m-TAGS component (foo_tags), Support for m-TAGS metadata separation Options

[luigimercurio]

m-TAGS (foo_tags)

I created this for my own use. I am sharing it because if I have a need for it, maybe someone else does too....

The m-TAGS format offers a simple yet powerful solution to the media-metadata separation problem, which impacts the efficience of digital music collections and media distribution services alike. An m-TAGS file is media-independent. It just contains metadata (tags) describing a certain media source and a locator which identifies the source to which the metadata applies.

The format of an m-TAGS file is very simple. Each tag is represented by a pair "<tag name>" : "<tag value>", with the special "@" tag containing the location of the media resource. This format allows the defininion of any tag name and the assignment of any value to a tag. Support for multivalued tags is included, as well as for multi-part media indexing.

Download the component here: http://m-tags.org/foo_tags.dll

For additional information and technical details please visit http://m-tags.org


Usage

For a first "taste" of how the m-TAGS mechanism works, select File / m-TAGS / Create m-TAGS (in same folder) from the main menu. Then browse to a folder where you have some audio files and press OK.

A new file will be created in your folder, named !.tags. If you open this file with any text editor, you will see that it contains the metadata of your audio files in plain text. You can edit the metadata directly if you wish.

If you drop the file into a foobar2000 playlist, it looks like your audio files are loaded into the playlist, just as if you had dropped a playlist file. However, if you look at the properties of the playlist entries, you will notice that the !.tags file was loaded instead.

Your audio files will play normally, but any changes to the metadata will be reflected in the !.tags file, and NOT in the audio files. As long as you use m-TAGS files to load your music into foobar2000, your audio files will play normally, but they never be touched by foobar2000. They will be treated as "read-only" audio sources. Even the replaygain tags will be read and written from / to the !.tags file.

Note: keep in mind that also all move / copy / delete file operations will be performed on the m-TAGS files!

This post has been edited by luigimercurio: Sep 24 2012, 04:12

[sevenarts]

A few notes now that I've experimented a little more with this component:

- It would be really nice to have a preferences setting to control the naming of the !.tags file, especially with title formatting. If I have a .tags file for an album, I'd want to name it something like %album artist% - %date% - %album%.

- There should also be a preferences setting to control if creating m-tags in a seperate directory mimics the original directory structure or just creates a flat list - obviously, that could only be done and would only make sense if the !.tags files were instead named according to a title formatting pattern. Probably, it'd make sense to set up at least 2 title formatting patterns - one for creating m-tags in the same directory, one for separate directory.

- I don't use embedded artwork, but instead have folder.jpg in the same directory as the songs. If I create the .tags files in the same directory, the artwork displays correctly in foobar. But if I create the .tags files in a seperate folder, no artwork displays - obviously because foobar is loading the .tags file, not the audio files, and there may be no way around this, but it is inconvenient.

- On a related note, if the m-tags file isn't in the same folder as the audio files, even embedded artwork doesn't display.

[luigimercurio]

A few notes now that I've experimented a little more with this component:

- It would be really nice to have a preferences setting to control the naming of the !.tags file, especially with title formatting. If I have a .tags file for an album, I'd want to name it something like %album artist% - %date% - %album%.

- There should also be a preferences setting to control if creating m-tags in a seperate directory mimics the original directory structure or just creates a flat list - obviously, that could only be done and would only make sense if the !.tags files were instead named according to a title formatting pattern. Probably, it'd make sense to set up at least 2 title formatting patterns - one for creating m-tags in the same directory, one for separate directory.

- I don't use embedded artwork, but instead have folder.jpg in the same directory as the songs. If I create the .tags files in the same directory, the artwork displays correctly in foobar. But if I create the .tags files in a seperate folder, no artwork displays - obviously because foobar is loading the .tags file, not the audio files, and there may be no way around this, but it is inconvenient.

- On a related note, if the m-tags file isn't in the same folder as the audio files, even embedded artwork doesn't display.

- I will add an option to change to "!" to soemething else. I will not mess around with title formats, though, because it may lead to disastrous results. If you want to rename the m-TAGS files, all you have to do is load them into fb2k and use the fb2k contextual file operations to move / copy / rename them. You can use title formatting too, in this case. However, remember to check the option "Preferences / Advanced / Tagging / m-TAGS / m-TAGS creator / Only use absolute paths in references", otherwise the locators in the m-TAGS files will be invalid if you move or copy the files (rename is ok, of course).

- Same as above

- The artwork is an issue. Not for me as I always keep my m-TAGS files together with the media files, but I understand the struggle! One solution is of course to keep all non-audio files together with the m-TAGS files rather than with the media. After all, these files can be considered "tag-like" in nature, as they are not directly related to the audio sources, and they may also may change in time (you may get a cover with better resolution, you may rescan the booklet, etc.). Otherwise, if the relationship m-TAG file / audio files is fixed (for example, the m-TAGS folder structure replicated the audio files structure) then you can easily add a new Album Art source in "Preferences / Display".

- That is strange. It should be an always-or-never situation, independent of file colocation. I guess it depends on the way fb2k reads theembedded artwork. I may investigate this.

[BenB]

- On a related note, if the m-tags file isn't in the same folder as the audio files, even embedded artwork doesn't display.

- That is strange. It should be an always-or-never situation, independent of file colocation. I guess it depends on the way fb2k reads theembedded artwork. I may investigate this.

If I'm remembering correctly, whether foobar shows external/folder artwork or embedded artwork depends upon size when both are present. Foobar displays whichever is larger. So... it may be that foobar detects the folder artwork as being larger (but cannot display it) and thus fails to display the embedded artwork.

@sevenarts:
Try removing the artwork from one of your folders and see if foobar will display the embedded artwork. On the other hand, if you're a Columns UI user, you can try going to Preferences > Display > Columns UI > Artwork tab and selecting Embedded artwork under Built-in foobar2000 artwork reader mode:.

This post has been edited by BenB: Sep 26 2012, 22:43