# Parsing species names is failing **URL:** \ **Category:** Bug Reports\ **Created:** [August 10, 2023, 9:30pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/parsing-species-names-is-failing/44095 "2023-08-10T21:30:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gcwarbler](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/gcwarbler/32/1787_2.png) [@gcwarbler](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/gcwarbler)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2023, 9:30pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/parsing-species-names-is-failing/44095/1 "2023-08-10T21:30:58Z")
Please fill out the following sections to the best of your ability, it will help us investigate bugs if we have this information at the outset. Screenshots are especially helpful, so please provide those if you can. **Platform** (Android, iOS, Website): website **App version number** , if a mobile app issue (shown under Settings or About): **Browser** , if a website issue (Firefox, Chrome, etc) : Chrome Version 115.0.5790.170 (Official Build) (x86\_64) Same failure with Safari Version 14.1.2 (14611.3.10.1.7) (Mac) **URLs (aka web addresses) of any relevant observations or pages**: **Screenshots of what you are seeing** (instructions for taking a screenshot on computers and mobile devices: [https://www.take-a-screenshot.org/](https://www.take-a-screenshot.org/)): ![Screen Shot 2023-08-10 at 4.24.12 PM](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/inaturalist/original/3X/8/0/808e020a793aae62a7969004e4643866437768fe.png) **Description of problem** (please provide a set of steps we can use to replicate the issue, and make as many as you need.): After finishing its upload of metadata on batches of observations, the uploader is failing to parse species names which are part of the filename. This was a much-appreciated feature in recent years which has saved countless hours of typing. E. g., [https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/parsing-identifications-from-file-name/8183](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/parsing-identifications-from-file-name/8183) Step 1: Drag and drop images to the upload page. Each image file has a Latin species name as part of the filename. Step 2: Wait for metadata upload to be completed. Step 3: Species names fail to be displayed; the species name field remains blank. ---
**Author:** ![pisum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/91b2a8/32.png) [@pisum](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/pisum)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2023, 2:35am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/parsing-species-names-is-failing/44095/2 "2023-08-11T02:35:29Z")
what are some of the filenames that you used? when i tested just now, i had no problem getting the taxon pre-populated based on a scientific name within the filename of the uploaded image file: ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/inaturalist/original/3X/f/b/fb0b7f8de1a239bb773fd07f14ef4114e1b19a1d.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![earthknight](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/earthknight/32/32879_2.png) [@earthknight](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/earthknight)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2023, 2:46am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/parsing-species-names-is-failing/44095/3 "2023-08-11T02:46:31Z")
I sometimes have this issue. In my case it often seems to be related to connection speed and packet loss, between my ISP and the iNat server, not iNat itself or the files. ---
**Author:** ![gcwarbler](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/gcwarbler/32/1787_2.png) [@gcwarbler](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/gcwarbler)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2023, 8:35pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/parsing-species-names-is-failing/44095/4 "2023-08-11T20:35:34Z")
For the set of four examples above (a test upload), the file names are, from L to R: Anavitrinella addendaria\_2989 Biston betularia\_3103 Boarmiini\_3075 Caberini\_2986 The issue has continued for me for dozens more uploads–no species names parsed from filenames such as these. I should mention that I’m doing one small step in my upload process slightly differently than in the past. Previously I was exporting such files from iPhoto to a separate uploads folder on my Mac desktop, then dragging and dropping the files onto iNat’s upload page from that folder. With these recent uploads, I am dragging and dropping directly from within the iPhoto image collection. My next step will be to go back to my old way of using an intermediate uploads folder. I’ll advise on the outcome of that test. ---
