Keywords for SetAttr META

The following keywords can be used to modify file metadata programmatically with the SetAttr META command. Most fields can only be set to a string (or number), or cleared, however some fields accept more complex instructions, and these are noted below.

Field Keyword Notes

Standard Properties

Attributes

attr

Attributes are specified with one or more of the following letters:
A (archive)
R (read-only)
H (hidden)
S (system)
C (compressed)
E (encrypted)

You can also use + to turn attributes on and - to turn attributes off.

Example:

SetAttr META attr:+c-r   - sets compression and clears read-only attributes

Date created

createdate

The date and time can be set to an absolute date (in which case the time will be unchanged), an absolute time (in which case the date will be unchanged), or both.
The accepted formats for an absolute time and date are:
YYYY-MM-DD - set just the date
HH:MM:SS - sets just the time
YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS - sets both time and date (needs quotes)
The keyword now can also be given to use the current date and time.
You can also perform relative adjustments to the current date and time setting, using the following formats:
<time-adjust>  - adjusts only the time
<date-adjust> <time-adjust>  - adjusts both date and time (needs quotes)

The valid formats of the <time-adjust> string are:
[+-]H:M:S  - add or subtract hours, minutes and seconds
[+-]H:M  - add or subtract hours and minutes
[+-]H  - add or subtract a number of hours
The valid formats of the <date-adjust> string are:
[+-]Y:M:D  - add or subtract a year, month and day value
[+-]M:D  - add or subtract a month and day value
[+-]D  - add or subtract a number of days

You can't adjust the date without also adjusting the time - so specify 0 for <time-adjust> if you only want to adjust the date.

Example:

SetAttr META createdate:now   - sets the creation date to the current date/time
SetAttr META createdate:20100922   - sets creation date to Sep 22, 2010
SetAttr META "createdate:20100922 15:30:30"   - also sets time to 3:30 pm
SetAttr META createdate:+1:30   - adds 1h30m to creation time
SetAttr META "createdate:+1 0"   - adds 1 day (and zero hours)

You can also copy the values from another date field by specifying the other field's name: createdate, lastmodifieddate, datedigitized or datetaken. (For backward compatibility, modifydate also works as an alias of lastmodifieddate.)

Example:

SetAttr META createdate:lastmodifieddate   - sets the creation date to the file's last modified date/time

Date modified

lastmodifieddate

Accepts the same values as createdate (described above).


Extended Properties

Comment

comment
usercomment

User-defined string.

Rating

rating

Accepts a value from 0 (to clear the rating) through to 5 (5 stars).

Tags

tags

Accepts multiple semi-colon separated tags. You can either set the tags absolutely, or add tags to or remove tags from the existing set.

Example:

SetAttr META tags:one;two   - sets the tags to "one" and "two"
SetAttr META tags:+one   - adds the tag "one" to any existing tags
SetAttr META tags:+one;-two   - adds "one" and removes "two"


Picture Properties

Aperture

aperture

Accepts either a decimal or fractional value.

Camera make

cameramake

User-defined string.

Camera model

cameramodel

User-defined string.

Contrast

contrast

Accepts the following values (either the value or the keyword can be used):

ValueKeyword
0normal
1soft
2hard

Example:

SetAttr META contrast:2

Creation software

software

User-defined string.

Date digitized

datedigitized

Accepts the same values as createdate (described above in the Standard Properties section).

Date taken

datetaken

Accepts the same values as createdate (described above in the Standard Properties section).

Digital Zoom

digitalzoom

Accepts a decimal or fractional value, as well as the keyword off.

Exposure bias

exposurebias

Accepts either a decimal or fractional value.

Exposure program

exposureprogram

Accepts the following values (either the value or the keyword can be used):


ValueKeyword
0notdefined
1manual
2auto
3aperturepriority
4shutterpriority
5creativeprogram
6actionprogram
7portraitmode
8landscapemode

Example:

SetAttr META exposureprogram:aperturepriority

Exposure time

exposuretime

Specified in seconds or fractions of a second - accepts either a decimal or fractional value.

F-number

fnumber

Accepts either a decimal or fractional value.

Flash

flash

Accepts the following values (either the value or the keyword can be used):


ValueKeyword
0x00noflash
0x01fired
0x05fired,strobereturnlightnotdetected
0x07fired,strobereturnlightdetected
0x08yes,didnotfire
0x09yes,compulsory
0x0dyes,compulsory,returnlightnotdetected
0x0fyes,compulsory,returnlightdetected
0x10no,compulsory
0x14no,didnotfire,returnnotdetected
0x18no,auto
0x19yes,auto
0x1dyes,auto,returnlightnotdetected
0x1fyes,auto,returnlightdetected
0x20noflashfunction
0x41yes,red-eyereduction
0x45yes,red-eyereduction,returnlightnotdetected
0x47yes,red-eyereduction,returnlightdetected
0x49yes,compulsory,red-eyereduction
0x4dyes,compulsory,red-eyereduction,returnlightnotdetected
0x4fyes,compulsory,red-eyereduction,returnlightdetected
0x50no,red-eyereduction
0x58no,auto,red-eyereduction
0x59yes,auto,red-eyereduction
0x5dyes,auto,red-eyereduction,returnlightnotdetected
0x5fyes,auto,red-eyereduction,returnlightdetected

Alternatively, the following codes can be used in conjunction to represent the various states:

  • Y: Flash fired.
  • N: Flash did not fire.
  • S[yn-]: Strobe return; y: detected, n: not detected, -: not present
  • C[yna]: Compulsory; y: yes, n: no, a: auto
  • P[yn]: Flash present; y: yes, n: no
  • R[yn]: Red-eye reduction; y: yes, n:no

Example:

SetAttr META flash:0x50
SetAttr META flash:yes,auto,red-eyereduction
SetAttr META flash:YCaRy

Focal length

focallength

Specified in millimetres - accepts either a decimal or fractional value.

