ID3TagEd icon - 1314 bytes

ID3TagEd

Iconbar menu and Choices


ibarmenu.png - 4Kb The iconbar icon menu has the following four options available.

Info

Sliding right off this option opens the standard application information window. Further information may be obtained by using the !Help application. The 'Info' display includes a button to allow quick access to the Web site for obtaining upgrades to the application.

Help...

Opens the HTML manual (which you are currently reading) in a browser. Function key F1 is a short cut.

Choices...

Selecting this option opens the application choices dialogue. A full description of the features available is given below.

Quit

This closes the application, removing the application icon from the iconbar.

The iconbar menu choices option

ch1.png - 12KbSelecting this option opens the application choices dialogue. This is now arranged with the choices governing different aspects of the program collected together in separate panes. Running vertically down the right hand side of the Choices... dialogue are a series of buttons. At the bottom are four action buttons. These are as follows.

At the upper right is a series of 'radio' buttons which are used to change the section of the choices being viewed by a simple click with the mouse.

The current sections available are


Rename options

The file can be renamed using the contents of various tag frames. Note that either of the v1 or v2 tag data will be used, depending upon which tag is showing in the main tag display. This block of settings controls how the file is renamed. There are two ways of setting up the renaming.

Simple rename format
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This uses the set of popup menu buttons to choose the contents of each rename field. The filename consists of up to 4 fields and 4 separators. Each field can contain any of

  • Artist
  • Title
  • Album
  • Year, as 2005 or (2005)
  • Track, as 12 or [12]
The separator may be a (hard) space, space-hyphen-space, or underscore, or nothing. Any fields/separators not used should be set to None.

If the option Add /mp3 extension is selected, then this is added to the end of the filename. The settings as shown above would result in the file being renamed in the form e.g.
Frank Sinatra - My Way/mp3

Advanced rename format (using a format pattern)

This is a much more flexible method of renaming a file from the tag contents.

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A special format pattern is used to describe the rule to be used for the rename. The popup menu button can be used to select a predefined format pattern, or the user can enter and edit their own format patterns by typing into the writable field. The Add button will add the format currently displayed to the predefined list accessible from the menu button. The Delete button will remove the currently displayed pattern from the predefined list. Patterns can also be added or deleted from the main tag display window if preferred.

The tag frames to be included in the new filename are inserted in the format pattern using identifier tokens. A frame identifier token starts with the % character, followed by a character that identifies the particular frame to be used. Frames currently allowed are as follows:

  • %# - inserts the track number
  • %## - inserts the track number with a leading zero if less than 10
  • %1 - inserts the track title
  • %a - inserts the artist name
  • %e - inserts the file extension, i.e. /mp3
  • %g - inserts the genre
  • %t - inserts the CD/album title
  • %y - inserts the year
If any of the frames are found to be blank when the rename occurs, the file will NOT be renamed, but a warning will be issued.

In addition to these identifier tokens, all other alphanumerics (characters or numbers) can be used in the format pattern, and they will be included as is. Most other non-alphanumerics, for example hyphens, parentheses, spaces, etc. can also be included. Excluded are those with special significance to the filer, e.g. ':' or '$' (but see below for '.' and '^'). To illustrate this, including in the format pattern %y would insert the year, e.g. 1997, (%y) would result in the year being enclosed in round brackets as (1997), while [%y] would result in square brackets around the year as [1997]. Spaces would be converted to 'hard spaces' or underscore, depending on the setting of the Hard spaces option (see below).

It is also possible to include the . (point) character, which will assume its normal meaning under RISC OS filing systems, i.e. it will denote a directory separator. Thus you can rename the files into subdirectories, with ID3TagEd automatically creating them if they do not already exist.

The format pattern %a - %1 %e would result in the track being renamed to (e.g.)
Frank Sinatra - All The Way /mp3
Note the inclusion of the spaces around the hyphen and before the extension.

The format pattern %a.%t.%#-%1%e would result in a track renamed as (e.g.)
Frank Sinatra.His Greatest Hits.5-All The Way/mp3
with the directory Frank Sinatra being created within the original directory, and the subdirectory His Greatest Hits being created within the Frank Sinatra directory.

Important - the directory structure is created within the directory the file was originally in - you cannot specify complete paths. However, you can include the ^ character, which under RISC OS means go up a directory. Thus you could specify the format pattern as ^.%a.%t.%#-%1%e, which would create the directory Frank Sinatra one level up from your working directory.

