From fa600f1c2cf705457fc6019d56fb26fe3f61ff90 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Cameron <ccordes12@mail.bw.edu>
Date: Sun, 11 Jan 2026 14:39:50 -0500
Subject: [PATCH] Fallback to sorting by Metadata date

---
 src/files.rs | 15 ++++++++++++---
 1 file changed, 12 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)

diff --git a/src/files.rs b/src/files.rs
index 785a219..600445f 100644
--- a/src/files.rs
+++ b/src/files.rs
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@ fn apply_sorting_with_exif(
     sort_type: SortType,
     exif_dao: &mut Box<dyn ExifDao>,
     span_context: &opentelemetry::Context,
+    base_path: &Path,
 ) -> Vec<String> {
     match sort_type {
         SortType::DateTakenAsc | SortType::DateTakenDesc => {
@@ -75,6 +76,14 @@ fn apply_sorting_with_exif(
                     let date_taken = exif_map.get(&f.file_name).copied().or_else(|| {
                         // Fallback to filename extraction
                         extract_date_from_filename(&f.file_name).map(|dt| dt.timestamp())
+                    }).or_else(|| {
+                        // Fallback to filesystem metadata creation date
+                        let full_path = base_path.join(&f.file_name);
+                        std::fs::metadata(full_path)
+                            .and_then(|md| md.created())
+                            .ok()
+                            .and_then(|ct| ct.duration_since(std::time::UNIX_EPOCH).ok())
+                            .map(|d| d.as_secs() as i64)
                     });
 
                     FileWithMetadata {
@@ -324,7 +333,7 @@ pub async fn list_photos<TagD: TagDao, FS: FileSystemAccess>(
             let sort_type = req.sort.unwrap_or(NameAsc);
             let mut exif_dao_guard = exif_dao.lock().expect("Unable to get ExifDao");
             let result =
-                apply_sorting_with_exif(files, sort_type, &mut exif_dao_guard, &span_context);
+                apply_sorting_with_exif(files, sort_type, &mut exif_dao_guard, &span_context, (&app_state.base_path).as_ref());
             drop(exif_dao_guard);
             result
         })
@@ -468,7 +477,7 @@ pub async fn list_photos<TagD: TagDao, FS: FileSystemAccess>(
             let response_files = if let Some(sort_type) = req.sort {
                 let mut exif_dao_guard = exif_dao.lock().expect("Unable to get ExifDao");
                 let result =
-                    apply_sorting_with_exif(photos, sort_type, &mut exif_dao_guard, &span_context);
+                    apply_sorting_with_exif(photos, sort_type, &mut exif_dao_guard, &span_context, (&app_state.base_path).as_ref());
                 drop(exif_dao_guard);
                 result
             } else {
@@ -875,7 +884,7 @@ mod tests {
 
     struct MockExifDao;
 
-    impl crate::database::ExifDao for MockExifDao {
+    impl ExifDao for MockExifDao {
         fn store_exif(
             &mut self,
             _context: &opentelemetry::Context,