# Need help to make a plugin



## fjellfotografen (Sep 16, 2010)

I need a plugin that pick up a number in the job identifyer field of IPTC that refers to a post in an Exel database. In that database I have other information about that specific image. The plugin shall pick up that information and put it in the corresponding IPTC-fields for that image.
Is there anyone that can help my make such a plugin. I pay for the job. Give me an price idea... or if you know about a person willing to do this, please let me know.


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## johnbeardy (Sep 16, 2010)

My guess is that's likely to be quite complex because you want to automate two programs. The plug-in would need to trigger an Excel macro, and then find a way to get information back from it. My first thought is that the Excel macro would have to generate a text file, which the plug-in would then read. Is this for a once-only data migration, or does there need to be flexibility for longer term use? You could simplify things by saving the Excel data as XML, which a plug-in can directly interrogate and avoids the need to code the macro. Those are ideas worth considering, but we're still talking a few days' work.

John


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## clee01l (Sep 16, 2010)

Is this 'plugin' a process that needs repeatability or is this a one time update of all your image files? If you are trying to update your LR catalog with data recorded prior to LR, then the whole process might be handled using SQLite and converting your Excel spreadsheet to a table in the LR database (Catalog) and then updating the LR tables vis SQL queries.


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## fjellfotografen (Sep 16, 2010)

Yes, it needs repeatability. I have tusands of slides and I have the data for each of them stored in a Exel-file. When I scan the images I like the image-data to be stored together with the image in IPTC.
Each slide has a unik number and by that number I can pick up the data in the Exel-file for that specific image. I also store that number in "Job Identifier" field in Lightroom.

Today I have a Bridge script that do the work and use this number to pick up the image data from the Exel-file and put it in the right field in IPTC. It do a nice work. I type the unik number in "Job Identifier" field and start the script - and it put the data in the IPTC field. But it would be better if I did not have to use Bridge, and instead could do it directly in Lighthroom. I could then import the scanned image directly to Lightroom, without going via Bridge.
//Tomas


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## clee01l (Sep 16, 2010)

I think I have outlined the basic functionality for your plugin. It would be much simplier if you can migrate the Excel data into another data source more compatible with the LR catalog. As John has suggested, a CSV text file would be easier to manipulate. Getting the data into the LR SQlite catalog would make it a much simplier task for a plugin.


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## fjellfotografen (Sep 17, 2010)

Well, I think migrate the Excel file to a CSV would be no problem...
Is there any way to run a Bridge script in Lightroom? If so I guess it would be the easiest way.
//Tomas


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