-Brading Software Message Board
+--Forum: Mp3/Tag Studio Support and Bug Reports
+---Topic: Direct Tag Manipulation -- How is it used? started by calberga
Posted by: calberga on April 08 2006,21:28
I just tried to use the Advanced mode in Direct Tap Manipulation, and everything I tried either was not allowed or didn't do what I wanted.
NB In the examples I will enclose the patterns in brackets "[", "]" to make spaces obvious.
1. Some files had a space a the beginning of the Album tag (don't ask!
. First, I tried:[ <Album>] -> [<Album]
but that added another space to the tags. Oh, well, I then tried to enter:
[<Album>] -> [ <Album>]
but now the right hand field could not be entered.
2. Again, the album tags. I wanted to cut items of the form "#n " out of the middle of the tags. So I entered:
[<Album-1[|- ]>#<TRASH> <Album-2[|]>] -> [<Album>]
but the left hand pattern was highlighted as invalid.
Now both of these operations seem to me to be examples of Direct Tag Manipulation, but I can't see how to do them.
Am I missing something obvious?
Add to this, I have some cases where I would like to construct a tag from bits and pieces of two or more existing tags, but I don't see how to express this, either. Hints?
Posted by: Magnus Brading on April 08 2006,23:23
Yes, you are missing something obvious.
The left box in your expressions is not a parse template, but rather a string building template. I.e. you cannot parse out substrings from existing tag fields with it, you can only put together strings by combining contents from existing (entire) tag fields and static additions (just like you do in e.g. the auto rename tool).
But, if you want to parse out partial data from existing tag fields, you can simply create a macro that:
1.
Exports tag field(s) in question to a list.
2.
Parses it and rewrites it to the tag any way you like, with the "Tag from list" tool.
Posted by: calberga on April 09 2006,02:13
Thank you (if you had a PhD -- do you? -- I think you would rate the title of "The Good Doctor">).
Sorry that I misunderstood the function of Direct Manipulation -- I was patterning my thinking on the Direct Manipulation of File Names.
Given the fact that this doesn't involve massive numbers of files with the same problem, I suspect that a macro wouldn't buy me anything in this case. But I'll keep it in mind.
Posted by: Magnus Brading on April 09 2006,23:17
Ok, well just skip the macro then and use the two operations anyway.
And no, I don't have a PhD, only a Master's.
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