Filename to tag...
This is useful in the case when an mp3 file has been produced without any tags, but the filename describes the content to some extent. Choosing this option opens a static dialogue. It is necessary to specify a pattern or template that ID3TagEd will use in order to take parts of the filename and place it in specified frames. This pattern uses the following tokens.
- %# track number
- %1 track title
- %a artist name
- %t album title
- %y year
If the filename is being split and different parts are to be placed in different frames, then there must be a recognisable separator between the parts. The '.' is recognised as a directory separator, otherwise a sequence of characters must be used.
For example, suppose your mp3s were named as follows:
Artist.Album.track - track title/mp3
e.g. Frank Sinatra.Songs For Swinging Lovers.06 - Old Devil Moon/mp3
You would use a template of the form %a.%t.%# - %1
It is essential the pattern matches the format of the filename for this process to conclude successfully, in particular the separators must be present (space hyphen space in the above example). If ID3TagEd cannot match the separator(s), then it is unable to split the filename as intended.

The dialogue contains a writable field, into which a conversion pattern can be entered. Stored patterns can be chosen from a popup menu. New patterns can be added so they are available from the popup menu, or existing patterns deleted from the menu if no longer required. Any changes to the stored patterns are automatically saved, and reloaded each time ID3TagEd is started.
There are three action buttons which allow the filename to tag process to fill the v1 tag, the v2 tag, or both v1 and v2 tags.
Some further points to be borne in mind.
- The /mp3 extension, if present, is stripped automatically
- Both %# and %## are accepted for track number and are equivalent, the second hash, if present, being stripped during the preprocessing step
- Leading and trailing spaces are stripped when text is inserted into a frame
- Hard spaces and underscores in the filename are converted to real spaces before insertion into the tag(s)
- When the track is being extracted, the result string is truncated to two characters before the frame is filled
- When the year is being extracted, the result string is truncated to four characters before the frame is filled
- When v1 tag is being filled, the other fields are truncated to 30 characters
- The limit on a v2 tag frame is currently 126 characters
- If a particular specified separator is not found in the filename, then the rest of the filename section will be copied into the current tag field, subject to maximum length constraints, and the conversion for that section of the pattern (sections being delineated by the '.' separator) will terminate
Some example patterns
The following examples assume there is a /mp3 file extension, although this is not necessary.
Pattern | Filename |
---|---|
%a - %1 | Artist name - Track title/mp3 |
%a - %1 (%y) | Artist name - Track title (year)/mp3 |
%a - %1 (%y) [%#] | Artist name - Track title (year) [track number]/mp3 |
%a.%t.%#-%1 | Artist.Album title.track number-track title/mp3 |
%a.%t.%# - %1 | Artist.Album title.track number - track title/mp3 |
Note that there is a simpler (but less flexible) alternative to this powerful feature, see the key press Control-Shift-End