1METAFLAC(1) METAFLAC(1)
2
6 metaflac - program to list, add, remove, or edit metadata in one or
7 more FLAC files.
8
10 metaflac [ options ] [ operations ] FLACfile ...
11
14 Use metaflac to list, add, remove, or edit metadata in one or more FLAC
15 files. You may perform one major operation, or many shorthand opera‐
16 tions at a time.
17
19 --preserve-modtime
20 Preserve the original modification time in spite of edits.
21 --with-filename
23 Prefix each output line with the FLAC file name (the default if
24 more than one FLAC file is specified).
25 --no-filename
27 Do not prefix each output line with the FLAC file name (the
28 default if only one FLAC file is specified).
29 --no-utf8-convert
31 Do not convert tags from UTF-8 to local charset, or vice versa.
32 This is useful for scripts, and setting tags in situations where
33 the locale is wrong.
34 --dont-use-padding
36 By default metaflac tries to use padding where possible to avoid
37 rewriting the entire file if the metadata size changes. Use
38 this option to tell metaflac to not take advantage of padding
39 this way.
40
42 --show-md5sum
43 Show the MD5 signature from the STREAMINFO block.
44 --show-min-blocksize
46 Show the minimum block size from the STREAMINFO block.
47 --show-max-blocksize
49 Show the maximum block size from the STREAMINFO block.
50 --show-min-framesize
52 Show the minimum frame size from the STREAMINFO block.
53 --show-max-framesize
55 Show the maximum frame size from the STREAMINFO block.
56 --show-sample-rate
58 Show the sample rate from the STREAMINFO block.
59 --show-channels
61 Show the number of channels from the STREAMINFO block.
62 --show-bps
64 Show the # of bits per sample from the STREAMINFO block.
65 --show-total-samples
67 Show the total # of samples from the STREAMINFO block.
68 --show-vendor-tag
70 Show the vendor string from the VORBIS_COMMENT block.
71 --show-tag=name
73 Show all tags where the the field name matches 'name'.
74 --remove-tag=name
76 Remove all tags whose field name is 'name'.
77 --remove-first-tag=name
79 Remove first tag whose field name is 'name'.
80 --remove-all-tags
82 Remove all tags, leaving only the vendor string.
83 --set-tag=field
85 Add a tag. The field must comply with the Vorbis comment spec,
86 of the form "NAME=VALUE". If there is currently no tag block,
87 one will be created.
88 --set-tag-from-file=field
90 Like --set-tag, except the VALUE is a filename whose contents
91 will be read verbatim to set the tag value. Unless --no-
92 utf8-convert is specified, the contents will be converted to
93 UTF-8 from the local charset. This can be used to store a
94 cuesheet in a tag (e.g. --set-tag-from-
95 file="CUESHEET=image.cue"). Do not try to store binary data in
96 tag fields! Use APPLICATION blocks for that.
97 --import-tags-from=file
99 Import tags from a file. Use '-' for stdin. Each line should
100 be of the form NAME=VALUE. Multi-line comments are currently
101 not supported. Specify --remove-all-tags and/or --no-utf8-con‐
102 vert before --import-tags-from if necessary. If FILE is '-'
103 (stdin), only one FLAC file may be specified.
104 --export-tags-to=file
106 Export tags to a file. Use '-' for stdout. Each line will be
107 of the form NAME=VALUE. Specify --no-utf8-convert if necessary.
108 --import-cuesheet-from=file
110 Import a cuesheet from a file. Use '-' for stdin. Only one
111 FLAC file may be specified. A seekpoint will be added for each
112 index point in the cuesheet to the SEEKTABLE unless --no-cued-
113 seekpoints is specified.
114 --export-cuesheet-to=file
116 Export CUESHEET block to a cuesheet file, suitable for use by CD
117 authoring software. Use '-' for stdout. Only one FLAC file may
118 be specified on the command line.
119 --import-picture-from={FILENAME|SPECIFICATION}
121 Import a picture and store it in a PICTURE metadata block. More
122 than one --import-picture-from command can be specified. Either
123 a filename for the picture file or a more complete specification
124 form can be used. The SPECIFICATION is a string whose parts are
125 separated by | (pipe) characters. Some parts may be left empty
126 to invoke default values. FILENAME is just shorthand for
127 "||||FILENAME". The format of SPECIFICATION is
128 [TYPE]|[MIME-TYPE]|[DESCRIPTION]|[WIDTHxHEIGHTxDEPTH[/COL‐
130 ORS]]|FILE
131 TYPE is optional; it is a number from one of:
133 0: Other
135 1: 32x32 pixels 'file icon' (PNG only)
137 2: Other file icon
139 3: Cover (front)
141 4: Cover (back)
143 5: Leaflet page
145 6: Media (e.g. label side of CD)
147 7: Lead artist/lead performer/soloist
149 8: Artist/performer
151 9: Conductor
153 10: Band/Orchestra
155 11: Composer
157 12: Lyricist/text writer
159 13: Recording Location
161 14: During recording
163 15: During performance
165 16: Movie/video screen capture
167 17: A bright coloured fish
169 18: Illustration
171 19: Band/artist logotype
173 20: Publisher/Studio logotype
175 The default is 3 (front cover). There may only be one picture
177 each of type 1 and 2 in a file.
178 MIME-TYPE is optional; if left blank, it will be detected from
180 the file. For best compatibility with players, use pictures
181 with MIME type image/jpeg or image/png. The MIME type can also
182 be --> to mean that FILE is actually a URL to an image, though
183 this use is discouraged.