In addition, ID3TagEd does do some rudimentary checking of the current path for the existence of the directory structure it is being asked to create. For example, if the advanced rename rules would create the directory structure artist.album.newfilename, and the original file is already in a path ending .artist.album, then it will be renamed in situ. If the oldfile is in a directory artist, then only the album directory will be created.

Hard spaces
If Hard spaces is selected, then spaces in the new filename are converted to the hard space character (&A0). Otherwise, the spaces are converted to the underscore character (_). This setting applies to both methods of setting the rename rules.

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Strip leading 'The'
When selected, the rename action will attempt to strip the leading 'The ' from the artist name. This is useful if you prefer not to have the leading The in a group name. Thus The Rolling Stones will become simply Rolling Stones. Note that this action applies only to the rename process - the tag content is unchanged. (If you wish to carry out this action for the tag itself, use the Edit option in the tag window menu). All combinations of case for the characters TtHhEe are recognised.
Limit leafname length
It is possible for the names of renamed files to become what some might consider excessive in length. There is an option to restrict the length of any filenames to a set number of characters. The maximum length can be set in the range 20 - 100 characters, in steps of 5. If the button is unticked, then there are no restrictions on filename length.

When the file is renamed, the filename displayed in the title bar of the main window will change to reflect this.


V2 Tag

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Create new tags as version 2.4
If you are adding a tag to an audio file which does not yet have one, you can choose whether to add a version 2.3 or 2.4 tag. By default version 2.3 is used, since this is the version in common use. Remember, there are differences in the frame types allowed in the two versions.
Write converted version 2.2 tags immediately
Version 2.2 tags are now obsolete. Version 2.2 frames cannot be mixed with version 2.3 in the same tag. ID3TagEd will convert version 2.2 frames to version 2.3 frames automatically when the tag is written. However, there may be problems if an attempt is made to edit a version 2.2 frame before the tag has been converted to version 2.3 by writing it back. If this option is ticked, then any version 2.2 tags will be converted and written back as version 2.3 tags as soon as the tag is first loaded. Editing can then be carried out as normal.

Padding bytes

The next section relates to the padding bytes that can be incorporated into the version 2 tag. When a V2 tag is created it is usual to add some padding bytes to the end of the tag. The reason for this is as follows. The V2 tag is placed at the start of the mp3 file. If the tag is edited at some later stage, and its total length becomes longer than the original, it is then necessary to increase the length of the complete file so that the audio data can be moved on in the file out of the way of the longer tag, otherwise the edited tag would overwrite the start of the audio data. This will be much slower than simply overwriting the tag data. It is common practice to include redundant padding bytes in the tag when the tag is first created, then if the edited tag grows a little in length it can expand into these padding bytes without overwriting any audio data.

Whenever it creates a tag (or has to rewrite the complete file due to the tag expanding beyond the available padding area), ID3TagEd will insert padding bytes. This section determines how many padding bytes are added.

Remember: padding bytes will not be added if the new tag is able to expand into the available padding bytes already present. Padding will only be added if a new tag is being created, or the edited existing tag has overflowed the available free space in the tag.

Absolute number
If this option is chosen, then the number of bytes set in the field to the right will always be used, whatever the size of the tag. The number can be entered by typing into the writable icon, or by using the adjuster arrows. A value of zero can be entered, resulting in no padding bytes being added at all.
Variable number
If this option is chosen, then the amount of padding added depends upon the total size of the tag. ID3TagEd will insert padding bytes amounting to a percentage of the total tag length, determined by the setting of the Pad bytes (% of tag). The calculated amount is rounded up to the next higher multiple of 32 bytes.

If you feel that this might still lead to insufficient padding with (initially) small tags, it is possible to specify the minimum amount of padding to add into a new (or rewritten) tag. With large tags, the number of padding bytes can become excessive. It is therefore also possible to specify the maximum amount of padding that would ever be added into a new (or rewritten) tag.


Load/Save

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Try to load any filetype

If this is not selected, then any file type other than AMPEG will be ignored. If this is selected, then ID3TagEd will inspect the start and end of the file, looking for either a v1 or v2 tag. If a tag is found then the tags will be loaded whatever the actual filetype of the file.

Note that this will only work if the MP3 file does contain an ID3 tag. If it is untagged, then it will not be recognised.

