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Manifest Editing

In this guide you will learn:

  • How the manifest editor is structured
  • How to configure field sources for each encounter property
  • How path patterns and ID verifier integration work
  • How to preview, approve, and version manifests

The manifest editor

Section titled “The manifest editor”

The manifest editor is where you define how your data maps to finwave encounters. Each manifest is linked to a scan job and a population, and consists of field mapping rules that tell the client where to find each encounter property — dates, locations, photographer names, and individual IDs.

The editor has two main areas: the field configuration panel on the left, and the preview panel on the right.

Field sources

Section titled “Field sources”

For each encounter property, you choose a source that tells the client where to extract the value from. The available sources vary by field.

Date and time

Section titled “Date and time”
SourceHow it works
EXIFUses DateTimeOriginal or DateTimeDigitized from image EXIF data
Folder nameExtracts a date from the folder name using a path pattern and date format
File nameExtracts a date from the image file name using a path pattern and date format

When using folder or file name sources, you also select a date format to tell the client how to parse the extracted string. Supported formats include YYYY-MM-DD, YYYYMMDD, DD-MM-YYYY, MM-DD-YYYY, and variants with underscores or dots as separators.

Location

Section titled “Location”
SourceHow it works
EXIFUses GPS coordinates from image EXIF data
Folder nameExtracts a location name from the folder path using a path pattern
IPTCUses the Location or City field from IPTC metadata

GPS coordinates

Section titled “GPS coordinates”
SourceHow it works
EXIFUses GPS latitude and longitude from image EXIF data
SpreadsheetMaps latitude and longitude from spreadsheet columns you select

When using the spreadsheet source, you choose which columns contain the latitude and longitude values from the columns detected during discovery.

Photographer

Section titled “Photographer”
SourceHow it works
IPTCUses the Creator or Caption field from IPTC metadata
EXIFUses the Artist field from EXIF data
Folder nameExtracts a photographer name from the folder path using a path pattern

Individuals

Section titled “Individuals”
SourceHow it works
Folder nameExtracts individual IDs from folder names using a path pattern
File nameExtracts individual IDs from file names using a path pattern
IPTCExtracts IDs from the Caption or Keywords IPTC fields

Path patterns

Section titled “Path patterns”

When a field source is set to “folder name” or “file name,” you define a path pattern that tells the client which part of the path contains the relevant data. Path patterns use a segment-based syntax to match directory levels and extract values.

For example, if your folders are structured as /Photos/2024/2024-07-15_HaroStrait/, you would define a pattern that extracts the date from the third segment.

The editor shows sample paths from your scan results so you can see what the pattern matches.

ID verifier integration

Section titled “ID verifier integration”

If your population has an identifier verifier configured (defining the format of individual ID codes like T002B or J047), the manifest editor automatically loads it and compiles a regex pattern. This pattern is used to extract and validate individual IDs from whatever source you choose (folder names, file names, or IPTC data).

The editor shows the compiled regex and example IDs that the pattern would match.

Previewing the manifest

Section titled “Previewing the manifest”

Click Preview to generate a sample of up to 20 encounters using your current field mappings. The preview shows:

  • Sample encounters with all mapped fields visible
  • Field coverage statistics — what percentage of encounters have a value for each field
  • How each field was extracted (which source provided the value)

Review the preview to verify your mappings are producing correct results before approving.

Versioning

Section titled “Versioning”

Manifests support versioning. Each time you save changes, a new version is created. You can view all versions of a manifest for a given scan job, and each version shows its status (draft or approved).

The sidebar shows the active manifest version for each scan job, along with the encounter count badge if a preview has been generated.

Approving the manifest

Section titled “Approving the manifest”

When you are satisfied with the mapping, click Approve to finalize the manifest. Approval records your username and a timestamp. You can revert an approved manifest back to draft if you need to make further changes.

Section titled “Related”