METAFLAC(1)METAFLAC(1)NAMEmetaflac - program to list, add, remove, or edit metadata in one or
more FLAC files.
SYNOPSISmetaflac [ options ] [ operations ] FLACfile ...
DESCRIPTION
Use metaflac to list, add, remove, or edit metadata in one or more FLAC
files. You may perform one major operation, or many shorthand opera‐
tions at a time.
OPTIONS--preserve-modtime
Preserve the original modification time in spite of edits.
--with-filename
Prefix each output line with the FLAC file name (the default if
more than one FLAC file is specified).
--no-filename
Do not prefix each output line with the FLAC file name (the
default if only one FLAC file is specified).
--no-utf8-convert
Do not convert tags from UTF-8 to local charset, or vice versa.
This is useful for scripts, and setting tags in situations where
the locale is wrong.
--dont-use-padding
By default metaflac tries to use padding where possible to avoid
rewriting the entire file if the metadata size changes. Use
this option to tell metaflac to not take advantage of padding
this way.
SHORTHAND OPERATIONS--show-md5sum
Show the MD5 signature from the STREAMINFO block.
--show-min-blocksize
Show the minimum block size from the STREAMINFO block.
--show-max-blocksize
Show the maximum block size from the STREAMINFO block.
--show-min-framesize
Show the minimum frame size from the STREAMINFO block.
--show-max-framesize
Show the maximum frame size from the STREAMINFO block.
--show-sample-rate
Show the sample rate from the STREAMINFO block.
--show-channels
Show the number of channels from the STREAMINFO block.
--show-bps
Show the # of bits per sample from the STREAMINFO block.
--show-total-samples
Show the total # of samples from the STREAMINFO block.
--show-vendor-tag
Show the vendor string from the VORBIS_COMMENT block.
--show-tag=name
Show all tags where the the field name matches 'name'.
--remove-tag=name
Remove all tags whose field name is 'name'.
--remove-first-tag=name
Remove first tag whose field name is 'name'.
--remove-all-tags
Remove all tags, leaving only the vendor string.
--set-tag=field
Add a tag. The field must comply with the Vorbis comment spec,
of the form "NAME=VALUE". If there is currently no tag block,
one will be created.
--set-tag-from-file=field
Like --set-tag, except the VALUE is a filename whose contents
will be read verbatim to set the tag value. Unless --no-
utf8-convert is specified, the contents will be converted to
UTF-8 from the local charset. This can be used to store a
cuesheet in a tag (e.g. --set-tag-from-
file="CUESHEET=image.cue"). Do not try to store binary data in
tag fields! Use APPLICATION blocks for that.
--import-tags-from=file
Import tags from a file. Use '-' for stdin. Each line should
be of the form NAME=VALUE. Multi-line comments are currently
not supported. Specify --remove-all-tags and/or --no-utf8-con‐
vert before --import-tags-from if necessary. If FILE is '-'
(stdin), only one FLAC file may be specified.
--export-tags-to=file
Export tags to a file. Use '-' for stdout. Each line will be
of the form NAME=VALUE. Specify --no-utf8-convert if necessary.
--import-cuesheet-from=file
Import a cuesheet from a file. Use '-' for stdin. Only one
FLAC file may be specified. A seekpoint will be added for each
index point in the cuesheet to the SEEKTABLE unless --no-cued-
seekpoints is specified.
--export-cuesheet-to=file
Export CUESHEET block to a cuesheet file, suitable for use by CD
authoring software. Use '-' for stdout. Only one FLAC file may
be specified on the command line.
--import-picture-from={FILENAME|SPECIFICATION}
Import a picture and store it in a PICTURE metadata block. More
than one --import-picture-from command can be specified. Either
a filename for the picture file or a more complete specification
form can be used. The SPECIFICATION is a string whose parts are
separated by | (pipe) characters. Some parts may be left empty
to invoke default values. FILENAME is just shorthand for
"||||FILENAME". The format of SPECIFICATION is
[TYPE]|[MIME-TYPE]|[DESCRIPTION]|[WIDTHxHEIGHTxDEPTH[/COL‐
ORS]]|FILE
TYPE is optional; it is a number from one of:
0: Other
1: 32x32 pixels 'file icon' (PNG only)
2: Other file icon
3: Cover (front)
4: Cover (back)
5: Leaflet page
6: Media (e.g. label side of CD)
7: Lead artist/lead performer/soloist
8: Artist/performer
9: Conductor
10: Band/Orchestra
11: Composer
12: Lyricist/text writer
13: Recording Location
14: During recording
15: During performance
16: Movie/video screen capture
17: A bright coloured fish
18: Illustration
19: Band/artist logotype
20: Publisher/Studio logotype
The default is 3 (front cover). There may only be one picture
each of type 1 and 2 in a file.
MIME-TYPE is optional; if left blank, it will be detected from
the file. For best compatibility with players, use pictures
with MIME type image/jpeg or image/png. The MIME type can also
be --> to mean that FILE is actually a URL to an image, though
this use is discouraged.
DESCRIPTION is optional; the default is an empty string.
