The v2 tag edit window

When this window is opened, the fields will be filled in with the details from the version 2 tag at the head of the mp3 file, if there is a tag present.
If no tag was found, then the fields will be blank, and the status field will display the text "No ID3v2 tag found".
This window is an extended version of the version 1 tag window. The filename is shown in the window title bar. The 'version number' of the tag is shown in the status field. The ID3 standard states that, if a tag is loaded which is to a later specification than the tag reader knows about the whole tag should be ignored. ID3TagEd nominally understands version 2.2 - 2.4 tags. Anything later will be ignored. The total length of the tag is also shown in the status field.
The main body of the window contains the various common 'frames' that ID3TagEd will directly edit. Although the size of each frame (as specified in the standard) is nominally unlimited, the buffer size of the writable fields is limited in this version of ID3TagEd to 125 characters, which would seem to be more than adequate for fields such as album name, track title, artist name. However, if you really require fields longer than this then there is an alternative way of entering the information. If a tag containing any of the fields longer than the 125 character limit is loaded, then the frame will be truncated for display purposes and the field will be shaded and uneditable. If you need to edit the tag, it can be done from the full frame information window.
The year and track fields are limited to much smaller lengths.
The track number may be expressed in one of two forms.
- A simple number
- If part of e.g. an album, in the form 10/21, where the 21 in this case is the total number of tracks on the album
The comment tag may also contain a short descriptor - this is shown separately in its own field and may be edited as well as the comment main body.
While there may only be one album frame, for example, the ID3v2 standard allows multiple COMM frames. If there are multiple COMM frames, the first one found in the tag will be shown in the main display. Additional COMM frames can be viewed and edited in the full frame information window. This window may be viewed by clicking the Show button, or by using the menu.
At the foot of the window, in the Frames display field, is shown a listing of any other frames found, as a listing of Frame IDs (three characters in version 2.2, and four characters in version 2.3/2.4), including additional COMM frames. The number of 'padding' bytes at the end of the tag, if found, is also shown. This is primarily for information. If there are sufficient padding bytes, the edited Tag may simply be written over the existing Tag, a very short process. However, if the edited tag becomes longer than the original, including any padding, then, since the Tag is at the beginning of the audio file, a new file has to be written and the existing audio data transferred in to it. If the original mp3 file is say 10MB, then this can take several seconds on an Iyonix, and would take very much longer on RiscPCs.
The Frame Lock buttons
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To the right of each editable field is a padlock button. If this is locked, then loading a new file will not clear or change the contents of the field. This is of most use when editing a set of files, e.g. a single artist album. Locking the previous contents reduces the amount of typing required when artist, album, year, etc are the same for all the tracks.
Normal operation is with the frame unlocked, when all frame contents are loaded for each new file.
Lock buttons are present in both the v1 and v2 tag displays.
Auto increment
- The Track field has an additional option button, Auto
increment. When this is ticked, ID3TagEd will attempt to increment
the track number each time a file is loaded. It deals with both
formats of track description in the v2 tag.
The increment occurs when a new file is read, either when reading single files or moving through a selection. In the latter case, using the Prev button to go back to a previous file does not cause any change to the track number. This option should be used with care, particularly if moving back and forth through a selection of files.
The tag must be written before the new track number is included in the tag.
Auto increment is present in both the v1 and v2 tag displays.
Reassurance
Although ID3TagEd can edit or create only a subset of all the possible ID3 version 2 frames, if the tag already contains some of these other frames, they are not lost when the tag is rewritten. All unknown frames are simply copied without change into the new tag.