Options Panel

Access: Menu > File > Options, <Ctrl+O, button on Center Toolbar

Use the Options Panel to control the Main Editor's auto-editing behavior when manually editing tags, and to enable or disable several other features and editing options. This is a movable panel brought into view by either 1) clicking the Options Panel Button on the Center Toolbar, 2) using the shortcut sequence <Ctrl+O>, or 3) choosing Main Menu > File > Options. Close the panel by clicking on or near the "pointing-hand" image on its surface.

Editor Auto-Edit Options

The following auto-edit options are applied in the order shown when performing individual cell edits (excluding cells in "File Name" columns, which use the Rename Auto-Edit Options described below).

Trim leading space: Spaces at the beginning of a tag field are automatically removed.

Trim overlength: Each ID3v1 tag field is allotted a specific number of character spaces for the storage of data. For Title, Artist, and Album fields this number is 30. The Comment is allowed 28 characters (for tag version 1.1). The Year field can have up to 4 characters, while the Track is allowed only 2. The Genre is stored as an index number rather than a text value, so it's not subject to a length restriction. These numbers are a tag design characteristic and cannot be changed. While more characters can be entered into a data cell in the Main Editor than the maximum number the tag itself can accept, no more than the maximum number is actually written to a tag. Any excess is lost. When this feature enabled, visual feedback is provided when the data entered exceeds the design limit, since the excess is automatically removed as a cell is vacated.

Trim trailing space: Spaces at the end of a tag field are automatically removed.

Auto-Cap: Automatically capitalize all words in tag text or a filename after it is edited. The "Apply To..." settings described below govern which tag fields have this option applied. Behavior is modified by the Default Capitalization Options defined in the Capitalization Editor (click small button for access), as well as the status of the Exact-Cap and Anti-Cap options described below. Auto-Cap can also be enabled or disabled by clicking the Auto-Cap button on the Center Toolbar. Note that the capitalization of filename extensions is not controlled by Auto-Cap; instead, extensions are capitalized in accordance with the extension capitalization setting (Filename.mp3 below).

'X -> 'x: Whenever one of the characters D, M, S, or T (followed by a space or at end-of-text) is found to occur after an apostrophe, or one of the characters L, R, or V is found to occur after an apostrophe, convert the letter to lower case. Thus, for example, the contraction "can't" is capitalized as "Can't" and not "Can'T," when this option is enabled. Note that this option takes precedence over the more general option to auto-cap after all apostrophes found in "Default Capitalization Options" on the Capitalization Editor.

'Xx -> 'xx: Whenever one of the letter sequences VE, LL, or RE (followed by a space or at end-of-text) is found to occur after an apostrophe, convert it to lower case. Thus, for example, the contraction "we've" is capitalized as "We've" rather than "We'Ve," when this option is enabled. Note that this option takes precedence over the more general option to auto-cap after all apostrophes found in "Default Capitalization Options" on the Capitalization Editor.

'Mcx -> McX': Capitalize the next letter following the expression "Mc". Thus, for example, the name "mcguire" is capitalized as "McGuire" rather than "Mcguire."

'& xxx' -> 'and xxx': Automatically convert an ampersand ("&") to the word "and" when found in the words "and his," "and the," or "and a."

Anti-Cap: Prevent capitalization of all words and phrases in the active Anti-Capitalization List. Single words listed must be found with a space on both sides in order to be acted upon, while phrases must be preceded by a space. Words that fall at the beginning of text are exempt from this option, as are words that have a parenthesis or bracket immediately preceding or following them. In addition to activation with the checkbox shown, the option may also be enabled or disabled with the "Enable Anti-Cap List' checkbox on the Capitalization Editor. By default, Anti-Cap is applied whether or not option Auto-Cap above is enabled. However, you can prevent its operation while Auto-Cap is not active by checking "Only apply when Auto-Cap is enabled" on the Capitalization Editor.