184 DESCRIPTION is optional; the default is an empty string.
186 The next part specfies the resolution and color information. If
188 the MIME-TYPE is image/jpeg, image/png, or image/gif, you can
189 usually leave this empty and they can be detected from the file.
190 Otherwise, you must specify the width in pixels, height in pix‐
191 els, and color depth in bits-per-pixel. If the image has
192 indexed colors you should also specify the number of colors
193 used. When manually specified, it is not checked against the
194 file for accuracy.
195 FILE is the path to the picture file to be imported, or the URL
197 if MIME type is -->
198 For example, "|image/jpeg|||../cover.jpg" will embed the JPEG
200 file at ../cover.jpg, defaulting to type 3 (front cover) and an
201 empty description. The resolution and color info will be
202 retrieved from the file itself.
203 The specification
205 "4|-->|CD|320x300x24/173|http://blah.blah/backcover.tiff" will
206 embed the given URL, with type 4 (back cover), description "CD",
207 and a manually specified resolution of 320x300, 24 bits-per-
208 pixel, and 173 colors. The file at the URL will not be fetched;
209 the URL itself is stored in the PICTURE metadata block.
210 --export-picture-to=file
212 Export PICTURE block to a file. Use '-' for stdout. Only one
213 FLAC file may be specified on the command line. The first PIC‐
214 TURE block will be exported unless --export-picture-to is pre‐
215 ceded by a --block-number=# option to specify the exact metadata
216 block to extract. Note that the block number is the one shown
217 by --list.
218 --add-replay-gain
220 Calculates the title and album gains/peaks of the given FLAC
221 files as if all the files were part of one album, then stores
222 them as FLAC tags. The tags are the same as those used by vor‐
223 bisgain. Existing ReplayGain tags will be replaced. If only
224 one FLAC file is given, the album and title gains will be the
225 same. Since this operation requires two passes, it is always
226 executed last, after all other operations have been completed
227 and written to disk. All FLAC files specified must have the
228 same resolution, sample rate, and number of channels. The sam‐
229 ple rate must be one of 8, 11.025, 12, 16, 22.05, 24, 32, 44.1,
230 or 48 kHz.
231 --remove-replay-gain
233 Removes the ReplayGain tags.
234 --add-seekpoint={#|X|#x|#s}
236 Add seek points to a SEEKTABLE block. Using #, a seek point at
237 that sample number is added. Using X, a placeholder point is
238 added at the end of a the table. Using #x, # evenly spaced seek
239 points will be added, the first being at sample 0. Using #s, a
240 seekpoint will be added every # seconds (# does not have to be a
241 whole number; it can be, for example, 9.5, meaning a seekpoint
242 every 9.5 seconds). If no SEEKTABLE block exists, one will be
243 created. If one already exists, points will be added to the
244 existing table, and any duplicates will be turned into place‐
245 holder points. You may use many --add-seekpoint options; the
246 resulting SEEKTABLE will be the unique-ified union of all such
247 values. Example: --add-seekpoint=100x --add-seekpoint=3.5s will
248 add 100 evenly spaced seekpoints and a seekpoint every 3.5 sec‐
249 onds.
250 --add-padding=length
252 Add a padding block of the given length (in bytes). The overall
253 length of the new block will be 4 + length; the extra 4 bytes is
254 for the metadata block header.
255
257 --list List the contents of one or more metadata blocks to stdout. By
258 default, all metadata blocks are listed in text format. Use the
259 following options to change this behavior:
260 --block-number=#[,#[...]]
262 An optional comma-separated list of block numbers to dis‐
263 play. The first block, the STREAMINFO block, is block 0.
264 --block-type=type[,type[...]]
266 --except-block-type=type[,type[...]]
268 An optional comma-separated list of block types to be
269 included or ignored with this option. Use only one of
270 --block-type or --except-block-type. The valid block
271 types are: STREAMINFO, PADDING, APPLICATION, SEEKTABLE,
272 VORBIS_COMMENT. You may narrow down the types of APPLI‐
273 CATION blocks displayed as follows:
274 APPLICATION:abcd The APPLICATION block(s) whose
276 textual repre- sentation of the 4-byte ID is "abcd"
277 APPLICATION:0xXXXXXXXX The APPLICATION block(s) whose
278 hexadecimal big- endian representation of the 4-byte ID
279 is "0xXXXXXXXX". For the example "abcd" above the hexa‐
280 decimal equivalalent is 0x61626364
281 Note: if both --block-number and --[except-]block-type
283 are specified, the result is the logical AND of both
284 arguments.
285 --application-data-format=hexdump|text
287 If the application block you are displaying contains
288 binary data but your --data-format=text, you can display
289 a hex dump of the application data contents instead using
290 --application-data-format=hexdump.
291 --remove
293 Remove one or more metadata blocks from the metadata. Unless
294 --dont-use-padding is specified, the blocks will be replaced
295 with padding. You may not remove the STREAMINFO block.
296 --block-number=#[,#[...]]
298 --block-type=type[,type[...]]
300 --except-block-type=type[,type[...]]
302 See --list above for usage.
303 Note: if both --block-number and --[except-]block-type
305 are specified, the result is the logical AND of both
306 arguments.
307 --remove-all
309 Remove all metadata blocks (except the STREAMINFO block) from
310 the metadata. Unless --dont-use-padding is specified, the
311 blocks will be replaced with padding.
312 --merge-padding
314 Merge adjacent PADDING blocks into single blocks.
315 --sort-padding
317 Move all PADDING blocks to the end of the metadata and merge
318 them into a single block.
319
321 flac(1).
322 14 September 2007 METAFLAC(1)