fileClassify_dateTaken

fileClassify_dateTaken is an interactive Python script that classifies files by their best available date while preserving the original source files.

Current version: 0.2.0

Requirements

• Python 3
• Pillow

Install Pillow with:

python -m pip install Pillow

Usage

Run:

python reclassify_datetaken.py

Enter or drag the source directory path when prompted.

Processing

The script:

• processes regular, non-symlink files located directly inside the selected directory;
• does not recurse into subdirectories;
• groups files with identical stems;
• attaches derivative stems to the longest matching base stem;
• treats an immediate numeric continuation as a separate group;
• reads these EXIF date fields from recognized images with Pillow:
  • DateTimeOriginal;
  • DateTimeDigitized;
  • DateTime;
• retains every valid supported EXIF date found in a file;
• uses the filesystem modification time when no supported EXIF date is available;
• asks the user to select the authoritative date when a related group contains conflicting values;
• copies files with unreadable, damaged, or invalid recognized-image metadata to unclassified for review;
• copies files with a selected date to classified/YYYY-MM-DD;
• compares existing output files byte-for-byte;
• reuses an identical existing output or adds _1, _2, and later suffixes when a filename collision contains different data.

Original source files are not modified, moved, renamed, or deleted.

Output

The script creates the following directories inside the selected source directory:

<source>/
├── classified/
│   └── YYYY-MM-DD/
└── unclassified/

Each successfully classified file is copied into the folder matching its selected date. Files requiring manual review are copied into unclassified.