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johnrellis
johnrellis
Legend
June 8, 2026

P: SDK: Race condition with photo:applyDevelopPreset() and catalog:updateAISettings()

  • June 8, 2026
  • 4 replies
  • 78 views

If a plugin calls catalog:updateAISettings() immediately after photo:applyDevelopPreset(), the application of the preset is ignored. This bug was introduced in LR 15.3, likely with the background processing of AI commands.

 

To reproduce on LR 15.3 / Mac OS 26.4.1:

 

1. Import the attached preset “_Update Bug.xmp”.

 

2. Put the attached file “updateaisettings-bug.txt” into the LR Scripts folder.

 

3. Go to Develop with a test photo.

 

4. Do Scripts > updateaisettings-bug. Observe that Exposure is not changed (incorrect -- it should change to 4).

 

5. Apply the preset “_Update Bug”. Observe that Exposure changes to 4 (correct).

 

A workaround is to call LrTasks.sleep (0.1) before calling catalog:updateAISettings().

      4 replies

      johnrellis
      johnrellisAuthor
      Legend
      June 8, 2026

      [View this post in your web browser. It contains formatting and images that don't appear in email.] 

       

      ​@C.Cella One workaround I use to coordinate with the photo:applyDevelopPreset() is to create a Progress scope within which I summon photo:applyDevelopPreset(). When this parent scope is complete, I trigger the next action.

       

      Any Menu does that -- it uses a progress scope, within which the chosen menu item or preset is applied to all the selected photos. Then outside the scope, catalog:updateAISettings() is applied.

       

      I’ll look into catalog:applyDevelopPreset(), though that will require reworking the code to special-case applying presets as compared to other menu commands.

      C.Cella
      C.Cella
      Legend
      June 8, 2026

      catalog:applyDevelopPreset() allows to apply a preset to an array and shows ONLY one scope for the entire process. 
      It also ahs the 4th argument “udpateAISettings” which makes redundant to use catalog:updateAISettings() as a second step (like we had to do before to prevent N scopes to appear)

      I had to do a bit of rewrite of my codes (I have Plug-in that applies presets in simple ways that LrC doesn’t allow)

      This said catalog:applyDevelopPreset() in succession have race conditions and can’t coordinate.

       

      johnrellis
      johnrellisAuthor
      Legend
      June 8, 2026

      [View this post in your web browser. It contains formatting and images that don't appear in email.]

       

      ​@C.Cella I haven’t found a reliable “sleep” time for all situations.

       

      That’s the general problem with using sleep to workaround race conditions -- there’s no assurance about whether it workarounds 50%, 90%, or 99.9999% of the races.

        C.Cella
        C.Cella
        Legend
        June 8, 2026

        I can’t reply properly.
        I get a red “Something’s Gone wrong” message.


        There seems to be a character limit or something like thatt because I could NOT post in a single reply.

        johnrellis
        johnrellisAuthor
        Legend
        June 8, 2026

        [View this post in your web browser. It contains formatting and images that don't appear in email.]

        ​@C.Cella a red “Something’s Gone wrong” message.

         

        That happens to me about once every couple of weeks. I’m guessing there are many different triggers.

        johnrellis
        johnrellisAuthor
        Legend
        June 8, 2026

        ​@C.Cella Might be of interest to you.

        C.Cella
        C.Cella
        Legend
        June 8, 2026

        I’ve already encountered race conditions with all APIs that themselves provide a progress scope.

        For instance, if one tries to perform photo:applyDevelopPreset() followed by photo:setRawMetadata(), the latter might occur before even the preset was applied.

        In my experience, setting a LrTasks.sleep() is not reliable because, for my “heavily edited” photos, it can take seconds to apply a preset due to various reasons. I haven’t found a reliable “sleep” time for all situations.

        C.Cella
        C.Cella
        Legend
        June 8, 2026

        One workaround I use to coordinate with the photo:applyDevelopPreset() is to create a Progress scope within which I summon photo:applyDevelopPreset(). When this parent scope is complete, I trigger the next action.
        In some codes, when I apply settings or presets, I directly read the catalog with SQLite to check for the appearance of history steps, which is the trigger I use to perform the extra action.

         

        I suggested to the team that we be able to observe scopes so that we could coordinate.

         

         

        P.S.

        If you still rely on photo:applyDevelopPreset() in your plug-ins (Any Menu, I guess), then now you can use catalog:applyDevelopPreset(), which presents ONE scope for all the array.

        So, there’s no longer a need to do photo:applyDevelopPreset() and catalog:updateAISettings() as we had to before.

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