Retype file to AMPEG

I find that many binary files, when downloaded, have the incorrect filetype when extracted from the mail/news reader (e.g. Pluto) or the web browser, often TEXT, DATA or even 0x00. If this option is set, and ID3TagEd has decided it is indeed an AMPEG file, then the file will be retyped as AMPEG automatically.

Note that this will only work if the MP3 file does contain an ID3 tag. If it is untagged, then it will not be recognised (but see below).

Ctrl-drag forces retyping

When ticked, dragging a file to ID3TagEd with the control key held down will force the file to be retyped to AMPEG whatever the original filetype of the file is. This is used when an mp3 file is incorrectly typed (e.g. Data) and contains no tags. ID3TagEd will force the retyping, and then open the tag window ready to enter tag details. Use with care!

Recurse into directories

If this is ticked, then when a selection of files/directories is loaded, ID3TagEd will make a list of the directories and then look inside any directories for other directories, continuing until every directory and subdirectory has been searched. If unticked, then ID3TagEd will only load files within the actual dragged directories, subdirectories being ignored.

Bring window to front on file load

When this option is ticked the main tag window will jump to the front of any windows covering it when a new file is loaded. If unticked, it will remain at the current position in the window stack.

Force write without asking

If the ampeg file you are making changes to happens to be locked or read only, then attempting to write the edited tag will fail. If this option is ticked, then ID3TagEd will silently override the file access settings and write the new tag anyway. If it is unticked, then ID3TagEd will stop and ask whether you want to force a write or not.

Restore access after forced write

In order to force a write ID3TagEd will set the file access attributes to unprotected in order to complete the write. If this option is ticked, then the original file access attributes will be restored after the write operation. If it is untickd, then ID3TagEd will leave the access setting at unprotected.

Keep original file timestamp

When a file is modified, the filer will update the date/time stamp of the file. If you wish to retain the original timestamp, then tick this option. ID3TagEd will then restore the original timestamp after the write has been completed.

Warnings

Verbose warnings

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If this is selected, then a warning dialogue box will open if the text contents of a v2 text frame exceeds the length that can be accommodated in the writable icon in the main window. If not selected, then the writable icon will be faded. The excess text is not lost, but cannot be edited in the main window. This more often applies to the COMMent frames than others. I have found some AMPEG files originating in PC land sometimes contain quite extensive biographies of the artist, or complete sleeve/booklet notes, in COMM frames.


Other

In this section are collected together any other preferences. The current list is as follows:
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Allow Next/Prev to wrap around

When a selection of files is being processed, the Next and Prev buttons in the tag window allow progression through the files. If this option is ticked, then when the last file has been reached, pressing the Next button will move to the first file. Similarly, the Prev button will allow progression directly from first to last file. If not ticked, then the Next and Prev buttons will become faded when the last or first files are reached, as appropriate.

Allow internal cut/copy/paste

At times it is useful to be able to copy/cut/paste between the various writable icon fields in the tag windows. If you are running Select, or are using one of the third party utilities that implement a clipboard for writable icons, then you do not want ID3TagEd to do it as well, since you will end up with two copies being pasted. Thus this option allows you to turn on the internal cut/copy/paste only if required. See Keyboard short cuts for a summary of the internal cut/copy/paste actions. Note that ID3TagEd does not implement the global clipboard at the moment.

Always process filename on Ctrl-Shift-End

If this is ticked, then when Ctrl-Shift-End is used to copy the leafname into a field, the leafname will be processed by
  • Changing _ and hard spaces to normal spaces
  • Upper case first character of each word, lower case the rest
  • Strip trailing /mp3 extension
  • Strip leading and trailing spaces
When unticked the leafname is copied as is.

Genre - 'Psychedelic' for pedants

In the original id3 specification, the genre 67 was misspelled as 'Psychadelic', and is still listed as such, and so strictly, that is what should be used. However, if this misspelling offends your sensitivities, then ticking this option will result in the spelling being corrected. Note this does not effect the actual tag - the genre will be saved as a single byte, value 67.

Clear data on main window close

If this item is unticked then ID3TagEd will retain the tag data when the main tag window is closed. Clicking on the iconbar icon will reopen the window with the previous data still present.

If this option is ticked then closing the main window will clear all the tag data and free the allocated memory. If there are unsaved changes, then a warning will be issued.


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