Lightweight command line program for reading, parsing and setting metadata into MPEG-4 files

AtomicParsley

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AtomicParsley is a lightweight command line program for reading, parsing and setting metadata into MPEG-4 files, in particular, iTunes-style metadata.

Install

macOS

Navigate to the latest release
Download the AtomicParsleyMacOS.zip file and extract AtomicParsley

AtomicParsley is also available for brew users and can be installed by executing this command in a terminal:

$ brew install atomicparsley

Note that the version available in brew may lag behind the latest version of the code in this repo.

Windows

Navigate to the latest release
Download the AtomicParsleyWindows.zip file and extract AtomicParsley.exe

Linux (x86-64)

Navigate to the latest release
Download the AtomicParsleyLinux.zip file and extract AtomicParsley

Alpine Linux (x86-64 musl libc)

Navigate to the latest release
Download the AtomicParsleyAlpine.zip file and extract AtomicParsley
And finally apk add libstdc++

Usage

AtomicParsley sets metadata into MPEG-4 files &amp; derivatives supporting 3 tag
 schemes: iTunes-style, 3GPP assets &amp; ISO defined copyright notifications.

AtomicParsley quick help for setting iTunes-style metadata into MPEG-4 files.

General usage examples:
  AtomicParsley /path/to.mp4 -T 1
  AtomicParsley /path/to.mp4 -t +
  AtomicParsley /path/to.mp4 --artist "Me" --artwork /path/to/art.jpg
  Atomicparsley /path/to.mp4 --albumArtist "You" --podcastFlag true
  Atomicparsley /path/to.mp4 --stik "TV Show" --advisory explicit

Getting information about the file &amp; tags:
  -T  --test        Test file for mpeg4-ishness &amp; print atom tree
  -t  --textdata    Prints tags embedded within the file
  -E  --extractPix  Extracts pix to the same folder as the mpeg-4 file

Setting iTunes-style metadata tags
  --artist       (string)     Set the artist tag
  --title        (string)     Set the title tag
  --album        (string)     Set the album tag
  --genre        (string)     Genre tag (see --longhelp for more info)
  --tracknum     (num)[/tot]  Track number (or track number/total tracks)
  --disk         (num)[/tot]  Disk number (or disk number/total disks)
  --comment      (string)     Set the comment tag
  --year         (num|UTC)    Year tag (see --longhelp for "Release Date")
  --lyrics       (string)     Set lyrics (not subject to 256 byte limit)
  --lyricsFile   (/path)      Set lyrics to the content of a file
  --composer     (string)     Set the composer tag
  --copyright    (string)     Set the copyright tag
  --grouping     (string)     Set the grouping tag
  --artwork      (/path)      Set a piece of artwork (jpeg or png only)
  --bpm          (number)     Set the tempo/bpm
  --albumArtist  (string)     Set the album artist tag
  --compilation  (boolean)    Set the compilation flag (true or false)
  --hdvideo      (number)     Set the hdvideo flag to one of:
                              false or 0 for standard definition
                              true or 1 for 720p
                              2 for 1080p
  --advisory     (string*)    Content advisory (*values: 'clean', 'explicit')
  --stik         (string*)    Sets the iTunes "stik" atom (see --longhelp)
  --description  (string)     Set the description tag
  --longdesc     (string)     Set the long description tag
  --storedesc    (string)     Set the store description tag
  --TVNetwork    (string)     Set the TV Network name
  --TVShowName   (string)     Set the TV Show name
  --TVEpisode    (string)     Set the TV episode/production code
  --TVSeasonNum  (number)     Set the TV Season number
  --TVEpisodeNum (number)     Set the TV Episode number
  --podcastFlag  (boolean)    Set the podcast flag (true or false)
  --category     (string)     Sets the podcast category
  --keyword      (string)     Sets the podcast keyword
  --podcastURL   (URL)        Set the podcast feed URL
  --podcastGUID  (URL)        Set the episode's URL tag
  --purchaseDate (UTC)        Set time of purchase
  --encodingTool (string)     Set the name of the encoder
  --encodedBy    (string)     Set the name of the Person/company who encoded the file
  --apID         (string)     Set the Account Name
  --cnID         (number)     Set the iTunes Catalog ID (see --longhelp)
  --geID         (number)     Set the iTunes Genre ID (see --longhelp)
  --xID          (string)     Set the vendor-supplied iTunes xID (see --longhelp)
  --gapless      (boolean)    Set the gapless playback flag
  --contentRating (string*)   Set tv/mpaa rating (see -rDNS-help)

Deleting tags
  Set the value to "":        --artist "" --stik "" --bpm ""
  To delete (all) artwork:    --artwork REMOVE_ALL
  manually removal:           --manualAtomRemove "moov.udta.meta.ilst.ATOM"

More detailed iTunes help is available with AtomicParsley --longhelp
Setting reverse DNS forms for iTunes files: see --reverseDNS-help
Setting 3gp assets into 3GPP &amp; derivative files: see --3gp-help
Setting copyright notices for all files: see --ISO-help
For file-level options &amp; padding info: see --file-help
Setting custom private tag extensions: see --uuid-help
Setting ID3 tags onto mpeg-4 files: see --ID3-help

----------------------------------------------------------------------
AtomicParsley version: 20221229.172126.0 d813aa6e0304ed3ab6d92f1ae96cd52b586181ec (utf8)

Submit bug fixes to https://github.com/wez/atomicparsley

Build from Source

If you are building from source you will need cmake and make. On Windows systems you'll need Visual Studio or MingW.

cmake .
cmake --build . --config Release

will generate an AtomicParsley executable.

Dependencies:

zlib - used to compress ID3 frames & expand already compressed frames available from http://www.zlib.net

A note on maintenance!

> I made some fixes to the original project on sourceforge back in 2009 and > became the de-facto fork of AtomicParsley as a result. However, I haven't > used this tool myself in many years and have acted in a very loose guiding > role since then. > > In 2020 Bitbucket decided to cease hosting Mercurial based repositories > which meant that I had to move it in order to keep it alive, so you'll > see a flurry of recent activity. > > I'll consider merging pull requests if they are easy to review, but because > I don't use this tool myself I have no way to verify complex changes. > If you'd like to make such a change, please consider contributing some > kind of basic automated test with a corresponding small test file. > > This repo has GitHub Actions enabled for the three major platforms > so bootstrapping some test coverage is feasible. > > You are welcome to report issues using the issue tracker, but I (@wez) > am unlikely to act upon them.

AtomicParsley Wez Furlong

README