WebHelp:Configuring Directory and File Formats/4.0

2017-09-17T18:07:00Z

Strevilo: Updated <Original Date>

{{WebHelpHeader|Configuring Directory and Filename Formats}}

When [[{{WebHelp:Links|Ripping Tracks from CDs}}|ripping]], [[{{WebHelp:Links|Converting Formats}}|converting]], [[{{WebHelp:Links|Exploring Tracks}}|synchronizing tracks to a portable device]], [[{{WebHelp:Links|Ripping Tracks from CDs}}|saving tracks to the virtual CD]], [[{{WebHelp:Links|Burning an Audio CD}}|burning Tracks to a CD]], or [[{{WebHelp:Links|Changing Filenames}}|auto-organizing tracks]], you can select the format in which the directories and filenames will be created. When [[{{WebHelp:Links|Auto-Tag from Filename}}|auto-tagging from filenames]], you can select what tags will be written based on the Directory/Filename format. This section describes Directory and File masks that allow you to define these formats.

== Concepts ==

Generally, there are 3 elements to configure when choosing a destination format:

#Directory: This is chosen using the directory browser button (e.g. C:\My Music), though in some cases (e.g. for burning a CD) there's no need to choose a directory.
#Directory format: This is chosen using the 'masks' such as \<Artist>\<Album>\ . e.g. C:\My Music\<Artist>\<Album>\ would result in C:\My Music\U2\The Joshua Tree\
#Filename format: This is chosen using the 'masks' such as \<Track #> - <Title> . e.g. C:\My Music\<Artist>\<Album>\<Track #> - <Title> would result in C:\My Music\U2\The Joshua Tree\1 - Where the Streets Have No Name.mp3

Similarly, when using Auto-tag from Filename, 2 elements are configured to read the filename format:

#Directory format: e.g. \<Artist>\<Album>\ would read \My Music\Beatles\White Album\Song.mp3 and set Artist field to 'Beatles', and Album field to 'White Album'
#Filename format: e.g. \<Artist> - <Title> would read \U2 - God and set Artist field to 'U2' and Title field to 'God'

== Mask Reference ==

The table below describes most of the commonly used characters and fields in a mask.

