If I drop it on the synchonization folder on windows, seafile client upload the photo to the server and keep the creation/taken date on last update column.
If I upload the same photo (or an old one) via web interface, seafile put “Just Now” on the last update column.
If I upload an old photo (taken a year ago too) using the iOS client, seafile put “Just Now” on the last update column.
Is there a way seafile preserve the original creation date of documents?
I’m pretty sure the web/html methods of uploading do not transmit the file date information, so there’s no way for the server to know the original file date when doing a web upload (without using a plugin or something). It’s quite possible or even probable (but I do not know) that the mobile apps use the web interfaces/protocols to do uploads also. But even if this is not the case, probably the devs aren’t going to change the behaviour, as for most people’s uses they want to see the date represented the most recently changed/added documents. So your best bet, I think, if maintaining the file date is very important in these cases, is to adjust your workflow so that your photos get to that windows sync folder, if that maintains the date for you.
What would be better is if seafile could recognize photos, like google drive does, and pull the dates from EXIF or other embedded info. I often wish seafile would support 3rd party plugins to handle special file types, and someone would make a image handler to do the display and special storage details for photos. Maybe someday?
Personally, I also wish for some of my seafile libraries that the folder date wouldn’t be updated to the latest file update date within the folder. In some cases I want to maintain when the folder was created, not when its content were updated. But I can see that the current method of setting the folder date when content changes is probably most useful to most people. So I’ll have to live with that.
The problem with this behavior is that it is not homogeneous. IMHO, the server should have the same behavior regardless of the client. Also it’s strange to have to force the user to use one client or another depending on the type of result you want to get, at least, for such basic functionality as loading a file.
The key issue is that certain types of files need to keep their creation date stable, some for practical reasons, such as organizing the family photo album, and others for legal reasons. I mean, one thing is when a file was uploaded to the cloud and another very different when the file was created. Maybe, it could be a config option or, as you say, a plugin.
Finally, it could be clarified that Last Update column does not refer to the file’s own information (not always, at least), but to its life cycle in seafile.