# Change date format from %dummy% (year-month-day) to %dummy% (Month/day/year) **URL:** \ **Category:** Support\ **Created:** [September 29, 2021, 5:35pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/change-date-format-from-dummy-year-month-day-to-dummy-month-day-year/54563 "2021-09-29T17:35:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![esumsea](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/esumsea/32/7219_2.png) [@esumsea](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/esumsea)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2021, 5:35pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/change-date-format-from-dummy-year-month-day-to-dummy-month-day-year/54563/1 "2021-09-29T17:35:46Z")
Hello, I have a bunch of pretagged files that are appended by the date. For example: Ramble on Rose (1973-12-19). Some are in this format. Others are in (12-28-88) format (month-day-last two digits of year). I want to convert them into the format I use which is %title% (month/day/year) for example: Ramble on Rose (12/19/1973). Once I get that sorted I would like to get the resultant value in %title% (month/day/year) and trasfer the information to the album title in Four digit year-Month-Day format). EX: 1995-05-23 - 30 Days of Dead. I searched but could not find an answer. I cannot figure out how to do it on my own so I thought I would ask to see if some one here did. Thanks in advance! ---
**Author:** ![ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/ohrenkino/32/4843_2.png) [@ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/ohrenkino)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2021, 5:49pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/change-date-format-from-dummy-year-month-day-to-dummy-month-day-year/54563/2 "2021-09-29T17:49:20Z")
You could try: `$regexp('Ramble on Rose (1973-12-19)','(.*?\()(\d+)-(\d+)-(\d+).',$1$3/$4/$2')')` -\> "Ramble on Rose (12/19/1973)" You would have to filter for files with the 4-digit-year like `%title% MATCHES "(\d\d\d\d" ` ---
**Author:** ![esumsea](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/esumsea/32/7219_2.png) [@esumsea](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/esumsea)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2021, 6:19pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/change-date-format-from-dummy-year-month-day-to-dummy-month-day-year/54563/3 "2021-09-29T18:19:49Z")
> [@ohrenkino](#): > > $regexp('Ramble on Rose (1973-12-19)','(.\*?()(\d+)-(\d+)-(\d+).',$1$3/$4/$2')') Thanks but I am having trouble figuring out what you are doing. Does the actual title have to be included? I was hoping to use this for many different titles. Also, I got an error saying it found a closing ) with no corresponding opening parenthesis.The error occurred while parsing the regular expression fragment: '3/$4/$2')'\>\>\>\>HERE\>\>\>\>0' ---
**Author:** ![ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/ohrenkino/32/4843_2.png) [@ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/ohrenkino)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2021, 6:24pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/change-date-format-from-dummy-year-month-day-to-dummy-month-day-year/54563/4 "2021-09-29T18:24:13Z")
Oops - an error was not intended: `$regexp('Ramble on Rose (1973-12-19)','(.*?\()(\d+)-(\d+)-(\d+).','$1$3/$4/$2)')` Replace the title string with the field variable (e.g. %title%) - I only wanted to point out that the expression works with the sample string that you supplied. ---
**Author:** ![esumsea](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/esumsea/32/7219_2.png) [@esumsea](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/esumsea)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2021, 6:55pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/change-date-format-from-dummy-year-month-day-to-dummy-month-day-year/54563/5 "2021-09-29T18:55:04Z")
No problem! Thanks so much for your help as always! Alright, I tried a TAG\>TAG and I placed $regexp(%title%,'(.\*?()(\d+)-(\d+)-(\d+).','$1$3/$4/$2)') in the Format String box "Feel Like A Stranger (6-23-1990)" turned into "Feel Like A Stranger (23/1990/6)" Should I be using an Action instead? ---
**Author:** ![ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/ohrenkino/32/4843_2.png) [@ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/ohrenkino)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2021, 7:16pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/change-date-format-from-dummy-year-month-day-to-dummy-month-day-year/54563/6 "2021-09-29T19:16:14Z")
Yes, no wonder as ... > [@esumsea](#): > > 6-23-1990 is a different pattern from > [@ohrenkino](#): > > 1973-12-19 MP3tag does not "read" the number, it takes the first number and puts it in last place, takes the second and puts it in first. That is why I said that the provided regular expression works with the provided sample string. ---