{| width="100%" cellpadding="1" border="1" align="Default"
|-
| width="15%" | ' ' (space)
| width="80%" | A space in a mask appears as a space in the path/filename that is written. Note that spaces automatically disappear in case they are in the beginning or end of a filename.
|-
| width="15%" | '-'
| width="80%" | A dash in a mask appears as a dash in the path/filename that is written.
|-
| width="15%" | '\'
| width="80%" | A slash following a mask element causes a directory to be created.
|-
| width="15%" | '.\'
| width="80%" | A .\ at the beginning of a mask causes whatever portions of the mask that follow to be written in the same directory as the source file(s). For example, a mask of C:\My Music\<Artist> - <Title> would write tracks to C:\My Music, but a mask of .\<Artist> - <Title> would write the new filenames into the directories from which the source files originate.
|-
| width="15%" |
| width="80%" |
|-
| width="15%" | <Added>
| width="80%" | Writes the Library Added field to a directory or filename (depending on whether it is followed by a '\')
|-
| width="15%" | <Artist>
| width="80%" | Writes the Artist field to a directory or filename (depending on whether it is followed by a '\')
|-
| width="15%" | <Album>
| width="80%" | Writes the Album field to a directory or filename (depending on whether it is followed by a '\')
|-
| width="15%" | <Title>
| width="80%" | Writes the Title field to a directory or filename (depending on whether it is followed by a '\')
|-
| width="15%" | <Genre>
| width="80%" | Writes the Genre field to a directory or filename (depending on whether it is followed by a '\')
|-
| width="15%" | <Disc#>
| width="80%" | Writes the Disc Number field to a directory or filename (depending on whether it is followed by a '\')
|-
| width="15%" | <Track#>
| width="80%" | Writes the Track Number field to a filename (assuming it is not followed by a '\')
|-
| width="15%" | <Year>, <Date>
| width="80%" | Writes the Year field to a directory or filename (depending on whether it is followed by a '\')
|-
| width="15%" | <Original Date>
| width="80%" | Writes the Original Date field (as Year) to a directory or filename (depending on whether it is followed by a '\')
|-
| width="15%" | <Bitrate>
| width="80%" | Writes the Bitrate field to a directory or filename (depending on whether it is followed by a '\')
|-
| width="15%" | <Album Artist>
| width="80%" | Writes the Album Artist field to a directory or filename (depending on whether it is followed by a '\')
|-
| width="15%" | <BPM>
| width="80%" | Writes the Beats Per Minute field to a directory or filename (depending on whether it is followed by a '\')
|-
| width="15%" | <Composer>
| width="80%" | Writes the Composer field to a directory or filename (depending on whether it is followed by a '\')
|-
| width="15%" | <Custom x>
| width="80%" | Writes 1 of the 5 Custom fields to a directory or filename (depending on whether it is followed by a '\')
|-
| width="15%" | <Podcast>
| width="80%" | Writes the Podcast name to a directory or filename (depending on whether it is followed by a '\')
|-
| width="15%" |
| width="80%" |
|-
| width="15%" | <Skip:x>
| width="80%" | Ignores x characters in the path. Used only for Auto-tag from Filename.
|-
| width="15%" |
| width="80%" |
|-
| width="15%" | $First(<'Field'>,count,skip)
| width="80%" | Limits the number of values for multiple definition fields to count, optionally skipping skip values. For instance: <Genre> would yield: Rock;Pop;Acoustic $First(<Genre>) would yield: Rock $First(<Genre>,2) would yield: Rock;Pop $First(<Genre>,1,1) would yield: Pop
|-
| width="15%" | <'Field':n>
| width="80%" | Can be used in conjunction with any of the above mask elements in order to force alphabetic fields to a specified length or to pad alphanumeric fields. For instance: C:\My Music\<Artist:1>\<Artist>\<Album> - <Track #> - <Title> which would yield C:\My Music\A\Abba\Gold - 2 - Fernando.mp3 , useful for creating alphabetized directories. <Track#:2> would yield 07 (for Track=7), and would yield 153 (for Track 153) Numeric fields are not truncated: e.g. <Year:3> would yield 1940 (for 1940);   The exception being: <Year:2> would yield 40 (aside from this specific field and value, numeric fields are not otherwise truncated) Note: For text fields, the resultant characters start from the left. For numeric fields, the resultant digits start from the right. If n > the number of characters in the field, then the resultant path is padded with spaces or 0's depending on whether the field is text or numeric.
|-
| width="15%" | <'Field':-n>
| width="80%" | Same as above except that if n > the number of characters in the field, then the resultant path is padded with spaces or 0's (depending on whether the field is text or numeric) from the opposite side.
|-
| width="15%" |
<'Field'@n>

| width="80%" |
Creates alphabetical directories grouped in sets of x letters. For example: C:\My Music\<Artist@3>\<Title> would create directories with all Artists beginning with ABC, DEF, GHI, etc.

