CorelDraw Adding Tags/Keywords To File

Question

I asked the CorelDRAW forums and we are all stumped on this one. Here's the thread with video.

I'm trying to add tags to my CorelDRAW file so I can make searching my library easier. I wrote my own "Save As" macro that opens the location and writes the file name based on my user form.

Save As User Form Screenshot

I tried adding a Tags section to my form to update the keywords of the document.

ActiveDocument.Metadata.Keywords = Tags.Value

Then I continue with the rest of my "Save As" code.

When I double checked the tags in windows, they're missing. In CorelDRAW I checked File>Document Properties and the tags are in there. Once I click OK, the file gets updated and I can resave. Only then, the tags show up in windows.

Eskimo from the CorelDRAW froums posted this:

You can open a CorelDRAW file in a .zip file editor (I use 7-Zip), and then navigate the archive that is the CorelDRAW file.

In the META-INF folder there, there is a metadata.xml file.

If I just use the VBA code to set keywords, and don't go through the document properties dialog, then I find this in the metadata.xml file for the document:

Screenshot of keywords added by VBA

I don't see any tags when looking at file details in Windows.

If I use the document properties dialog in CorelDRAW to set keywords, then I find this in the metadata.xml file for the document:

Screenshot of keywords added by Document Properties

I do see those as tags when looking at file details in Windows.

If I manually edit the lang="en" line in the XML file in the archive, then the tags that I see in Windows are those (edited) keywords.

So my question is how do I get my VBA code to update the keywords correctly, what would be the best way to go about this? Here's the code. Thanks!

Public Sub PTR_Btn_Click()
    
    Dim sFolderPath As String
    Dim sFileName As String
    Dim ActNum As String
    Dim sActFolder As String
    Dim sFinalPath
    
    Done = False
    
    'Add Tags to Document
    ActiveDocument.Metadata.Keywords = Tags.Value
    MsgBox ActiveDocument.Metadata.Keywords
    'Open Document Properties
    Application.FrameWork.Automation.InvokeItem "3324df3f-e302-4946-8ba9-6b1511700818"
    'How do I confirm or press ok on this menu to continue the macro?
    
    
    
    
    'What do you want to find?
    ActNum = Me.txtAct.Value
    
    'Salesman Folder
    sFolderPath = "D:\Sync\Sales Team\" & Me.Sales.Value & "\"
    'Account Folder
    sActFolder = Dir(sFolderPath & "*" & ActNum & "*", vbDirectory)
    
    'If there is no folder then open form to create one
    If sActFolder = "" Then
        frmFolder.Show
        If frmFolder.Cancel_Btn = True Then
            Do While Done = False
            DoEvents
            Loop
        End If
    End If
    
    sActFolder = Dir(sFolderPath & "*" & ActNum & "*", vbDirectory)
    
    'Final Path
    sFinalPath = sFolderPath & sActFolder & "\"
    
    'MsgBox sFinalPath
    
    'Open file save as dialog, you can change this to *.* to see all files
    sFileName = CorelScriptTools.GetFileBox("CorelDRAW Files (*.cdr)|*.cdr", "Save As", 1, frmMain.txtAct.Value & "_" & "PTR" & "_" & Round(ActivePage.SizeWidth, 3) & "x" & Round(ActivePage.SizeHeight, 3) & "_" & Format(Now, "mmddyy"), , sFinalPath)
    
    'User Canceled
    If sFileName = " " Then
        Exit Sub
    End If
    
    If sActFolder = " " Then
        MsgBox "Folder Dosn't Exist."
    End If
    
    'If sign type is in the file, name then save
    If sFileName Like "*PTR*" Then
        ActiveDocument.SaveAs sFileName
        GMSManager.RunMacro "JQ_Quick_Export", "JQ.Toggle_Quick_Export"
    End If
End Sub

Tried to update existing vba macro to add tags/keywords to document properties. It worked but didn't updated the file in windows. It only works once you open File>Document Properties and click OK to confirm changes and resave. The meta data is being written differently with VBA...

xml:lang="x-default"

compared to using the Document Properties dialog.

xml:lang="en"

Answer 1

For anyone in the future, here's the answer that Eskimo found. You have to set the language for the string.

Sub keyword_stuff_3()
    ActiveDocument.Metadata.LocalizableKeywords.SetLangString "en", "foxtrot; golf; hotel"
    ActiveDocument.Dirty = True
End Sub