I’m using that to copy photos from my SD card onto my machine much much faster than the Sony software can (see here). So why not reuse this script and as well as copying it across, I can add GPS data and also copy it across.

The Command

exiftool -GPSLatitude*=56.9359839838 -GPSLongitude*=-4.4651045874 DSC00320.JPG

Above we have a working command. Powershell can call executables in various ways as can be seen here.

Option 1 – The & operator

This failed as the parameters for exiftool require to be more than a single string, which is what the & does. If you look at the link to the MS article I tried all the & options it suggests and nothing was close to working.

Option 2 – Direct call

Direct call requires to add .\ if the item isn’t in the PATH or some other means to grab the correct folder location. I had the exiftool in the same folder as the script so .\ did me just fine.

Cut to the chase…

There is an issue with powershell, and the - cause it issues. See this issue listed here

This meant on my first pass I had to split it into 2 requests to correctly update the GPS.

$combLat = '-GPSLatitude*=' + $point.lat
$combLon = '-GPSLongitude*=' + $point.lon

.\exiftool.exe $combLat $f.FullName '-overwrite_original_in_place'
.\exiftool.exe $combLon $f.FullName '-overwrite_original_in_place'

Now with the use of backticks I can do the following

.\exiftool.exe `-GPSLatitude*=$point.lat `-GPSLongitude*=$point.lon $f.FullName -overwrite_original_in_place

Phew…

That tiny piece of code above (change to backtick) took so long and with a combination of human error and not knowing the order to use a ` or a ‘ or a ” or even a range of them required fair bit of trial and error.

It’s on Github

If you wish to view the full code, grab it, run it, etc then head over to this link.
I’ve seriously cut back this post as so many things I’ve learnt, but the easiest way for you pick up from my learning is to just view the code. A picture may well speak a 1000 words. But a 100 lines of code is so much better than 10,000 words in a blog 😉

https://github.com/delp–/GPS_Sony_Photo_data_merger
Powershell – What on earth are you returning?

Powershell – What on earth are you returning?

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I’ve finished a ‘minor’ project where I extended my previous Powershell script seen here – https://www.kennethsutherland.com/shell/copying-files-using-powershell-sd-card-to-pc/

What’s new and what did I solve?

I’ve got a Sony RX10-IV and one of its drawbacks is that is doesn’t have a GPS unit inside it. This is a major bummer as far as I’m concerned. So what to do? I searched, read various guides and yet nothing simple jumped out to solve my issue. Ideally I wanted a device to attach to it’s hot-shoe that when I took photos it would write GPS data to the photo. There is nothing, not a single thing that is suitable for the Sony camera.

Before anyone comments, why not use Sony’s phone software to sync up – it’s a huge pile of 💩💩💩 Not getting into why, it just is! PlayMemories and Imaging Edge Mobile are both virtual paperweights. Ready to be binned on my phone now.

So I happen to have an eTrex 30 for when I go hillwalking and as soon as you turn it on, it starts recording it’s location and time. This is stored in a *.gpx file. Sorted! All I need to do is to merge the gpx file with my photos. Sounds simple. Actually nope, took me far to long…

Functions that return way more than you expect!

So you can create functions in Powershell – good.

You create the function flow, and in order to make sure it’s working as expected you put in some echo commands. Great so far.

NO, NO, NO – do not use echo commands inside a method that you are going to return something. It completely MESSES it up!

Some code ->

Look at the below screenshot while debugging some code 👇

If you look at the above image 👆 you can see that the method getSelectedPoint returns the selected point. But it also has a echo.
Inside the debug tooltip you can see that the returned object is more than the point, it’s also got the echo statement!
WTF Powershell! Never seen a language return more than what’s specified to return.

Now check out the same but without the echo

Look at the same debug tooltip when the echo isn’t there. That returned point is just a point.

WARNING – I don’t know Powershell

Must add this warning, as I’m sure those with experience will call out the reasons for the above and no doubt issues with my code. But as a novice in powershell I’m highlighting the issues I stumbled on to get the end result. This took to long to figure out. HTH.

If you’ve got this far and want to know more then head along to this – About Return This is a MS guide about powershell and what it returns. Essentially if you want a standard programming style return, then you can use a class.