|-
| $RemovePrefix(string)
| Removes a prefix from a string. e.g. $RemovePrefix(<Artist>) changes 'The Beatles' -> 'Beatles' . Prefixes are configured in Tools > Options > Library > Appearance > Ignore prefixes.
|-
| $MovePrefix(string)
| Moves a prefix to the end of a string. e.g. $MovePrefix(<Artist>) changes 'The Beatles' -> 'Beatles, The'. Prefixes are configured in Tools > Options > Library > Appearance > Ignore prefixes.
|-
| $Group(string,integer)
| Groups the first letter of the string into sets of letters of length specified by (optional) integer parameter. e.g. \$Group(<Artist>,2) for 'U2' would yield \UV (similar to <Artist@2>.
|-
| $Replace(string,what,by)
| Replaces all occurrences in a 'string' of 'what' by 'by'.
|-
| $Left(string,n)
| Returns the left n characters of string.
|-
| $Right(string,n)
| Returns right n characters of string.
|-
| $Mid(string,i,n)
| Returns n characters of string starting with character i
|-
| $Trim(string)
| Returns string with spaces trimmed from the beginning and end of string
|-
| $Upper(string)
| Converts string to uppercase
|-
| $Lower(string)
| Converts string to lowercase
|-
| width="15%" |
| width="80%" |
|-
| width="15%" | <Folder:n>
| width="80%" | This will recreate all folders in a source path except for the first 'n' directories. For example: C:\My Music\<Folder:2>\<Title> would create the source directory structure (without the first 2 directories in the source paths), followed by track title.
|-
| width="15%" | <Folder:-n>
| width="80%" | This will recreate only the last n folders in a source path. This is very useful when it is known that the source directory is homogeneously structured.
|-
| width="15%" | <Playlist>
| width="80%" | Writes the Playlist name for any Playlists that have been selected to a folder (assuming it is followed by a '\'). This mask can only be used for CD Burning and Exporting tracks.
|-
| width="15%" |
| width="80%" |
|-
| width="15%" | <Filename> <Filename:n>
| width="80%" | This recreates the current filename, and can be used with modifiers to force the resultant text to a set length.
|-
| <Type>
| Writes the file type to a directory \My Music\MP3\U2... or \My Music\M4A\U2....
|-
| <Extension>
| Writes the file extension (in lower case) to a directory \My Music\mp3\U2... or \My Music\m4a\U2....
|-
| width="15%" | <Auto Number> <Auto Number:n>
| width="80%" | This creates a sequential number that can be inserted into the path. This is especially useful for inserting into the beginning of a filename when exporting to a device or burning to a CD and you wish for tracks in a playlist to be played in the order of the playlist (rather than alphabetical order). By default, 3 digits are used, though this is configurable.
|-
| width="15%" | <Random> <Random:n>
| width="80%" | This creates a random number that can be inserted in the path. It is most useful for inserting into the beginning of a filename when exporting to a device or burning to a CD and you wish to ensure that the tracks will be played in random (rather than alphabetic) order. By default, 4 digits are used, though this is configurable by setting n.
|-
| width="15%" | <Path>
| width="80%" | This recreates the same path and filename as the original source file(s), without the drive letter.
|-
| width="15%" | <Path:n>
| width="80%" | This recreates the same path and filename as the original source file(s), without the drive letter or the first n folders of the source path.
|-
| width="15%" | <Path:-n>
| width="80%" | This recreates the same path and filename as the original source file(s), without the drive letter or the last n elements of the source path.
|-
| width="15%" |
| width="80%" |
|-
| width="15%" | $if(string criteria,truevalue,falsevalue)
| width="80%" |
This allows masks to be used conditionally. Several examples follow: To use a mask if 2 fields or a field and a string are equal, use '=' . For example, in the case of an Album Artist differing from the Artist, you may want both to appear in the path: --- \<Album Artist> - <Album>\<Track#> $If(<Artist>=<Album Artist>,,<Artist> - )<Title>

Similarly, other operators such as <,<=,>,>= and <> can be used. For instance, to return 80's for year 1984: --- $If(<Year><1990,80's,$If(<Year><2000,90's,2000's))

To use a mask if a field isn't empty, just enter a string without any criteria'. For example: --- D:\My Music\$If(<Artist>,<Artist:1>,None)\<Artist>$If(<Album>, - <Album>\,)<Title> --- \$If(<Artist>,<Artist> - ,)$If(<Album>,<Album> - ,)$If(<Track#>,<Track#> ,)<Title>

Note: Make sure to precede all control characters such as ')' or ',' with '$' if you wish them to appear as normal characters. For example: --- \My Music\$if(<artist>,<artist> (<year>$),Unknown)\<track> 

|-
| $Len(string)
| Returns the length of string. Useful with $If() function.
|-
| $Assign(variable,value) and $Use(variable)
| Allows variables to be used several times in a mask, e.g. '$Assign(V,A)$Use(V)$Use(V)' produces string 'AA'. This is useful when a complex 'value' (i.e. a mask component) needs to be used several times within a mask.
|}

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WebHelp:Configuring Directory and File Formats/4.0