# Stripping 'THE' from import **URL:** \ **Category:** Support\ **Created:** [January 2, 2020, 2:29pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/stripping-the-from-import/47402 "2020-01-02T14:29:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![flyingmale](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/flyingmale/32/8335_2.png) [@flyingmale](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/flyingmale)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2020, 2:29pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/stripping-the-from-import/47402/1 "2020-01-02T14:29:25Z")
Hi. I want to retrieve a Text file in Tools to read the contents of a Biography from the parameter: "A://songBiogs/%artist%.txt". However, the Biographies are saved without the preceding 'THE', so the above fails when it looks for %THE APPLEJACKS% instead of %APPLEJACKS%. (The Biographies are saved automatically with Foobar2000 using \<$stripprefix(%ARTIST%\>.) Can anyone show me how to format it to ignore'THE '? Many thanks ---
**Author:** ![ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/ohrenkino/32/4843_2.png) [@ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/ohrenkino)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2020, 2:43pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/stripping-the-from-import/47402/2 "2020-01-02T14:43:21Z")
I am not quite sure what you do. Is there really a field name > [@flyingmale](#): > > %THE APPLEJACKS% and you want to use a field called > [@flyingmale](#): > > %APPLEJACKS% Or do you want to use the contents of ARTIST and it reads "The Applejacks" but you only need "Applejacks"? For the first problem I don't know the solution. The second can be treated if you use `$regexp(%artist%,^The ,)` instead of the plain %artist% ---
**Author:** ![flyingmale](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/flyingmale/32/8335_2.png) [@flyingmale](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/flyingmale)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2020, 8:48am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/stripping-the-from-import/47402/4 "2020-01-04T08:48:58Z")
Thanks for this. I adapted your suggestion as best I could ('THE ' is at the beginning of the filename), to search as follows: "A://songBiogs/$regexp(^THE %artist%.txt" but just got "syntax error" ---
**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 4, 2020, 9:06am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/stripping-the-from-import/47402/5 "2020-01-04T09:06:44Z")
You can test expressions in Convert\>Tag-Tag. But even now it would be obvious, that > [@flyingmale](#): > > $regexp(^THE %artist%.txt" does not very much resemble > [@ohrenkino](#): > > `$regexp(%artist%,^The ,)` I get, when I use the latter instead of the plain %artist% `A://songBiogs/$regexp(%artist%,^The ,).txt`. this does not take into account possible other problems like double slashes or slashes instead of backslashes. ---
**Author:** ![flyingmale](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/flyingmale/32/8335_2.png) [@flyingmale](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/flyingmale)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2020, 11:20am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/stripping-the-from-import/47402/6 "2020-01-04T11:20:37Z")
Thanks. I'm not sure I've explained it accurately. The search is for, eg, `A://songBiogs/THE BAND.txt` but the text file it needs to find is: `A://songBiogs/BAND.txt` Does that make sense? Cheers for the help! ---
**Author:** ![ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/ohrenkino/32/4843_2.png) [@ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/ohrenkino)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2020, 11:56am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/stripping-the-from-import/47402/7 "2020-01-04T11:56:34Z")
And what does the field ARTIST look like for this example? Is it "The Band" or "Band"? `A://songBiogs/THE BAND.txt`\> `A://songBiogs/BAND.txt` = `A://songBiogs/$regexp(%artist%,^The ,).txt.` `A://songBiogs/BAND.txt`\> `A://songBiogs/THE BAND.txt` = `A://songBiogs/THE %artist%.txt.` ---
**Author:** ![flyingmale](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/flyingmale/32/8335_2.png) [@flyingmale](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/flyingmale)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2020, 7:56pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/stripping-the-from-import/47402/8 "2020-01-04T19:56:29Z")
No, I don't think I have explained this correctly. It is a Tools option.This works great: ![image](https://community.mp3tag.de/uploads/default/original/2X/d/d05570e803716848535206c0d4ea6592dd11589c.png) This doesn't: ![image](https://community.mp3tag.de/uploads/default/original/2X/a/a5ae0392636dcd6dfb422254024183456921fd6b.png) because I can't remove the 'THE ' from the search ---
**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 4, 2020, 8:01pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/stripping-the-from-import/47402/9 "2020-01-04T20:01:06Z")
Which property does contain the "The"? Is it the filename of the audio track? is it as you said here > [@flyingmale](#): > > A://songBiogs/%artist%.txt". %artist%? The regular expression ($regexp()) removes a leading "The" from the referenced string. Currently the string is taken from the field ARTIST. If this is not correct, then use the correct field. ---
