NAME
metaflac -- program to list, add, remove, or edit metadata in one
or more FLAC files.
SYNOPSIS
metaflac [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
operations 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-convert 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[/COLORS]]|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 pixels, 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 PICTURE block will be exported unless --export-picture-
to is preceded 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
vorbisgain. 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 sample 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 placeholder 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 seconds.
--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 display. 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 APPLICATION 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 hexadecimal
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 ALSO
flac(1).