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ID3TagEd

Batch processing


Pressing the Batch... button in the main tag window will open the Batch process window, shown below.

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This dialogue allows you to carry out a number of operations as an automated batch process on all the files loaded. The actions you can carry out, either separately or all at once, are

The actions are carried out in the order given above. When the files are being processed the Lock buttons in the main tag windows are obeyed.

The processing always starts with file 1 of the selection, whichever file is actually being displayed at the time. The batch processing can be done more than once on the same set of files if needed.

The final button Clear all locks when batch process ends, when ticked, will do just that. It prevents you being caught out by loading a new set of files when you have forgotten to manually clear the lock buttons.

Of the four action buttons at the foot of the dialogue, Close does just that without any processing occuring.

The Save button allows the current settings in the Batch process window (and the related Auto Edit and Copy Selection windows) to be saved, and they will be reloaded when ID3TagEd is next run. Reload enables these saved settings to be restored at any time after having changed (but not saved) them.

The Process button will start the batch processing.


More on the settings

Filename to tag

A small settings dialogue (shown below) is associated with this action, allowing the pattern to be chosen or entered, and the tag into which the data will be entered. Note that these settings are independent of any made from the main tag window menu entry. A full description of the operation of the filename to tag facility can be found here.

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Auto Edit

If you choose to Auto Edit a tag, a separate dialogue will open, allowing you to choose which edit operations to do. This dialogue can also be opened by clicking on the adjacent Settings button. The various actions correspond to those available under Edit in the main tag menu.

The edit actions will be carried out in the same order as they are listed in this dialogue. When the batch process is started, some checking of the selection is done, but this is fairly rudimentary, so it is possible to make settings that are nullified by later operations.

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Copy

If you choose to Copy (a) selection... of frames, rather than all frames, a further dialogue will open, allowing you to specify which individual frames to copy.

You need to select whether the copy is from v1 to v2, or from v2 to v1, and then tick each frame that is to be copied. This dialogue can also be opened by clicking on the adjacent Settings button.

It goes without saying that any changes due to the edit or copy process will only take lasting effect if the tag is written! Therefore, when the Process button is pressed, ID3TagEd will check the settings to ensure the settings are consistent. This check includes the settings in the Batch Edit and Copy selection dialogues.

Add new frame

If this option is selected then clicking on the popup menu button to the right will raise the 'Add new frame' menu.

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See the Frame info menu and linked pages for full details. Once a new frame has been added, it's ID will be inserted in to the display field. More than one frame can be added in this way.

Note that it is possible to replace an image in a tag by ticking 'Delete all images' and also adding an image. The deletion is always carried out before the addition.

The Keep added frame data at batch process end will do just that, which means the same new frames could be added to more than one batch of mpeg files. If it is unticked, then the memory allocated will be freed and the data will be lost.


Consistency checking

When you click on Process in the batch process window to start the actual processing, ID3TagEd first checks through all the settings in the batch process window (and the filename to tag, auto edit and copy windows) for consistency in choices. For example, if you have ticked 'Copy v1 to v2' but not ticked 'Write v2', then the changes made to the v2 tag would be discarded when moving to the next file. In this case, ID3TagEd will raise a query, giving you the choice to either cancel the processing and update the settings, or carry on the processing regardless (the user is always right!).

If there are no consistency queries, or you have elected to continue processing anyway, the batch process window will close, and be replaced by the batch status window.


The Status window is shown below.

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This shows the current file/directory being processed, and the action being carried out - primarily as confirmation that something is happening.

Batch processing is fully multitasking, so the machine will be usable for other tasks while the processing is taking place. The only button available is the Stop button. This allows the batch processing to be stopped before it has run its course. The only proviso is that if the processing is stopped while a file is being rewritten because the v2 tag is either being created or extended, the file write will be completed before the Stop takes affect.


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ID3TagEd is © Chris Johnson, 2005
Email:chris@chris-johnson.org.uk