**Author:** ![esumsea](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/esumsea/32/7219_2.png) [@esumsea](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/esumsea)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2021, 7:27pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/change-date-format-from-dummy-year-month-day-to-dummy-month-day-year/54563/7 "2021-09-29T19:27:07Z")
πŸ™„Sorry about that! I did not notice it. You are right and I realize it does not read it. It works now. 😊 Thank you so much, once again for your invaluable help! πŸ‘ πŸ‘ πŸ™Œ πŸ‘Š So I can understand this better if I had the same circumstance but now the date is in (09-27-1973) format and I want to change it to (1973-09-27), how would the script change. I can't seem to figure out why its $1$3/$4/$2 Wait, I figured it out. It would be: $regexp(%title%,'(.\*?()(\d+)-(\d+)-(\d+).','$1$4-$2-$3)') First Term,4th Term, 2nd Term, Third Term. I am beginning to understand a bit more... ---
**Author:** ![astrohip](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/astrohip/32/18205_2.png) [@astrohip](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/astrohip)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2021, 3:13pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/change-date-format-from-dummy-year-month-day-to-dummy-month-day-year/54563/8 "2021-09-30T15:13:20Z")
Nothing to add here (@ohrenkino is a genius), except hello from another Deadhead. I have hundreds of live shows, and spent a lot of time in Mp3tag figuring out the best way to tag them. Good luck! ---
**Author:** ![esumsea](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/esumsea/32/7219_2.png) [@esumsea](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/esumsea)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2021, 1:52pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/change-date-format-from-dummy-year-month-day-to-dummy-month-day-year/54563/9 "2021-10-05T13:52:53Z")
Hey there! Weir everywhere! Yeah, I am tagging everything by date and then appending the album info at the end in brackets. I am actually writing a manual on my methodology because I find I need a reference as my projects are so varied. Once I am done I would be happy to share. And yes, Ohrenkino is a very kind genius! ---
**Author:** ![astrohip](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/astrohip/32/18205_2.png) [@astrohip](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/astrohip)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2021, 2:34pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/change-date-format-from-dummy-year-month-day-to-dummy-month-day-year/54563/10 "2021-10-05T14:34:56Z")
> [@esumsea](#): > > . I am actually writing a manual on my methodology because I find I need a reference as my projects are so varied. Once I am done I would be happy to share. Please do share! I've written some notes myself, as I have live recordings (FKA bootlegs) from many different sources, for many different groups. And I found I needed different TAG standards for different uses. Feel free to share what you have so far. ---
**Author:** ![esumsea](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/esumsea/32/7219_2.png) [@esumsea](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/esumsea)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2021, 8:07pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/change-date-format-from-dummy-year-month-day-to-dummy-month-day-year/54563/11 "2021-10-06T20:07:18Z")
I will once I am done and I believe it has been sussed out. ---
**Author:** ![esumsea](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/esumsea/32/7219_2.png) [@esumsea](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/esumsea)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2021, 2:17am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/change-date-format-from-dummy-year-month-day-to-dummy-month-day-year/54563/12 "2021-12-03T02:17:41Z")
So, I thought I had figured our how this works, but I must be dense as I tried to apply these principles to solving the problem of converting an album titled 10/12/1989 to 1989/10/12. Obviously I must be dense because I keep getting 198/10/12 when I use this regular expression: $regexp(%album%,'(\d+)/(\d+)/(\d+).','$3/$1/$2)') Can anyone explain why its cutting off the 4th number of the year? ---
**Author:** ![ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/ohrenkino/32/4843_2.png) [@ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/ohrenkino)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2021, 6:38am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/change-date-format-from-dummy-year-month-day-to-dummy-month-day-year/54563/13 "2021-12-03T06:38:13Z")
> [@esumsea](#): > > `$regexp(%album%,'(\d+)/(\d+)/(\d+).','$3/$1/$2)')` > Can anyone explain why its cutting off the 4th number of the year? Because you got a dot right after the last bracket and in front of the comma. Try `$regexp(%album%,'(\d+)/(\d+)/(\d+)','$3/$1/$2)')` ---
**Author:** ![system](https://community.mp3tag.de/uploads/default/original/2X/c/ce7035d426cb755a7916793326d23b465222a407.png) [@system](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/system)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2026, 12:29pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/change-date-format-from-dummy-year-month-day-to-dummy-month-day-year/54563/14 "2026-02-09T12:29:26Z")