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[TXgary]

I have a large collection and have a few (more than 200) entries without actual header data.  Meaning the database is updated and points to the song but the actual header in the mp3 record is blank.
How can I identify those blank records.
A smartlist would be ideal, I just cannot come up with how to do it.

Thanks....

[MrC]

Can you send me a track to test?  I'll toss it afterwards.  PM me if so.

[TXgary]

Sure, How do I PM you with the attached track?

[MrC]

PM sent.

[MrC]

Got it.  Can you clarify what you mean by missing header?

I see in the track ID3v1 and ID3v2.3 info, and it is identified as type MPEG-1 Layer 3, 128 Kbit CBR, etc.

[TXgary]

Yes, there is no data in the headers.
By data, I mean artist, album, track, etc.
That data is in the MC database and I can look up the track and play it, but the actual track contains none of the data.
I have a large collection, so how do I create a smartlist that will contain only those that have blank headers?

[MrC]

You're saying the "header" is blank.  But that is not what I see (see attached images).

Perhaps you need to remove the ID3v1 tag, and use the ID3v2.3 tag instead.

[TXgary]

The ID3v2 tags are blank while the ID3v1 tags contain the valid info.
So how do I identify these tracks with blank ID3v2 fields?
Then how do I update the ID3v2 field from the ID3v1 data?

[TXgary]

There are 311 tracks with no ID3v2 info spread out over 102,000 tracks.....
How to I identify the bad ones and update the ID3v2 fields from the ID3v1 fields.

[MrC]

How did you identify that there are 311 tracks?

I'm not sure there is a clear way to detect one physical tag type over another in MC (mp3tag can do this).  By the time MC sees them, they are already mapped into MC fields by the input plugin.

It appears in this case the mp3 input plugin sets [Name] to be the track's Filename, so an expression column such as:

  if(isequal([media type], Audio), if(isequal(filename(,0), [Name]), YES, NO), NO)

may detect these.

In any event, you can use:

   Update library (from tags)

followed by:

   Update tags (from library)

to remove the ID3v1 tags, and write out only ID3v2.3, provided you have set the MP3 input plugin's options to do so.  See Tools > Plug-in Manager > Input > MP3 Plugin > Configure, and set the ID3v1 Mode to Don't Save (remove existing).

[TXgary]

I identified the 311 from itunes.  I use MC for everything but do need itunes in sync so that I can sync iphone and ipads.  that said, I use MCiTunesSynchronizer to sync MC to itunes.  MC is used for playback with itunes only used to sync playlists to iphone and ipad.
The track file name appears in itunes in the name field with all other fields blank.  I just happen to notice it.  wow what to do know.  Looks like itunes supports some crazy ID3 format so out of 102,000, only 311 with the problem.  will probably go into each one separately.  not going to be fun.

I do appreciate your comments.

[MrC]

In that case, for the 311, you can add a marker tag to one of the empty fields, and reimport into MC.  Them, in MC, you can use the complete name field to pull out the components.  Would that work?

[TXgary]

Sorry, I'm not tracking with you.
I understand the marker and reimport, but not the rest.
And I still have to look up each individual problem track in MC.

[MrC]

Once you've marked (i.e. tagged one field with a unique value such as ZZYZX) all 311 tracks in itunes, you can then import back into MC.

Then, in MC, you can sort all your tracks based upon that marker (or use the Search box to filter to see only those tracks), and select them.

Since Name and Filename contains all the metadata, it is pretty easy to grab this and populate the fields.  You can use Fill Properties from Filename, with the appropriate template.  It looks like the filename is of the form:

   [Artist] - [Album] - [Name] - [Date] - [Track #]

so you'd use this as the template to fill the properties.

[marko]

Yes, there is no data in the headers.
By data, I mean artist, album, track, etc.
That data is in the MC database and I can look up the track and play it, but the actual track contains none of the data.
I have a large collection, so how do I create a smartlist that will contain only those that have blank headers?

MrC, isn't this getting over complicated? I may be missing something, but, if the data is in the MC database already, and TXgary uses iTunes to add a marker to a mutually identifiable field, such as the comment field, to those 311 tracks, won't MC pick up those changes (so long as "Update tags when file info changes" is turned on and the containing folders are in MC's watchlist) and then once MC has picked up the changes, TXgary can filter on that marker placed via itunes to isolate the 311 rogue files, select all, right click, update tags from library, and that should be that job all sorted... no?

If he/she wanted to make assurance doubly sure, then before doing update tags from library, you could do a "remove tags" on them first, then update tags.

-marko

[MrC]

I think we're using essentially the same procedure.  The problem is that Name is not correct, and needs to be updated.  In the test file, I found all I had to do was Update library from tags, and Update tags from library.

[TXgary]

It appears to have worked as advertised.   Thanks to both of you for your comments.
I do appreciate the help.

[marko]

That's good to hear. Excellent. Thanks for letting us know.