**Author:** ![pisum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/91b2a8/32.png) [@pisum](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/pisum)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2023, 9:59pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/parsing-species-names-is-failing/44095/5 "2023-08-11T21:59:02Z")
> [@gcwarbler](#): > > With these recent uploads, I am dragging and dropping directly from within the iPhoto image collection. i don’t have any problems loading using your filenames. so drag and drop from iPhoto seems to be the likeliest factor that leads to the problem. it may be worth looking at the photo page of one of your photos uploaded via your new method to see what is the filename recorded there. (it’s possible that the filename that you get when you drag and drop from iPhoto does not reflect the actual filename of the underlying file.) ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/inaturalist/original/3X/d/2/d2c9b96c355402566229aeb698882eb461d52f24.png) other than that, this seems to be the best guidance for now: > [@Safari on MacOS loses photos after initially seeing them in the Add Observations page](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/safari-on-macos-loses-photos-after-initially-seeing-them-in-the-add-observations-page/14033/6): > > Are you using iPhoto, or Photos (which is what iPhotos turned into)? I would pretty much always recommend exporting photos from Photos to your computer (I usually export photos to my desktop), then uploading them. Dragging and dropping from directly from iPhotos/Photos is something that I’ve seen cause issues for other users. ---
**Author:** ![gcwarbler](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/gcwarbler/32/1787_2.png) [@gcwarbler](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/gcwarbler)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2023, 10:52pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/parsing-species-names-is-failing/44095/6 "2023-08-11T22:52:29Z")
That seems to be the issue. The filenames of those images dragged directly from iPhoto have only the default prefix “IMG\_” whereas those that have been exported in that intermediate step are tagged with the species name, which is subsequently parsed properly. So it’s back to the old “Texas Two-Step” process for me! ---
**Author:** ![pisum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/91b2a8/32.png) [@pisum](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/pisum)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2023, 12:36am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/parsing-species-names-is-failing/44095/7 "2023-08-12T00:36:06Z")
i’m not a Mac user, but from what i gather from this discussion: [https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7038242](https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7038242), it seems like you can’t actually change the filename from iPhoto / Photos. instead, the title field shows the filename by default, and if you change that, you’re actually changing the title of the photo, not the underlying filename. however, based on this: [https://support.apple.com/guide/photos/add-titles-captions-and-more-phta4e5a733f/mac](https://support.apple.com/guide/photos/add-titles-captions-and-more-phta4e5a733f/mac), it looks like you might be able to add some keyword tags, and i wonder if by adding a taxon name as a keyword, you can get that tag to translate into a taxon name when you upload in iNat? ---
**Author:** ![gcwarbler](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/gcwarbler/32/1787_2.png) [@gcwarbler](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/gcwarbler)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2023, 2:18pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/parsing-species-names-is-failing/44095/8 "2023-08-12T14:18:19Z")
I think you are correct that on my Mac, I can’t actually change the original filename. However, both on the desktop display of images and for export purposes, I can use the “title” I give each image. I should have clarified that the “filenames” I listed above are actually–in Mac terms–my titles of the images. Those are what I export to my intermediate uploads folder and those are properly parsed by iNat. ---
**Author:** ![tiwane](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/tiwane/32/54612_2.png) [@tiwane](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/tiwane)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2023, 3:00pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/parsing-species-names-is-failing/44095/9 "2023-08-12T15:00:03Z")
Closed on August 12, 2023, 3:00pm UTC This topic was automatically closed after 16 hours. New replies are no longer allowed. ---
**Author:** ![gcwarbler](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/gcwarbler/32/1787_2.png) [@gcwarbler](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/gcwarbler)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2024, 1:23pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/parsing-species-names-is-failing/44095/10 "2024-03-24T13:23:40Z")
**Platform** (Android, iOS, Website): Website **Browser** , if a website issue (Firefox, Chrome, etc) : Google Chrome (Mac), Version 103.0.5060.134 (Official Build) (x86\_64) **Description of problem** : I’ve noticed a slight difference in the way iNat’s uploader parses (or doesn’t parse) species names from files based on two slightly different methods of uploading from my Mac. I’m wondering why there is a difference. In both cases described below, images have a Genus-species name in the filename (e.g. Digrammia atrofasciata\_1234) and have keywords which include “moth” and a moth family name (e.g., Geometridae) as keywords. All photo editing and file naming is done in my old iPhoto 9.6.1 software on a MacBook Air running OS 10.11.6 (El Capitan). Uploads to iNat are typically done in bulk on the Upload page by dragging and dropping from one of two local locations: Pathway 1: IF I export the files from iPhoto to an intermediate folder and then upload to iNat from that folder, the filename is properly parsed as a species ID (=\> _Digrammia atrofasciata_). All keywords are read properly and added as tags in iNat. Pathway 2: IF I skip the exporting step and drag and drop the same image(s) directly from iPhoto (in the Events or Photos view), filenames are not parsed at all and typically a moth family name (derived from one of my keywords) is parsed and inserted as an ID. The keywords themselves are again added as tags. The annoyance in this 2nd upload pathway is that, although it avoids the intermediate step of exporting to a separate folder, it fails to parse the species names that I have added to the files. I thereafter have to delete the moth famly name added by iNat as an ID before manually entering the species ID for each observation. This is a minor inconvenience, but I’m just curious why the uploading behavior differs in the two pathways. ---
**Author:** ![jwidness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9d8465/32.png) [@jwidness](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/jwidness)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2024, 1:28pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/parsing-species-names-is-failing/44095/11 "2024-03-24T13:28:02Z")
Opened on March 24, 2024, 1:28pm UTC ---
**Author:** ![jwidness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9d8465/32.png) [@jwidness](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/jwidness)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2024, 1:29pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/parsing-species-names-is-failing/44095/12 "2024-03-24T13:29:04Z")
@gcwarbler I moved your post to this existing topic. It sounds like your issue is the same as before, right? ---
**Author:** ![gcwarbler](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/gcwarbler/32/1787_2.png) [@gcwarbler](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/gcwarbler)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2024, 1:37pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/parsing-species-names-is-failing/44095/13 "2024-03-24T13:37:49Z")
Sorry, @jwidness. I forgot that I had brought this issue up last year. ---
**Author:** ![jwidness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9d8465/32.png) [@jwidness](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/jwidness)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2024, 1:59pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/parsing-species-names-is-failing/44095/14 "2024-03-24T13:59:47Z")
Not a problem, but unfortunately I don’t think we can provide any more help than last time. ---
**Author:** ![mrtnlowr](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/mrtnlowr/32/6890_2.png) [@mrtnlowr](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/mrtnlowr)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2024, 2:07pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/parsing-species-names-is-failing/44095/15 "2024-03-24T14:07:29Z")
Check the photo page of a pathway 2 observation. Does it show the expected original filename? ---
**Author:** ![gcwarbler](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/gcwarbler/32/1787_2.png) [@gcwarbler](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/gcwarbler)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2024, 8:25pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/parsing-species-names-is-failing/44095/16 "2024-03-24T20:25:46Z")
That’s a good cross-check, Martin. The observation below was uploaded under the iPhoto image title “Podabrus\_6027” (and ID was subsequently corrected by Mike Quinn to _Ditemnus perforatus_), but the uploader brought it in with its original filename “IMG\_6027”. So the “titles” from iPhoto (and probably Photos) are not parsed when dragging and dropping directly from within the app. But when exporting from iPhotos to a separate folder, the app allows me to export with the “title” or “filename” and I invariably choose the former. That option apparently establishes the “filename” for iNat uploader purposes. It’s just an annoying quirk of the interaction of the Mac programs and the iNat uploader process that I’ll have to live with. ![Screen Shot 2024-03-24 at 3.15.19 PM](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/inaturalist/original/3X/4/a/4a1e061f8d0d8f882d42aba84f8b00a31b6f2c93.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![bouteloua](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/bouteloua/32/1180_2.png) [@bouteloua](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/bouteloua)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2024, 1:00pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/parsing-species-names-is-failing/44095/17 "2024-03-25T13:00:28Z")
Closed on March 25, 2024, 1:00pm UTC This topic was automatically closed after 19 hours. New replies are no longer allowed.