Need to clean up some hierarchical keywords in XML file

[markpirozzi]

I tried using hierarchical keywords in Bridge.  I had been redoing my file structure and got it to where I wanted it and I was experimented with bringing the photos into Lightroom.  The keywords were a real mess in LR.  I decided a non-hierarchical system was not so bad and that I didn't need so many - I wanted to undo what I had.  I imported the files into IV and created catalog sets to mirror my most important keywords.  I used File Info in Bridge to remove all the keywords and then used IV to sync the simplified keywords back into the files.

I worked well to a point but there were some persistent hierarchical keywords that kept popping up in Bridge and I couldn't delete them.  And even more would show up when importing into LR.  I think I have tracked this down to these sample lines in the XML sidecar files:

xmlns:lr="http://ns.adobe.com/lightroom/1.0/">
   <lr:hierarchicalSubject>
    <rdf:Bag>
     <rdf:li>People|People-Work</rdf:li>
     <rdf:li>Ratings|2Star|MP: 2Star</rdf:li>
     <rdf:li>Ratings|1Star|MP: 1Star</rdf:li>
    </rdf:Bag>
   </lr:hierarchicalSubject>

Is there a way to automate going through the sidecar files and removing every line between  <rdf:Bag>... <rdf:Bag> ?  The funny thing is I don't remember importing the originals of these files into LR, so I am not sure how these lines got in the file.

Mark

[peterkrogh]

Mark,
I don't know of a way to crawl through the files removing this field.  Would be a useful utility.
Peter

[markpirozzi]

Thanks.

Mark

[johnbeardy]

You'd need to write an XSLT stylesheet to transform the XML. Various XML editors or Dreamweaver could help do the job, and you could write the XSLT with a text editor, though you're going into geeky territory and may not emerge unscathed.

John

[havezet]

removing every line between  <rdf:Bag>... <rdf:Bag> ?

Mark, before you start on this, you should *not* remove everything between <rdf:Bag>..</rdf:Bag> but between <lr:hierarchicalSubject>...</lr:hierarchicalSubject>. That should prevent you from deleting unexpected entries from your XMP.

Hert

[markpirozzi]

John,

I figured the solution was a little out of my league.


Hert,

I thought I made a follow up post but I must have replied to the wrong thread.  I have done some experimentation with Bridge settings and keywords and little with Lightroom.  I can make Bridge remove those entries. It appears that Bridge reads and writes entries between   xmlns:lr="http://ns.adobe.com/lightroom/1.0/"><lr:hierarchicalSubject>...</lr:hierarchicalSubject>,  but LR only reads them.  In fact when using NEFs and sidecar files, I can't see that LR writes keywords to the sidecar files, even if Automatically write to XML is checked.   


Mark

[markpirozzi]

I can't seem to duplicate removing hierarchal keywords in the Lightroom section of the sidecar files short of opening the sidecar files one at a time.  However, by having pared down my keyword vocabulary in Bridge and getting uniformity, the cleanup in Lightroom should not be to bad.

Mark