Configuring Directory and File Formats
Configuring Directory and Filename Formats
When <a href="Ripping%20Tracks%20from%20CDs.htm">ripping</a>, <a href="Converting%20Formats.htm">converting</a>, <a href="Exploring%20Tracks.htm">synchronizing tracks to a portable device</a>, <a href="Ripping%20Tracks%20from%20CDs.htm">saving tracks to the virtual CD</a>, <a href="Burning%20an%20Audio%20CD.htm">burning Tracks to a CD</a>, or <a href="Changing%20Filenames.htm">auto-organizing tracks</a>, you can select the format in which the directories and filenames will be created. When <a href="file:///F%7C/Documents%20and%20Settings/Rusty/My%20Documents/Docs/MediaMonkey/Sources/help/htmlhelp/Auto-Tag%20from%20Filename.htm">auto-tagging from filenames</a>, 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.
<tbody> </tbody>
| ' ' (space) | 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. |
| '-' | A dash in a mask appears as a dash in the path/filename that is written. |
| '\' | A slash following a mask element causes a directory to be created. |
| '.\' | 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. |
| <Artist> | Writes the Artist field to a directory or filename (depending on whether it is followed by a '\') |
| <Album> | Writes the Album field to a directory or filename (depending on whether it is followed by a '\') |
| <Title> | Writes the Title field to a directory or filename (depending on whether it is followed by a '\') |
| <Genre> | Writes the Genre field to a directory or filename (depending on whether it is followed by a '\') |
| <Disc#> | Writes the Disc Number field to a directory or filename (depending on whether it is followed by a '\') |
| <Track#> | Writes the Track Number field to a filename (assuming it is not followed by a '\') |
| <Year> | Writes the Year field to a directory or filename (depending on whether it is followed by a '\') |
| <Bitrate> | Writes the Bitrate field to a directory or filename (depending on whether it is followed by a '\') |
| <Album Artist> | Writes the Album Artist field to a directory or filename (depending on whether it is followed by a '\') |
| <BPM> | Writes the Beats Per Minute field to a directory or filename (depending on whether it is followed by a '\') |
| <Composer> | Writes the Composer field to a directory or filename (depending on whether it is followed by a '\') |
| <Custom x> | Writes 1 of the 5 Custom fields to a directory or filename (depending on whether it is followed by a '\') |
| <Skip:x> | Ignores x characters in the path. Used only for Auto-tag from Filename. |
| $First(<'Field'>,count,skip) | 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 |
| <'Field':n> | 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)
<Year:3> would yield 1940 (for 1940); <Year:2> would yield 40 (this latter example is an exception--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. |
| <'Field':-n> | 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. |
| <<a href="mailto:%27Field%27@n">'Field'@n</a>> | Creates alphabetical
directories grouped in sets of x letters. For example: C:\My
Music\<<a href="mailto:Artist@3">Artist@3</a>>\<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. $RemovePrefix(<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 |
| <Folder:n> | 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. |
| <Folder:-n> | 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. |
| <Playlist> | 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. |
| <Filename> <Filename:n> |
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.... |
| <Auto Number> <Auto Number:n> |
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. |
| <Random> <Random:n> |
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. |
| <Path> | This recreates the same path and filename as the original source file(s). |
| <Path:n> | This recreates the same path and filename as the original source file(s), without the first n folders of the source path. |
| <Path:-n> | This recreates the same path and filename as the original source file(s), without the last n elements of the source path. |
| $if(string + criteria,truevalue,falsevalue) | 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#> $If(<Artist>=<Album
Artist>,,<Artist> -
)<Title> Similarly, other operators such as <,<=,>,>= and <> can be used. For instance, to return 80's for year 1984: To use a mask if a field isn't empty, just enter a string without any criteria'. For example: Note: Make sure to precede all control characters such as ')' or ',' with '$' if you wish them to appear as normal characters. For example: |
| $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. |
