Bug 520510 - Date Format is inconsistent with settings.
Summary: Date Format is inconsistent with settings.
Status: RESOLVED FIXED
Alias: None
Product: digikam
Classification: Applications
Component: Metadata-Date (other bugs)
Version First Reported In: 9.0.0
Platform: Other Linux
: NOR normal
Target Milestone: ---
Assignee: Digikam Developers
URL:
Keywords:
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
Reported: 2026-05-22 03:00 UTC by garret.hoffman+kdebugs
Modified: 2026-05-25 04:16 UTC (History)
2 users (show)

See Also:
Latest Commit:
Version Fixed/Implemented In: 9.1.0
Sentry Crash Report:


Attachments
screenshot of settings + the window where the date-time-bug error occurs. (295.24 KB, image/png)
2026-05-22 03:00 UTC, garret.hoffman+kdebugs
Details

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Description garret.hoffman+kdebugs 2026-05-22 03:00:10 UTC
Created attachment 192532 [details]
screenshot of settings + the window where the date-time-bug error occurs.

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DESCRIPTION
I've set the date format in settings to the iso standard year/month/day, however when editing the metadata of a file, it defaults back to month/day/year, which is wrong and confusing.

STEPS TO REPRODUCE
1. Under appearance in settings, I have the date and time format set to `yyyy/MM/dd hh:mm Ap`
2. I observe under "digiKam Properties" on an image file, that the date format appears to be in the correct format, however the date on the photo is wrong (the metadata is messed up, because Microsoft set it to be the date the file was created instead of when the photo was actually taken... thanks Microsoft \s)
3. I click edit, and when I go to punch in the correct date (or at least what I think it should be) the format remains in month/day/year format.

OBSERVED RESULT
The date time format remains in month/day/year format instead of my requested year/month/day format.

EXPECTED RESULT
The date on all pages and menus should read in the format I specify using the format settings on the appearance page.

SOFTWARE/OS VERSIONS
Operating System (available in the Info Center app, or by running `kinfo` in a terminal window): 
Linux ailita2 6.17.0-23-generic #23~24.04.1-Ubuntu SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Tue Apr 14 16:11:48 UTC 2 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
Linux Mint 22.3 - Cinnamon 64-bit
KDE Plasma Version: Cinnamon
KDE Frameworks Version: 
Qt Version: 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Comment 1 caulier.gilles 2026-05-22 07:15:58 UTC
>3. I click edit, and when I go to punch in the correct date (or at least what I
>think it should be) the format remains in month/day/year format.

So the wrong date format used is located in the Captions sidebar tab. Right ?
Comment 2 garret.hoffman+kdebugs 2026-05-22 21:52:30 UTC
(In reply to caulier.gilles from comment #1)
> >3. I click edit, and when I go to punch in the correct date (or at least what I
> >think it should be) the format remains in month/day/year format.
> 
> So the wrong date format used is located in the Captions sidebar tab. Right ?

I believe so.  I'm not sitting at that computer at the moment, but I think in the dialog with the date properties of the image, you click the pencil, and it jumps to the edit dialog, which for some reason is under a different sidebar tab...

Ideally, all date-time formats should follow the configuration, but this is only the first one I've noticed.
Comment 3 garret.hoffman+kdebugs 2026-05-23 04:26:37 UTC
Hmm... I can't seem to attach a screenshot, but if I click on an image, then click on the "Properties" tab it shows all of the metadata for that image file.

Under the "digiKam Properties", there is a pencil button.  I click that.

It opens the "Captions" tab, which reads "Title" & "Captions" with large text-edit boxes, but below that is "Date"/"Pick Label"/etc...

The date-time on this tab is in MM/dd/yyyy hh:mm:ss format, and I don't see any other settings which might apply to this particular UI widget.
Comment 4 caulier.gilles 2026-05-23 05:41:52 UTC
"Add an attachment" link on this report allow to plug a file as a screenshot (limited to 3Mb)
Comment 5 Maik Qualmann 2026-05-23 19:23:26 UTC
This setting defines the display format for date and time.
On the "Description" tab, it functions as an input field; here, we utilize the system's current date format. We cannot permit just any arbitrary format in this context; for instance, we must ensure that a four-digit year is always used to prevent incorrect year assignments for historical photographs.
Identifying the specific date component within the date and time string configured in the setup - so that it can be populated into the date input field - is a task that requires careful handling.
Comment 6 garret.hoffman+kdebugs 2026-05-23 20:01:26 UTC
Hmm... so you're saying that I need to change it in the linux mint system settings?  That seems confusing to have the same thing pulling a configuration from two different places.

I think I've got it set right in system settings though.  Mint won't let me change it to the ISO standard by default, but I am able to change it using the dconf-editor, and I see there that it's currently set to YYYY-MM-DD.

Could it be that, because I'm using the flatpak version of digikam, it's unable to access system settings to see this though?  Maybe there's a way to edit flatpak system settings... >_>?
Comment 7 Maik Qualmann 2026-05-24 05:08:58 UTC
Git commit 5a17c9ab79e303ff1427cfc3d220e3801852b42b by Maik Qualmann.
Committed on 24/05/2026 at 05:07.
Pushed by mqualmann into branch 'master'.

use the user date/time format for input fields if valid
FIXED-IN: 9.1.0

M  +1    -1    NEWS
M  +2    -9    core/app/date/ddateedit.cpp
M  +2    -16   core/app/date/ddatepicker.cpp
M  +33   -0    core/app/utils/digikam_globals.cpp
M  +5    -0    core/app/utils/digikam_globals.h
M  +2    -13   core/dplugins/generic/metadata/metadataedit/exif/exifdatetime.cpp
M  +2    -9    core/dplugins/generic/metadata/metadataedit/iptc/iptcenvelope.cpp
M  +2    -9    core/dplugins/generic/metadata/metadataedit/iptc/iptcorigin.cpp
M  +2    -9    core/dplugins/generic/metadata/metadataedit/iptc/iptcproperties.cpp
M  +2    -13   core/dplugins/generic/metadata/metadataedit/xmp/xmporigin.cpp
M  +3    -13   core/dplugins/generic/metadata/timeadjust/timeadjustlist.cpp
M  +2    -9    core/libs/dtrash/dtrashitemmodel.cpp

https://invent.kde.org/graphics/digikam/-/commit/5a17c9ab79e303ff1427cfc3d220e3801852b42b
Comment 8 Maik Qualmann 2026-05-24 05:12:11 UTC
Note: If the user date/time format is changed in the settings, it will only be applied to certain input fields in digiKam after a restart.

Maik
Comment 9 garret.hoffman+kdebugs 2026-05-25 02:08:58 UTC
(In reply to Maik Qualmann from comment #8)
> Note: If the user date/time format is changed in the settings, it will only
> be applied to certain input fields in digiKam after a restart.
> 
> Maik

Rad... Thanks Maik.  I'll look forward to this update when it hits flatpak for the next version... :D
Comment 10 Maik Qualmann 2026-05-25 04:16:43 UTC
You can test it using the pre-release digiKam-9.1.0 AppImage. Using Snap or Flatpak packages is, in any case, the worst choice for running digiKam due to the sandboxing.

https://files.kde.org/digikam/

Maik