feat(server): Use the earliest date between file creation and modification timestamps when missing exif tags

Author: Chuckame

Diff for: docs/package-lock.json

@@ -274,6 +274,40 @@ describe(MetadataService.name, () => {
       });
     });
 
+    it('should take the file modification date when missing exif and earliest than creation date', async () => {
+      const fileCreatedAt = new Date('2022-01-01T00:00:00.000Z');
+      const fileModifiedAt = new Date('2021-01-01T00:00:00.000Z');
+      assetMock.getByIds.mockResolvedValue([{ ...assetStub.image, fileCreatedAt, fileModifiedAt }]);
+      mockReadTags();
+
+      await sut.handleMetadataExtraction({ id: assetStub.image.id });
+      expect(assetMock.getByIds).toHaveBeenCalledWith([assetStub.image.id], { faces: { person: false } });
+      expect(assetMock.upsertExif).toHaveBeenCalledWith(expect.objectContaining({ dateTimeOriginal: fileModifiedAt }));
+      expect(assetMock.update).toHaveBeenCalledWith({
+        id: assetStub.image.id,
+        duration: null,
+        fileCreatedAt: fileModifiedAt,
+        localDateTime: fileModifiedAt,
+      });
+    });
+
+    it('should take the file creation date when missing exif and earliest than modification date', async () => {
+      const fileCreatedAt = new Date('2021-01-01T00:00:00.000Z');
+      const fileModifiedAt = new Date('2022-01-01T00:00:00.000Z');
+      assetMock.getByIds.mockResolvedValue([{ ...assetStub.image, fileCreatedAt, fileModifiedAt }]);
+      mockReadTags();
+
+      await sut.handleMetadataExtraction({ id: assetStub.image.id });
+      expect(assetMock.getByIds).toHaveBeenCalledWith([assetStub.image.id], { faces: { person: false } });
+      expect(assetMock.upsertExif).toHaveBeenCalledWith(expect.objectContaining({ dateTimeOriginal: fileCreatedAt }));
+      expect(assetMock.update).toHaveBeenCalledWith({
+        id: assetStub.image.id,
+        duration: null,
+        fileCreatedAt,
+        localDateTime: fileCreatedAt,
+      });
+    });
+
     it('should account for the server being in a non-UTC timezone', async () => {
       process.env.TZ = 'America/Los_Angeles';
       assetMock.getByIds.mockResolvedValue([assetStub.sidecar]);

Diff for: server/src/services/metadata.service.spec.ts

@@ -450,14 +450,14 @@ export class MetadataService extends BaseService {
         }
       } else {
         const motionAssetId = this.cryptoRepository.randomUUID();
-        const createdAt = asset.fileCreatedAt ?? asset.createdAt;
+        const dates = this.getDates(asset, tags);
         motionAsset = await this.assetRepository.create({
           id: motionAssetId,
           libraryId: asset.libraryId,
           type: AssetType.VIDEO,
-          fileCreatedAt: createdAt,
+          fileCreatedAt: dates.dateTimeOriginal,
           fileModifiedAt: asset.fileModifiedAt,
-          localDateTime: createdAt,
+          localDateTime: dates.localDateTime,
           checksum,
           ownerId: asset.ownerId,
           originalPath: StorageCore.getAndroidMotionPath(asset, motionAssetId),
@@ -589,9 +589,18 @@ export class MetadataService extends BaseService {
     let dateTimeOriginal = dateTime?.toDate();
     let localDateTime = dateTime?.toDateTime().setZone('UTC', { keepLocalTime: true }).toJSDate();
     if (!localDateTime || !dateTimeOriginal) {
-      this.logger.warn(`Asset ${asset.id} has no valid date, falling back to asset.fileCreatedAt`);
-      dateTimeOriginal = asset.fileCreatedAt;
-      localDateTime = asset.fileCreatedAt;
+      // When a file is copied (but not moved) before being uploaded to immich, the target file creation
+      // date is set at the current timestamp, while the modification date remains untouched, so if the
+      // user copied the asset while he did not modified the file (like cropping, rotating and more), then
+      // we use the modification timestamp as it's still the original date. If the user modified the asset,
+      // then there is no other solution except a further manual fix.
+      this.logger.warn(
+        `No valid date found in exif tags from asset ${asset.id}, falling back to earliest timestamp between file creation and file modification`,
+      );
+      // eslint-disable-next-line unicorn/prefer-math-min-max
+      const earliestDate = asset.fileModifiedAt < asset.fileCreatedAt ? asset.fileModifiedAt : asset.fileCreatedAt;
+      dateTimeOriginal = earliestDate;
+      localDateTime = earliestDate;
     }
 
     this.logger.verbose(`Asset ${asset.id} has a local time of ${localDateTime.toISOString()}`);