Photo Organizer and Deduplicator - Changelog

December 5, 2025 —

Changelog for Photo Organizer and Deduplicator - Synology DSM 7 Package #

All notable changes to the Photo Organizer and Deduplicator project will be documented in this file.

The format is based on Keep a Changelog, and this project adheres to Semantic Versioning.

Critical Statistics Tracking Bug (CRITICAL FIX)
- Fixed bug where files were successfully moved but statistics were not updated if logging operations failed
- Statistics are now updated immediately after shutil.move() succeeds, before any logging or indexer operations
- This ensures all file moves are accurately counted even if logging or Synology indexer updates fail
- Impact: Statistics now correctly reflect all files moved, preventing undercounting of processed files
- Root Cause: Exception handling was catching errors from logging/indexer operations, but file was already moved
- Solution: Statistics update moved to execute immediately after successful file move, with separate error handling for non-critical operations (logging, indexer updates)

Statistics Update Order
- Statistics are now updated immediately after file move operations complete
- Logging and indexer updates are wrapped in separate try-except blocks
- Non-critical operation failures (logging, indexer) no longer prevent statistics updates
- Ensures data integrity: if a file is moved, it’s always counted in statistics

Applied fix to all file move operations:
- Main file move operation (normal date-based organization)
- Unknown file types move operation
- File replacement operations (when replacing existing files)
Statistics update is now atomic with file move operation
Logging failures are logged separately but don’t affect statistics accuracy

CreateDate EXIF Tag Support
- Added support for extracting CreateDate tag from EXIF metadata
- CreateDate is checked in priority order after DateTimeOriginal and DateTimeDigitized
- Supports both top-level and nested ExifIFD CreateDate tags
- Some cameras and software use CreateDate as an alternative date tag
Enhanced Log Entries with Destination Format
- All log entries now include destination file format information
- “Duplicate Deleted” entries show destination format: yyyy/mm_MMM/yyyymmdd_hhmmss.ext
- “File moved” entries show destination path format
- “Moved to Duplicates” entries show where duplicate was found
- Improves traceability and debugging of file operations

Date Extraction Priority Order (CRITICAL FIX)
- Fixed incorrect priority order - now correctly prioritizes nested ExifIFD tags over top-level tags
- New priority order (highest to lowest):
  1. Nested ExifIFD DateTimeOriginal (tag 0x9003) - HIGHEST PRIORITY
  2. Nested ExifIFD DateTimeDigitized (tag 0x9004)
  3. Nested ExifIFD CreateDate
  4. Top-level DateTimeOriginal
  5. Top-level DateTimeDigitized
  6. Top-level CreateDate
  7. Top-level DateTime (tag 0x0132) - LOWEST PRIORITY
- Previously, the script incorrectly checked top-level DateTime (file modification date) before nested DateTimeOriginal (actual photo capture date)
- This fix ensures the actual photo capture date is used instead of file modification date
- Impact: Photos will now be organized by their actual capture date, not when they were last modified

Date Extraction Logic
- Fixed bug where top-level DateTime (file modification date) was checked before nested DateTimeOriginal (photo capture date)
- Now correctly extracts the actual photo capture date from nested EXIF data
- Tag 306 (0x0132) is correctly identified as “DateTime” (file modification), not “DateTimeOriginal”
- Nested ExifIFD DateTimeOriginal (tag 0x9003) is now properly prioritized
Log Entry Consistency
- Fixed all log entries to properly include destination format information
- Fixed typo: “Different content then file” → “Different content than file”
- All dest_format variables are now properly defined before use in log messages

Date extraction now follows EXIF standard priority: nested ExifIFD tags contain the most accurate capture metadata
Most modern cameras store DateTimeOriginal in nested ExifIFD structure, not top-level tags
The fix ensures compatibility with both legacy and modern camera EXIF formats

Persistent Statistics Tracking System
- Implemented JSON-based statistics file (Photo_Organizer_Statistics.json) to track file operations
- Statistics persist across application restarts
- Tracks the following metrics:
  - Total number of files moved to destination
  - Total bytes moved to destination
  - Total number of files moved to duplicates folder
  - Total bytes moved to duplicates folder
  - Total number of files deleted (duplicates)
  - Total bytes deleted (duplicates)
- Statistics are automatically loaded on startup
- Statistics are saved periodically (every 10 operations or 30 seconds timeout, whichever comes first)
- File locking support for thread-safe statistics updates on Unix/Linux systems
Statistics Adjustment Logic
- When files are moved from destination folder to duplicates folder, statistics are automatically adjusted:
  - Subtracts from destination statistics
  - Adds to duplicates statistics
- Ensures accurate tracking when files are reorganized

Log File Naming
- Photo_Organizer.log → Photo_Organizer_Activities.log (file operation activities)
- System.log → Photo_Organizer_Application.log (system/application events)
- statistics.json → Photo_Organizer_Statistics.json (statistics tracking)
Statistics Save Timing
- Statistics now save after every 10 operations OR after 30 seconds timeout (whichever comes first)
- Improves data persistence and reduces risk of data loss on unexpected shutdowns
Application Log Cleanup
- Removed detailed statistics breakdown from Photo_Organizer_Application.log
- Statistics are still saved to Photo_Organizer_Statistics.json but no longer clutter the application log
- Application log now focuses on system events and service status

Statistics now accurately reflect files moved between folders
When files move from destination to duplicates, destination statistics are properly decremented
Mutagen dependency detection: Fixed false warning about mutagen not being installed
- Updated dependency check to import mutagen directly instead of relying on module-level flag
- Properly detects mutagen when installed in virtual environment
Video metadata extraction: Fixed MOV file metadata extraction
- Removed dependency on non-existent mutagen.quicktime module (not available in mutagen 1.47.0+)
- MOV files now use MP4 module since they share the same container format
- Video metadata extraction works correctly for both MP4 and MOV files

Statistics are stored in JSON format for human readability and easy backup
Statistics file location: {DEST_DIR}/Photo_Organizer_Statistics.json
Statistics are saved with file locking on Unix/Linux systems for thread safety
Backward compatible with existing bytes_moved and bytes_deleted legacy variables

For changes in previous versions, please refer to the git history or project documentation.