# Trapping chars in tags not to export (!,\`,~)
**URL:** https://community.mp3tag.de/t/trapping-chars-in-tags-not-to-export/13739
**Category:** Support
**Created:** [August 9, 2012, 1:56pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/trapping-chars-in-tags-not-to-export/13739 "2012-08-09T13:56:10Z")
**Posts on this page:** 5
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@kittmaster](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/kittmaster)
#### Post date: [August 9, 2012, 1:56pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/trapping-chars-in-tags-not-to-export/13739/1 "2012-08-09T13:56:10Z")
Is there a way to look for these chars and just drop them from the output stream on export only?
My importer doesn't like special chars even if supported by the OS.
Examples:
BEL BIV DEVOE - WORD TO THE MUTHA! - WBBD - BOOTCITY! THE REMIX ALBUM - 12 INCH VERSION
> > > Need to drop the !
BRANDY - SITTIN' UP IN MY ROOM (DOUG RASHEED REMIX) - SITTIN' UP IN MY ROOM - 12 INCH VERSION
> > > Need to drop the '
Parentheses seems to be no issue.
How can this be done?
Thanks
Chris
---
### Author:  [@ryerman](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/ryerman)
#### Post date: [August 9, 2012, 2:31pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/trapping-chars-in-tags-not-to-export/13739/2 "2012-08-09T14:31:50Z")
**[http://pages.citebite.com/w4k0q4q7agxu](http://pages.citebite.com/w4k0q4q7agxu)**
---
### Author:  [@kittmaster](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/kittmaster)
#### Post date: [August 9, 2012, 3:31pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/trapping-chars-in-tags-not-to-export/13739/3 "2012-08-09T15:31:15Z")
I've tried several iterations like:
```
$replace(%artist% - %title% - %album%,',).jpg;
```
But it still puts the ' in there on the output. i followed this \_ \> -. I'm trying to just get the ' to drop without adding a space. With this all I get on the output is .jpg nothing else.
Am I missing something?
Command: $replace(string,from,to) or $replace(string,from1,to1,from2,to2,...)
Example: $replace(%artist% - %album% - %track% - %title%,\_,-)
This example replaces all underscores to dashes. You can provide additional pairs of from/to as parameters.
---
### Author:  [@kittmaster](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/kittmaster)
#### Post date: [August 9, 2012, 4:19pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/trapping-chars-in-tags-not-to-export/13739/4 "2012-08-09T16:19:05Z")
I figured it out, it was a special functionality character that I needed to add to disable raw parsing:
```
$replace(%artist% - %album% - %track% - %title%,'',,!,).jpg
```
Need to add '' not just '.......reading the manual clearly helped!
Greetz
---
### Author:  [@system](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/system)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2026, 12:23pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/trapping-chars-in-tags-not-to-export/13739/5 "2026-02-09T12:23:59Z")