Exact-Cap: Capitalize all words and phrases listed in the Exact-Capitalization List exactly as shown in the list. Listed words must be found with a space on both sides in order to be acted upon. In addition to activation with the checkbox shown, the option may also be enabled or disabled with the "Enable Exact-Cap List' checkbox on the Capitalization Editor. By default, Exact-Cap is applied whether or not option Auto-Cap above is enabled. However, you can prevent its operation while Auto-Cap is not active by checking "Only apply when Auto-Cap is enabled" on the Capitalization Editor.

Apply To...

Titles: Apply enabled auto-edit options to File Name, Original File Name, Title, Orchestra/Band, Subtitle, and Publisher fields.

People: Apply enabled auto-edit options to Artist, Original Artist, Lyricist, Original Lyricist, Encoded By, Modified By, Conductor, Composer, Involved People, Musicians, Owner-Seller, and Commercial-Seller fields.

Albums: Apply enabled auto-edit options to the Album and Original Album fields.

Multi-line tag fields, such as Comments, User Text, MusicMatch Bio, and Lyrics, have auto-edit options permanently allowed (with the exception of Auto-Cap, which is not applied to these fields automatically).

Options Apply To, Anti-Cap, and Exact-Cap are applicable, when active, both to the editing of text in the Main Editor and to the renaming of files, using either the Rename Page or a popup menu rename function.

Tag Synchronization

'V1 syncs with V2': Changes made to MP3 ID3v2 tag fields are automatically propagated into the corresponding ID3v1 tag field. If the file does not contain an ID3v1 tag, one is created.

'V2 syncs with V1': Changes made to an MP3 ID3v1 tag field are automatically propagated into the corresponding ID3v2 tag field. If the file does not contain an ID3v2 tag, one is created.

Use the hint ON/OFF button to enable or disable hints normally presented for items on the Options Panel.

Rename Auto-Edit Options

The following auto-edit options are applied when editing filenames, either individually or when renaming multiple files at one time. They are only applied to filenames when "Titles" is checked in the "Apply To..." section descriped above on the Tag Edit tab.

Remove 'The ': When the word "the," followed by a space, is found at the beginning of Artist, Original Artist, or Orchestra/Band data, do not include it in the new name created during a rename or rename preview. Thus, for example, a file with Artist "The Kingston Trio" and Title tag "Five Hundred Miles" can be renamed to "Kingston Trio - Five Hundred Miles," rather than "The Kingston Trio - File Hundred Miles."

*option may be applied to the following fields: Artist, Original Artist, Orchestra/Band, Involved People, Title, Original Filename, Subtitle, Album, Album Artist, Original Album, Album+Artist, Track+Title

'& xxx' -> 'and xxx': When the expressions " & his ", " & the ", or " & a " are found anywhere in a tag field, convert them to " and his", " and the ", and " and a ", respectively, during a rename or rename preview.

'X -> 'x: Whenever the capital letters D, L, M, R, S, T, or V (followed by a space) are found to occur after an apostrophe, convert the letter to lower case. Thus, for example, the contraction "can't" is capitalized as "Can't" rather than "Can'T" when this option is enabled.

'XX -> 'xx: Whenever the letter combinations VE, LL, or RE (followed by a space) are found to occur after an apostrophe, converted the letter combination to lower case. Thus, for example, the contraction "we've" is capitalized as "We've" and not "We'Ve" when this option is enabled.

'Mcx -> McX': Capitalize the next letter following the expression "Mc". Thus, for example, the name "mcguire" is capitalized as "McGuire" rather than "Mcguire."

• " -> ' Converts all double-quotes to a single-quotes.
• '_' -> ' ' Convert all underbars to spaces.

Anti-Cap (located on the "Tag Edit' tab): Prevent capitalization of all words and phrases in the anti-capitalization list on the Capitalization Editor (click button to access this editor). When Auto-Cap (above) is applied to tag field text used for creating new filenames, any words and phrases in the anti-cap list are prevented from being capitalized. May also be enabled or disabled with the "Enable Anti-Cap List' checkbox on the Capitalization Editor itself.

