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iPhoto tracks all of your photos using it's own database, but it also writes a file called AlbumData.xml to share the iPhoto data with other iLife programs like iTunes, iMovie, iDVD, and also for 24x7digital's PhotoCopy. PhotoCopy must be able to read this file to gather information about your iPhoto Library. AlbumData.xml is written out by iPhoto when you make changes to your iPhoto Library but it sometimes takes a while before the file is updated to match your library exactly. Furthermore, there are times when iPhoto will allow some corrupt data to get written out to AlbumData.xml which can cause third-party programs some difficulties in reading and parsing the file. PhotoCopy may generate an error such as: "Could not parse the AlbumData.xml file. Error: XML parser error: Encountered unexpected character k on line 74371. Old-style plist parser error: Malformed data byte" if it detects a problem with your AlbumData.xml file. To fix errors in your AlbumData.xml, it is important to identify the root cause of the problem in your iPhoto Library, and to coax iPhoto into repairing it's internal representation of its data, and have iPhoto write out a corrected version of the AlbumData.xml file. It is also important that the full path to the location of the AlbumData.xml file does not have any odd characters in the folder names such as the ampersand character or excessive slashes or backslashes. A common problem in AlbumData.xml is the presence of invisible "null" characters. Null characters can be inadvertently introduced into your iPhoto Library when photos with meta-data stored in their EXIF data contain null characters and are imported directly into your iPhoto database. You may need to visit each photo in iPhoto which has problematic meta-data and get rid of the problematic keywords, and re-enter the keywords using the iPhoto user interface. To find the root cause of a bad AlbumData.xml file, it is necessary to open the file using a text editor which can go to a particular line number, such as the free Bare Bones Software's TextWrangler. Open your AlbumData.xml file using TextWrangler and jump to the line number mentioned in the error message. By looking at the data near this line number, you may be able to tell which photo in your library is causing the problem. You cannot edit the AlbumData.xml file since iPhoto will just write it out again in the future, so it is important to identify the cause of the problem, and then to fix it using iPhoto itself! To view AlbumData.xml, find your iPhoto Library in the Finder, and click on the library bundle while holding the control key (or right-click), and choose Show Package Contents. This should reveal the AlbumData.xml file which can then be drag-and-dropped onto your text editor. Once you have opened the AlbumData.xml file, navigate to the problematic line number indicated in the error message. You will see data like the following.
<dict>
<key>MediaType</key>
<string>Image</string>
<key>Caption</key>
<string>IMG_8886</string>
<key>Comment</key>
<string></string>
<key>GUID</key>
<string>C3876274-275D-439B-B7D2-1670B04E3DB9</string>
<key>Aspect Ratio</key>
<real>1.333333</real>
<key>Rating</key>
<integer>0</integer>
<key>Roll</key>
<integer>2563</integer>
<key>DateAsTimerInterval</key>
<real>237203949.000000</real>
<key>ModDateAsTimerInterval</key>
<real>237203949.000000</real>
<key>MetaModDateAsTimerInterval</key>
<real>0.000000</real>
<key>ImagePath</key>
<string>/Users/rei/Desktop/2008_France/Originals/2008/2008_0708_Engenthal_Ualyf/IMG_8886.JPG</string>
<key>ThumbPath</key>
<string>/Users/rei/Desktop/2008_France/Data/2008/2008_0708_Engenthal_Ualyf/IMG_8886.jpg</string>
</dict>
By viewing this data, you can figure out the name of the problematic photo file, which can then be found using iPhoto, and then you can edit the meta-data using iPhoto to hopefully fix the problem. Make note of the problematic photo, and quit your text editor. Launch iPhoto and search for the problematic photo, and edit its meta-data using iPhoto. Quitting iPhoto will write out a fresh AlbumData.xml file. Please do not hesitate to contact us at
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. You may send us your AlbumData.xml file if you continue having problems parsing this file with PhotoCopy. Steps to find your AlbumData.xml file:
iPhoto 6
-In a Finder window, locate your iPhoto Library
-Open the iPhoto Library folder
-Attach the file 'AlbumData.xml' to an email and email it to
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iPhoto 7
-In a Finder window, locate your iPhoto Library
-Right click on the library (if your mouse has a right click), or hold down the Control key and click on the library
-A menu will appear, choose "Show Package Contents"
-A new finder window should appear with the contents of your iPhoto library
-Attach the file 'AlbumData.xml' to an email and email it to
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