DT: Tagging: Am I imagining an inconsistency here?

Software darktable
1

Some quotes from the 3.8 manual, Tagging section.:

“A tag is a descriptive string that may be attached to an image.”

“Any path that forms part of a tag is a node.”

“Any node that is not explicitly defined as a tag is called a free node.”

So, a ‘free node’ is also part of a tag, just not explicitly defined as such. Hence, it may be attached to an image. However, a few lines further on, the manual says:

"…– the ‘places’ node is not included (in the list of tags which can be attached to an image - my parentheses) because it is a “free node” (not a tag).

So, now a ‘free node’ is not a tag (or part thereof) and cannot be attached to an image.

Which is correct?

2

As far as I understood, a free node is part of a tag, but can’t be assigned to an image.

Example:
If we define a new tag of the form: “Test|node1|node2”, then “Test” and “node1” or “Test|node1” are free nodes that can`t be assigned to an image unless you explicitly set them as a tag. They are simply part of the string that leads to the tag “…node2”. Free nodes are printed in italics.