**Author:** ![ryerman](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/ryerman/32/5285_2.png) [@ryerman](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/ryerman)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2020, 10:23pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/stripping-the-from-import/47402/10 "2020-01-04T22:23:58Z")
> [@flyingmale](#): > > This doesn't For the parameter, try this: `"A:\songBiogs\$regexp(%artist%,^The ,).txt"` Include the double quotes. ---
**Author:** ![ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/ohrenkino/32/4843_2.png) [@ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/ohrenkino)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2020, 10:31pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/stripping-the-from-import/47402/11 "2020-01-04T22:31:12Z")
I wonder why the first example works. It has double forward slashes and forward slashes. I also do not know if the letter "A" is a valid one for a drive as it was designated for floppy disc drives in the old days. ---
**Author:** ![flyingmale](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/flyingmale/32/8335_2.png) [@flyingmale](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/flyingmale)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 10:45am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/stripping-the-from-import/47402/12 "2020-01-05T10:45:30Z")
Drive 'A' works fine in everything else. Yes, 'THE ' is in the %artist% field, as in the example above and I had also used the double quotes initially. However, "A:\songBiogs$regexp(%artist%,^The ,).txt" returns this (suggesting it is still looking for THE BEAT'. not 'BEAT'..?): ![image](https://community.mp3tag.de/uploads/default/original/2X/2/2fe6297003b5352a2c53ac5760c772fe45b5c9a3.png) ---
**Author:** ![flyingmale](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/flyingmale/32/8335_2.png) [@flyingmale](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/flyingmale)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 10:49am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/stripping-the-from-import/47402/13 "2020-01-05T10:49:23Z")
PS: In 'Actions', this works fine to do the opposite, ie, save a FILENAME without the initial THE from the %artist% field... ![image](https://community.mp3tag.de/uploads/default/original/2X/5/51c606f3ee6ff0a4b4ec55ca69e047ac0f25731d.png) ---
**Author:** ![flyingmale](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/flyingmale/32/8335_2.png) [@flyingmale](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/flyingmale)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 11:09am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/stripping-the-from-import/47402/14 "2020-01-05T11:09:07Z")
Also, I've just thought that maybe I have given the impressions that this is in 'Actions', when it is actually an operation in 'Options \> Tools' ---
**Author:** ![flyingmale](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/flyingmale/32/8335_2.png) [@flyingmale](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/flyingmale)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 11:20am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/stripping-the-from-import/47402/15 "2020-01-05T11:20:53Z")
Thanks for the help. I have found a solution, though not ideal because it needs two options because it strips the first four characters regardless. So there is one for %artist% that don't begin with 'THE '... ![image](https://community.mp3tag.de/uploads/default/original/2X/0/0db80a2a7bcdd6158d0075870de13d6fc388a6e5.png) and one for those which do.. ![image](https://community.mp3tag.de/uploads/default/original/2X/6/6d74fc907990c44c57e6f4975b6cd6ab80406c3a.png) Ideally, I need a line which strips the first four characters of %artist%, but ONLY if those first four characters are 'THE ' !!!! ---
**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 5, 2020, 12:22pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/stripping-the-from-import/47402/16 "2020-01-05T12:22:38Z")
> [@flyingmale](#): > > However, "A:\songBiogs$regexp(%artist%,^The ,).txt" returns this ( The $regexp() function is case sensitive. If you OS does not care about the case, you could use: `$regexp($lower(%artist%),^the ,)` ---
**Author:** ![ryerman](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/ryerman/32/5285_2.png) [@ryerman](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/ryerman)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 3:50pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/stripping-the-from-import/47402/17 "2020-01-05T15:50:21Z")
> [@ohrenkino](#): > > The $regexp() function is case sensitive. Also, the $regexp() function can be made case insensitive by using the 4th parameter: 1 Like this: `$regexp(%artist%,^ThE ,,1)` > **[Scripting Functions – Mp3tag Documentation](https://docs.mp3tag.de/scripting/#string-functions)** > > Documentation on Mp3tag's scripting functions. Mp3tag is the universal Tag Editor. ---
**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, 12:28pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/stripping-the-from-import/47402/18 "2026-02-09T12:28:22Z")