# Different Duration Format/s (Separators) **URL:** \ **Category:** Support\ **Created:** [July 2, 2023, 2:46am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/different-duration-format-s-separators/61448 "2023-07-02T02:46:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dec](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/dec/32/13699_2.png) [@dec](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/dec)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2023, 2:46am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/different-duration-format-s-separators/61448/1 "2023-07-02T02:46:08Z")
i am getting different duration separator formats in different places previously, i have a note (i wrote for future reference, like now) that i got \_ in Field Name, and : in Title, and just this second (no pun intended), i got no separators at all in the duration string one obvious question that raises is if the duration strring format depends on the individual data, although, to date, it has been very consistent otherwise what causes this issue and what is the fix? UPDATE 1. i tested a FN Covert incl Duration, and in the Preview it showed the duration correctly formatted (with colons) so i thinking that the previous was just a formatting glitch and it actually does it correctly, BUT .... 2. after i rann the Copnvert on a few files, it actually added Duration UNFORMATTED ie NOT the same as teh Preview. so now i wil add screen shots. ![02-07-2023 10-16-31](https://community.mp3tag.de/uploads/default/original/2X/5/5ff81cdec17b893fbe19266a2210b3a3c3ae537f.png) ![02-07-2023 10-14-59](https://community.mp3tag.de/uploads/default/original/2X/e/e4dedc4cecc98115137975f123c20ef16506f151.png) UPDATE have again confirmed different Length formatting when using in FN and Title. and now, in addition, a THIRD varitaion - if you use Length in a Tag-Tag for FN, you get no formatting at all here are some more confirming screenshots ... ![02-07-2023 11-19-38](https://community.mp3tag.de/uploads/default/original/2X/5/571c55360425e6ab4e600cc765a3bb052ff7b00b.png) ![02-07-2023 11-19-03](https://community.mp3tag.de/uploads/default/original/2X/8/8e4830bb5cff1ec9aad2a421e882b9116b0fafe9.png) ![02-07-2023 11-06-24](https://community.mp3tag.de/uploads/default/original/2X/9/9948308b1f0550c5674c0abffc4a5447ddfa11c0.png) ![02-07-2023 11-04-13](https://community.mp3tag.de/uploads/default/original/2X/e/e1ddf11fe5498629a6fdb6337d921ca26edd62a5.png) ![02-07-2023 11-03-39](https://community.mp3tag.de/uploads/default/original/2X/c/c9def3b282e3bca81fca38eaefe63d56235d9075.png) ![02-07-2023 11-02-49](https://community.mp3tag.de/uploads/default/original/2X/f/fb9f6444d9affb428fd5140da5ea996f1c3a1641.png) ![02-07-2023 11-01-23](https://community.mp3tag.de/uploads/default/original/2X/5/579960cb96efee9f14e132646f0262416e8286d9.png) this should now be moved to Bugs. ---
**Author:** ![poster](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/poster/32/4881_2.png) [@poster](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/poster)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2023, 5:13am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/different-duration-format-s-separators/61448/2 "2023-07-02T05:13:55Z")
No bug. Your screenshots show 3 different cases for the converter: 1 x Tag-\>Tag for the TITLE field 1 x Tag-\>Filename 1 x Tag-\>Tag for the YEAR field For the **TITLE** and **YEAR** fields, the colon is displayed in the result of the format string. When formatting the **FILENAME** , an underscore is displayed instead of a colon. The colon is an invalid character in file names on Windows and must not be used. Mp3Tag will help you in this case and replace the colon with an underscore. [https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/fileio/naming-a-file](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/fileio/naming-a-file) ---
**Author:** ![dec](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/dec/32/13699_2.png) [@dec](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/dec)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2023, 6:45am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/different-duration-format-s-separators/61448/3 "2023-07-02T06:45:49Z")
hi i am aware that colon cannot be used in windows file names. i have been programming BEFORE there was Windows. 1. that is half my point - the Length format SHOULD HAVE BEEN CONSISTENT across all Fields. 2. the other half of my point is that we are getting different format results using the same field, Length, when inserted in different ways, as shown, somethimes with NO formtting, sometimes with an Underscore 3. the THIRD issue is that when there is actually no formatting, Preview shows (colon) formatting ---
**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:** [July 2, 2023, 7:07am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/different-duration-format-s-separators/61448/4 "2023-07-02T07:07:59Z")
> [@dec](#): > > the Length format SHOULD HAVE BEEN CONSISTENT across all Fields The length format is consistent across all fields. It is not consistent across all properties. The filename is a property defined by the underlying OS which MP3tag cannot influence. But you said yourself that you are > [@dec](#): > > aware that colon cannot be used in windows file names so I wonder what all the fuzz is about. In all the other examples that you provided (YEAR, TITLE) the output for \_LENGTH was with a colon, so probably as expected by you. As the filename and its restrictions is not under the control of MP3tag but defined by Microsoft, I find it a nice feature that MP3tag takes care not to produce an invalid filename just because the user did not pay attention. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://community.mp3tag.de/uploads/default/original/2X/c/ce7035d426cb755a7916793326d23b465222a407.png) [@system](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/system)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2023, 7:08am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/different-duration-format-s-separators/61448/5 "2023-08-01T07:08:10Z")
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