Image::...agLookup(3)

✨ NAME ✨

Image::ExifTool::BuildTagLookup — bestie, this is the module that builds the ExifTool tag lookup tables 💅 (and yes, the manual page is called Image::...agLookup(3), it's from the User Contributed Perl Documentation section, iconic of it honestly)

---

🎀 DESCRIPTION 🎀

okay so. this module is the lil backstage crew that generates the tag lookup tables over in Image::ExifTool::TagLookup.pm, plus the tag name documentation in Image::ExifTool::TagNames.pod, and the HTML tag name documentation. three jobs, no complaints, main character energy fr fr 💖

here's the tea tho — it gets used right before every new ExifTool release to refresh the lookup tables and the docs, and literally not otherwise. so if you were like "oh is this a runtime thing", no bestie, it's a pre-release glow-up ritual ✨

oh and it also does some validation and consistency checks on the tag tables, because someone has to be the responsible one 🫶

---

🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

use Image::ExifTool::BuildTagLookup;

$builder = Image::ExifTool::BuildTagLookup->new;

# update Image::ExifTool::TagLookup
$ok = $builder->WriteTagLookup('lib/Image/ExifTool/TagLookup.pm');

# update the tag name documentation
$ok = $builder->WriteTagNames('lib/Image/ExifTool/TagNames.pod','html');

# print some statistics
my $count = $$builder{COUNT};
foreach (sort keys %$count) {
    printf "%5d %s\n", $$count{$_}, $_;
}

look at her go 💅 three lines of actual work and then a cute lil stats loop at the end. we love a productive queen.

---

🌸 MEMBER VARIABLES 🌸

💜 PRESERVE_DATE

a flag that preserves the "Last revised" date in HTML files. set it before you call WriteTagNames(), okay? before. not during, not after, before 🙈

💜 COUNT

a reference to a hash stuffed with counting statistics 🍓 the keys are the descriptions, and the values are the numerical counts. it's valid right after the BuildTagLookup object gets created, but lowkey more statistics get added by WriteTagNames() — so it keeps growing like my to-read pile 😭

💜 WRITE_PSEUDO

returns a list of writable pseudo tags ✨ short and sweet, we stan.

---

👑 AUTHOR 👑

Copyright 2003-2026, Phil Harvey (philharvey66 at gmail.com) 💖

This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself. so go off, remix it, slay responsibly 🫶

---

🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

• Image::ExifTool(3pm)
• Image::ExifTool::TagLookup(3pm)
• Image::ExifTool::TagNames(3pm)

---

ngl if you're reading this at runtime wondering why your tags aren't updating — bestie this module clocks out before the show even starts 💀 it's a release-time thing only, no cap.

and that's the whole page!! mwah 💅✨ — brought to you by perl v5.42.1, dated 2026-03-31, from the User Contributed Perl Documentation, Image::...agLookup(3) 🎀🦋🌸