Tools options¶
Open File → Options… → Tools to configure external programs for selected local audio files. Saved tools appear in the Tools menu and file-list context menu. The default tool can also run on a file double-click.
New to this?
Start with a player or inspection program and one copied file. A tool is a separate application: it can change files independently of OpenTag, so its changes are not automatically an OpenTag undo step.
Add, edit, and reorder¶
New adds a tool; select it to edit its fields. Remove, Move up, and Move down manage the list. At most 99 tools are allowed. The initial list is empty.
The first ten entries have Cmd+1 through Cmd+0 on macOS, or Ctrl+1 through Ctrl+0 on Windows/Linux. The tenth entry uses 0. Reordering changes the corresponding shortcut positions. Shortcuts do not run a tool while typing into an ordinary text field.
Name, Path, and Parameter¶
| Field | Use |
|---|---|
| Name | Nonempty label shown in the menus. |
| Path | Full path of the executable. Use Browse… to select it. A command name found only through a shell's search path is insufficient. On macOS an application bundle path ending in .app is also accepted. |
| Parameter | Optional argument text containing supported placeholders. Empty parameters pass the selected file's full path as one argument. |
For a program that accepts a file path, use:
Arguments are separated by whitespace, and double quotes keep an argument together. An unmatched quote is an error. Placeholder values are inserted into the parsed arguments; a file path containing spaces remains one argument when the placeholder occupies one quoted argument.
OpenTag starts the program directly, without a shell. Redirection, pipes, command substitution, and shell wildcard expansion are not performed. Enter the executable in Path and its arguments in Parameter, rather than a complete shell command in either field.
Placeholders¶
For a file /Music/Juniper Vale/Harbour Lights/03 - Tidepool.flac, a single listed root /Music, and its containing folder:
| Placeholder | Meaning | Illustrative value |
|---|---|---|
%_path% |
Complete file path. | /Music/Juniper Vale/Harbour Lights/03 - Tidepool.flac |
%_filename_ext% |
Filename including extension. | 03 - Tidepool.flac |
%_filename% |
Filename without extension. | 03 - Tidepool |
%_filename_rel% |
File path relative to the list root, where available. | Juniper Vale/Harbour Lights/03 - Tidepool.flac |
%_directory% |
Containing folder's name. | Harbour Lights |
%_folderpath% |
Complete containing folder path, with trailing separator. | /Music/Juniper Vale/Harbour Lights/ |
%_folderpath_rel% |
Relative containing folder path, with trailing separator. | Juniper Vale/Harbour Lights/ |
Relative placeholders depend on the root context. With several roots or a file outside the chosen root, do not assume the same relative result; use %_path% when the external program needs an unambiguous file location. Path separators follow the platform.
For all selected files¶
A new tool enables for all selected files (otherwise only the first selected file). Enabled means launch one process per selected file. Disabled means run once for the first selected file; it does not collect every selected path into one argument list.
OpenTag asks before launching a per-file tool for more than ten files. The backend limits one per-file invocation request to 100 selected files. Save pending changes first so an external program reads the intended on-disk data. Tool availability is limited to supported local-file contexts; a provider-backed document is not automatically an executable filesystem path.
Default tool¶
Default tool (double-click in the file list) defaults to No action. Select a configured tool to launch it on a file double-click. No action disables the external-tool action; it does not remove explicit tools from menus. OpenTag’s file-list double-click falls back to Extended tags… when no default tool is selected. This differs from Mp3tag’s documented no-action behavior.
If another program modifies tags, use Reload tags to read its changes. Keep the Library timestamp/size cache rules in mind when an external editor preserves those attributes.