The next part specfies the resolution and color information. If
the MIME-TYPE is image/jpeg, image/png, or image/gif, you can
usually leave this empty and they can be detected from the file.
Otherwise, you must specify the width in pixels, height in pix‐
els, and color depth in bits-per-pixel. If the image has
indexed colors you should also specify the number of colors
used. When manually specified, it is not checked against the
file for accuracy.
FILE is the path to the picture file to be imported, or the URL
if MIME type is -->
For example, "|image/jpeg|||../cover.jpg" will embed the JPEG
file at ../cover.jpg, defaulting to type 3 (front cover) and an
empty description. The resolution and color info will be
retrieved from the file itself.
The specification
"4|-->|CD|320x300x24/173|http://blah.blah/backcover.tiff" will
embed the given URL, with type 4 (back cover), description "CD",
and a manually specified resolution of 320x300, 24 bits-per-
pixel, and 173 colors. The file at the URL will not be fetched;
the URL itself is stored in the PICTURE metadata block.
--export-picture-to=file
Export PICTURE block to a file. Use '-' for stdout. Only one
FLAC file may be specified on the command line. The first PIC‐
TURE block will be exported unless --export-picture-to is pre‐
ceded by a --block-number=# option to specify the exact metadata
block to extract. Note that the block number is the one shown
by --list.
--add-replay-gain
Calculates the title and album gains/peaks of the given FLAC
files as if all the files were part of one album, then stores
them as FLAC tags. The tags are the same as those used by vor‐
bisgain. Existing ReplayGain tags will be replaced. If only
one FLAC file is given, the album and title gains will be the
same. Since this operation requires two passes, it is always
executed last, after all other operations have been completed
and written to disk. All FLAC files specified must have the
same resolution, sample rate, and number of channels. The sam‐
ple rate must be one of 8, 11.025, 12, 16, 22.05, 24, 32, 44.1,
or 48 kHz.
--remove-replay-gain
Removes the ReplayGain tags.
--add-seekpoint={#|X|#x|#s}
Add seek points to a SEEKTABLE block. Using #, a seek point at
that sample number is added. Using X, a placeholder point is
added at the end of a the table. Using #x, # evenly spaced seek
points will be added, the first being at sample 0. Using #s, a
seekpoint will be added every # seconds (# does not have to be a
whole number; it can be, for example, 9.5, meaning a seekpoint
every 9.5 seconds). If no SEEKTABLE block exists, one will be
created. If one already exists, points will be added to the
existing table, and any duplicates will be turned into place‐
holder points. You may use many --add-seekpoint options; the
resulting SEEKTABLE will be the unique-ified union of all such
values. Example: --add-seekpoint=100x --add-seekpoint=3.5s will
add 100 evenly spaced seekpoints and a seekpoint every 3.5 sec‐
onds.
--add-padding=length
Add a padding block of the given length (in bytes). The overall
length of the new block will be 4 + length; the extra 4 bytes is
for the metadata block header.
MAJOR OPERATIONS--list List the contents of one or more metadata blocks to stdout. By
default, all metadata blocks are listed in text format. Use the
following options to change this behavior:
--block-number=#[,#[...]]
An optional comma-separated list of block numbers to dis‐
play. The first block, the STREAMINFO block, is block 0.
--block-type=type[,type[...]]
--except-block-type=type[,type[...]]
An optional comma-separated list of block types to be
included or ignored with this option. Use only one of
--block-type or --except-block-type. The valid block
types are: STREAMINFO, PADDING, APPLICATION, SEEKTABLE,
VORBIS_COMMENT. You may narrow down the types of APPLI‐
CATION blocks displayed as follows:
APPLICATION:abcd The APPLICATION block(s) whose
textual repre- sentation of the 4-byte ID is "abcd"
APPLICATION:0xXXXXXXXX The APPLICATION block(s) whose
hexadecimal big- endian representation of the 4-byte ID
is "0xXXXXXXXX". For the example "abcd" above the hexa‐
decimal equivalalent is 0x61626364
Note: if both --block-number and --[except-]block-type
are specified, the result is the logical AND of both
arguments.
--application-data-format=hexdump|text
If the application block you are displaying contains
binary data but your --data-format=text, you can display
a hex dump of the application data contents instead using
--application-data-format=hexdump.
--remove
Remove one or more metadata blocks from the metadata. Unless
--dont-use-padding is specified, the blocks will be replaced
with padding. You may not remove the STREAMINFO block.
--block-number=#[,#[...]]
--block-type=type[,type[...]]
--except-block-type=type[,type[...]]
See --list above for usage.
Note: if both --block-number and --[except-]block-type
are specified, the result is the logical AND of both
arguments.
--remove-all
Remove all metadata blocks (except the STREAMINFO block) from
the metadata. Unless --dont-use-padding is specified, the
blocks will be replaced with padding.
--merge-padding
Merge adjacent PADDING blocks into single blocks.
--sort-padding
Move all PADDING blocks to the end of the metadata and merge
them into a single block.
SEE ALSOflac(1).
14 September 2007 METAFLAC(1)
