# Filter for field containing double backslash? **URL:** \ **Category:** Support\ **Created:** [January 14, 2014, 6:04pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/filter-for-field-containing-double-backslash/15398 "2014-01-14T18:04:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![deckard](https://community.mp3tag.de/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@deckard](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/deckard)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2014, 6:04pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/filter-for-field-containing-double-backslash/15398/1 "2014-01-14T18:04:57Z")
This is a weird one... I would imagine using \ in any field might cause problems with any editing or playback software. That being said, I have never done so, but I've encountered a bunch of albums in my collection that have multiple years separated by \\ in the year field/tag. I think it's to denote the original release date vs. reissue, etc. For instance, one album has 1990\\1988 in the year field for every track. If I add Year to the columns, the only date shown in the Year column for this album is 1990. If I change one track to 1990\1988, both column and tag panel show 1990\1988 and I can filter using: year HAS "". How come \\ will show in the tag panel but not in the column? Is there any way to filter for a double backslash? Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![DetlevD](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/detlevd/32/123_2.png) [@DetlevD](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/DetlevD)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2014, 6:14pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/filter-for-field-containing-double-backslash/15398/2 "2014-01-14T18:14:28Z")
> [@deckard](#): > > ... This is a weird one... For instance, one album has 1990\\1988 in the year field for every track. ... It is rather unusual to have multi-values in the tag-field YEAR, but in the tag-field GENRE it is usual. If you want to see the multi-values for the YEAR column in the list view, then adapt the settings for this column to ... value=**$meta\_sep(YEAR,'\\')** Filter: NOT "$meta(YEAR,1)" IS "" Filter: "$meta\_sep(YEAR,'')" HAS "" Filter: "$meta\_sep(YEAR,'\\')" HAS "\\" Filter: "$meta\_sep(YEAR,' 😃 ')" HAS " 😃 " Filter: YEAR MATCHES "\\" Filter: YEAR HAS "\\" Note: These both filter strings may not work, because a tag-field having a sequence of two backslashes won't exist in Mp3tag tagging environment. Note: The operator MATCHES requires a regular expression, therefore one single backslash must be escaped by one preceding backslash. Format the tag-field YEAR only to the first value, that means, make it a single value tag-field ... **$meta(YEAR,0)'\\\\'** Format the tag-field YEAR only to the second value, that means, make it a single value tag-field ... **$meta(YEAR,1)'\\\\'** DD.20140114.2014.CET DD.20140115.1933.CET ---
**Author:** ![ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/ohrenkino/32/4843_2.png) [@ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/ohrenkino)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2014, 11:33am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/filter-for-field-containing-double-backslash/15398/3 "2014-01-15T11:33:50Z")
> [@DetlevD](#): > > ... > Filter: YEAR MATCHES "\\" > ... Wouldn't a filter year HAS \\ be just as nice? This would not need a regular expression and therefore no escaping. I use the MATCHES operator only if a combined pattern of different patterns has to be found. Filtering a sub-string of constants can be nicely done with the HAS operator. ---
**Author:** ![deckard](https://community.mp3tag.de/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@deckard](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/deckard)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2014, 3:32pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/filter-for-field-containing-double-backslash/15398/4 "2014-01-15T15:32:42Z")
> [@DetlevD](#): > > It is rather unusual to have multi-values in the tag-field YEAR, but in the tag-field GENRE it is usual. > If you want to see the multi-values for the YEAR column in the list view, then adapt the settings for this column to ... > value=**$meta\_sep(YEAR,'\\')** > > Filter: NOT "$meta(YEAR,1)" IS "" > > Filter: YEAR MATCHES "\\" > Note: The operator MATCHES requires a regular expression, therefore one single backslash must be escaped by one preceding backslash. > Note: This may not work, because a tag-field having a sequence of two backslashes won't exist in Mp3tag tagging environment. > > Format the tag-field YEAR only to the first value, that means, make it a single value tag-field ... > > **$meta(YEAR,0)'\\\\'** > > Format the tag-field YEAR only to the second value, that means, make it a single value tag-field ... > > **$meta(YEAR,1)'\\\\'** > > DD.20140114.2014.CET Thanks **DetlevD**! Filter: NOT "$meta(YEAR,1)" IS "" works for me, but I don't understand why. Is \\ a common delimiter for multiple values in a field or does this filter work using the position of characters? (I have a lot to learn...) **ohrenkino** , I tried year HAS \\ initially, which did not work and led me to post. Are you saying it should work, or just that it would be nice if it did? ---
**Author:** ![DetlevD](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/detlevd/32/123_2.png) [@DetlevD](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/DetlevD)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2014, 5:13pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/filter-for-field-containing-double-backslash/15398/5 "2014-01-15T17:13:41Z")
> [@ohrenkino](#): > > Wouldn't a filter year HAS \\ be just as nice? ... This would not need a regular expression and therefore no escaping. ... Your filter proposal would also not working, but this works ... "$meta\_sep(YEAR,'\')" HAS "\" DD.20140115.1921.CET ---
**Author:** ![DetlevD](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/detlevd/32/123_2.png) [@DetlevD](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/DetlevD)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2014, 8:33pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/filter-for-field-containing-double-backslash/15398/6 "2014-01-17T20:33:54Z")
> [@deckard](#): > > ... Filter: NOT "$meta(YEAR,1)" IS "" works for me, ... Is \\ a common delimiter for multiple values in a field ... The doubled backslash '\\' is just a placeholder and a convention in Mp3tag, in order to make the technical zero byte, which is practically invisible to the user, and which works technically as the field separator within a multi-value tag-field, visible to the user. Other applications may use other replacement characters. DD.20140117.2233.CET ---
**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, 12:24pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/filter-for-field-containing-double-backslash/15398/7 "2026-02-09T12:24:51Z")
Closed on February 9, 2026, 12:24pm UTC