WMA tags -- mp3tags inserts a second TITLE tag

Support
1

I have ripped files into WMA loss-less format using Windows Media Player 10.

(Files are in a two level directory structure book-name\disk-number\title.wma)

Opening the top directory in mp3tag v2.52 loads tags from all the 471 files.

Alt-T (Display Extended Tag) shows The following fields in the Metadata window:

Next, I do "Format value "SEQUENCE": $num(%_counter%,4)" action, then a tag to tag operation (selecting the field name TITLE from the drop down list):

Now the meta data has 2 TITLE fields:

And the Title Column in the display still contains the first title ("Track 1"), not the new second title ("000 d24 t01").

I've tried using Filename - Tag instead of Tag - Tag.

I've removed the tag using File/Remove Tag, displayed the empty metadata (Alt-T), and repeated filling the title field. The metadata shows one Title field (correctly set by the Filename - Tag operation), and the Title column in the display is blank.

And BTW, the drop down list for Field contains both "%TITLE%" and "TITLE". I tried one then the other, and either "%TITLE%" or "TITLE" was added to the metadata for the field name. Neither field name was used in the Title column on the display.

(At first I thought these were aliased for downward compatibility, but apparently not.)

---------- Edited to add ----

Here's right-click properties:

Windows Explorer also shows the first title field in the title column.

When I removed the tag and the added the file name, the metatdata window showed only one Title field. However, its contents were not displayed in the title column on the mp3tag display nor on the windows explorer display.

---------- Edited to add ----

My options for tags:








2

You would help us to understand your problem, if you could provide not truncated but full information.
That means ...
... not to cut off the window title line from the dialog "Extended Tags ..." because there is valuable information about the tag-types currently available and used within the file.
... better to spread the width of the dialog windows in order to let us read the full dialog entries.

Note that reading the APE-Tag will have priority over all other embedded tag-types.
Note that the WMA-Tag is not an ID3-Tag.

DD.20120911.0838.CEST

3

Did you look at the properties window?

(It shows only a WMA tag.)

The window title on the meta data says "WMA tag".

(BTW, I've never seen an ID3 tag nor an APE tag inside a WMA container, though I suppose it is theoretically possible...)

4

Look carefully for a trailing blank on "TITLE " in the drop down list. It may not be affecting things, but it is there.

5

What is the following behaviour when you have cleaned the tag-field list by resetting the tag-field list?

DD.20120912.0457.CEST

6

Exactly the same problem.

I started with an empty or missing tag (what ever the results are from 'right click'/Remove tag),

  • Inserted track and discnumber from the tag - file name,
  • Numbered files in the (non standard) sequence tag with _counter
  • Generated the Title tag by combining these three fields in a tag - tag operation.

The title column on the display is blank, and the metadata shows a TITLE field with my generated name.

Examining several files with a hex editor, I find that the tag - tag operation creates a non-standard tag named "TITLE " -- note the trailing space.

There is a spot were Media player put the original title, and from which title column is populated, that is in a totally different location from the "TITLE " information.

Given that the drop down lists generally include a trailing space on "TITLE ", and that inserting information into the .wma file with a tag - tag operation using the drop down menu creates a non standard tag of "TITLE " with a trailing space, may I humbly suggest considering the possibility that passing a tag name with a trailing blank to the API updating the .wma tag information will cause the API to not recognize the tag name as a known standard name?

Here's a hex dump of the start of a file (not the specific test where I started by erasing the tag). Look at offsets 0x1D0 ("SEQUENCE"), 0x312 ("TITLE "), and 0x35e (title/artist/comment)

hex_dump.png617×1168 19 KB

PS: I'm still trying to figure out "%TITLE%" and "TITLE" both being presented in the same drop down list. %TITLE% is the only field name in per cents. What makes it special or different from the TITLE field name? Or, why have both?

hex_dump.png617×1168 19 KB

7

I am sorry to have been unclear when speaking about "resetting the tag-field list".
Please do reset the offered tag-field list in the specific converter dialog, use button [>] and select the fitting menu item to reset the picklist.
There seems to be at least one bad entry in the picklist, which looks like "TITLE " (see your hex dump).

DD.20120912.0845.CEST

8

Resetting the drop down box

  1. removed the training space from "TITLE "
  2. removed %TRACK%
  3. removed SEQUENCE

and started mp3tag working correctly.

The drop down list seems to operate different than the standard controls do. Entries in the mp3tag control box are not restricted to those in the drop down list. Typing into the box does not scroll the drop down.

Instead anything typed into the box is added to the list. That picks up any typos or errors the user may make and propagates them into the future.

(This, IMHO, is the root cause of the problem motivating this thread.)

I would expect that the field list would only be extendable via the Tools/Options/Tags/Mapping dialog when new (user) fields are identified to mp3tag (and the control to restrict selections to items in the drop down field list).

9

Before making this comment, I went looking for the place where I defined my new tag "SEQUENCE". Digging down to Tools/Options/Tags/Mapping, I made a quick assumption that I'd found the correct place.

Then I actually started to add a new field using this dialog, and realize that it was NOT what I remembered.

What I was remembering was customize columns -- right click a column name in the column title bar, and select "Customize Columns". This dialog apparently creates a new generic field under the guise of adding a new column heading.

Tools/Options/Tags/Mapping is probably not the place to create new user fields. It seems to be a place to alias an existing field in a specific tag type. This is not the same a creating a new field for general use in any tag and the many places where mp3tag accepts a field name.

I suggest adding the "customize column" dialog to Tools/Options, renaming it to "Manage Tags and Displayed Columns". (Actually, I'd split the dialog to follow conventions in programs like Windows Explorer, but adding it to Options is probably quickest/easiest.)

Further, I suggest restricting the field name list control to just those fields in the Columns dialog. (Remember that a user tag can be defined there but does have to not be included (checked) as a displayed fields.)