Exact-Cap (located on the "Tag Edit' tab): Capitalize all words and phrases in the exact-capitalization list as shown on the Capitalization Editor (click button to access this editor). When Auto-Cap (above) is applied to tag field text used for creating new filenames, words and phrases in the exact-cap list are capitalized exactly as shown in the list. May also be enabled or disabled with the "Enable Exact-Cap List' checkbox on the Capitalization Editor itself.

Note: The auto-edit features above are applied in the order listed.

Filename.mp3: Use this button to set the capitalization style for file extensions when files are auto-renamed. For MP3s, for example, the button toggles through three possible choices: 1) Filename.mp3, 2) Filename.Mp3, and 3) Filename.MP3. The actual extension name shown changes to reflect the type or types of files being listed in the Editor.

Stop on illegals: The OS does not allow certain text characters ( \ , / , : , * , ? , " , < , > , and | ) to be used as part of a filename. When a file to be renamed contains one or more of these characters in the tag data being used to rename it, the proposed new name appears in the Preview Window with the expression "***ILLEGAL DATA***" prepended to it.

When enabled while using the Rename Page, the Rename button is turned red when a rename preview produces a new name containing an illegal character, and file renaming is not allowed to proceed. When disabled, new names containing illegal characters are automatically skipped during the renaming process, the Rename button is turned yellow, and a summary is given at the end indicating how many skips occurred.

When enabled while renaming multiple files via the popup menu Rename function (see Renaming with the Popup Menu below), notification is given as each instance of a file occurs that cannot be renamed due to the presence of illegal characters, and an opportunity is given to cancel or proceed with the renaming process. When disabled, filenames containing illegal characters are simply skipped, with a summary of skipped files given at the end of the renaming process.

Auto-replace illegals: Illegal characters in tag text used for renaming files can be automatically removed or replaced while renaming, as directed on the Illegal Character Replacement Editor (click edit button to execute this editor). Check this box to enable this option while renaming. The "Auto-replace illegals" setting is ignored if Stop on illegals, above, is enabled.

Auto-Edit Paths: Apply enabled rename auto-edit options to the path portion of a fully-qualified filename when renaming, when renaming involves Directory Restructuring. When disabled, only the filename itself is auto-edited.

Allow partial data: When a file to be renamed contains no data in one or more (but not all) tag fields used for renaming, the file appears in the Preview Window with the expression '***PARTIAL DATA***' in front of its proposed new name after a Preview is performed. By default, such files are skipped during the renaming process and are not renamed. Enable this option to allow such files to be renamed anyway, using whatever tag data happens to be present. This option setting is ignored if the rename template being used contains a backslash character "\," which indicates that Directory Restructuring is to be performed. In this case, partial data renames are not permitted regardless of the status of this option setting (although, individual names can still be manually edited/corrected via the popup menu "Edit" selection). Note that if a file contains no data in ANY tag field used for renaming, the file's current name appears in the Preview Window with '***NO DATA***' prepended to it. Files with this designation are not renamed unless manually corrected first.

Track digits: Minimum number of track digits to use as part of new filenames. When enabled, inserts leading zeros in front of single-digit track numbers to make them two digits, or in front of single- and double-digit track numbers to make them three digits in length.

Enable cancel: Allow user-cancellation of multi-file renames and drag-and-drop operations by clicking on the Main Editor or the Preview Window. Other types of multi-file operations can be cancelled in this way at all times regardless of this setting. Choosing to enable or disable this option involves a trade off between convenience and speed, since a certain amount of overhead is involved in monitoring for user-cancellation requests.

Note that changes made to these options are not recorded by the program's undo facilities (with the exception of the Anti-Cap and Exact-Cap settings). Thus, if they are changed between Previews, precise undo's cannot be guaranteed.

When renaming files using the contents of the Comment or User Text fields as part of the name, line breaks are removed and lines concatenated to form new names. See topic Comment Editor for additional discussion about multi-line tag data in Tag Clinic.