Focal length (35mm)

35mmfocallength

Specified in millimetres - accepts either a decimal or fractional value.

GPS Altitude

gpsaltitude

Specified as metres relative to sea level - accepts either a decimal or fractional value. Specify a negative number to reference below sea level.

Example:

SetAttr META gpsaltitude:-423

GPS Latitude

gpslatitude

Accepts coordinates in any of the following formats:


45:26:46N
45:26:46.302N
45N26 21
45.446195N
45.446195
N45° 26.7717'
45°26'21"N

Example:

SetAttr META gpslatitude:45:26:46.302N

GPS Longitude

gpslongitude

Accepts coordinates in any of the following formats:


65:56:55W
65:56:55.903W
65W58 36
65.948862W
-65.948862
W65° 56.93172'
65°58'36"W

Example:

SetAttr META gpslongitude:65W58.36

Image description

imagedesc

User-defined string.

ISO speed

isospeed

Accepts a numeric value.

Metering mode

meteringmode

Accepts the following values (either the value or the keyword can be used):


ValueKeyword
0unknown
1average
2centerweightedaverage
3spot
4multi-spot
5multi-segment
6partial
255other


Rotation

orientation

Accepts the values 0, 90, 180 and 270.
Also accepts a delta value to adjust the existing orientation value.

Example:

SetAttr META orientation:90   - set orientation to 90
SetAttr META orientation:-90   - rotate orientation 90 degrees counter-clockwise

Saturation

saturation

Accepts the following values (either the value or the keyword can be used):


ValueKeyword
0normal
1low
2high


Scene capture type

scenecapturetype

Accepts the following values (either the value or the keyword can be used):


ValueKeyword
0standard
1landscape
2portrait
3nightscene

Sharpness

sharpness

Accepts the following values (either the value or the keyword can be used):


ValueKeyword
0normal
1soft
2hard


Shutter speed

shutterspeed

Specified in seconds or fractions of a second - accepts either a decimal or fractional value.

Special instructions

instructions

User-defined string.

Subject distance

subjectdistance

Specified in either metres or millimetres - accepts either a decimal or fractional value.

Example:

SetAttr META subjectdistance:10.3mm    - 10.3 millimetres
SetAttr META subjectdistance:50m    - 50 metres

White balance

whitebalance

Accepts the following values (either the value or the keyword can be used):


ValueKeyword
0auto
1manual



Music Properties

Album

album

User-defined string.

Album artist

albumartist

User-defined string.

Compilation

compilation

iTunes Compilation tag. Can be True (1) or False (0).

Cover art

coverart

This can set, add and remove cover art.

To set cover art (removes any existing art), the value must be specified as:
type:<filename>
To add cover art (adds to existing art):
+type:<filename>
To remove cover art (removes any art of a certain type):
-type

The cover art type can be specified as follows (either the value or the keyword can be used):


ValueKeyword
3front
4 back
0other
1icon
2otherfileicon
5leaflet
6media
7leadartist
8artist
9conductor
10band
11composer
12lyricist
13location
14recording
15performance
16vidcap
17colorfulfish
18illustration
19bandlogo
20publisherlogo

Example:

SetAttr META "coverart:3:/mypictures/Pink Floyd.jpg"
SetAttr META "coverart:front:clip" - sets cover image from the clipboard
SetAttr META coverart:-back    - removes all back cover images
SetAttr META coverart  - removes all images

Disc number

discnumber

Accepts either a single digit (the number of the disc), or two digits separated by a forward slash (the number of the disc and the total number of discs in the set).

Example:

SetAttr META discnumber:3/8

Initial key

initialkey

User-defined string.

Original artists

origartist

User-defined string.

Release date

releasedate

Accepts YYYYMMDD or YYYY-MM-DD format for the date.

Example:

SetAttr META releasedate:1973-03-01

Track number

track

Accepts either a single digit (the number of the track), or two digits separated by a forward slash (the number of the track and the total number of tracks on the disk). Append a + to the value to activate auto-increment mode.

Example:

SetAttr META track:5/14


Video Properties

Directors

directors

User-defined string. Multiple directors can be separated with semi-colons.

Producers

producers

User-defined string. Multiple producers can be separated with semi-colons.

Writers

writers

User-defined string. Multiple writers can be separated with semi-colons.


Music and Video Properties

Author URL

authorurl

User-defined string.

Artists

artist

User-defined string. Multiple artists can be separated with semi-colons.

BPM

bpm

Accepts a numeric value.

Composers

composers

User-defined string. Multiple composers can be separated with semi-colons.

Conductors

conductor

User-defined string. Multiple conductors can be separated with semi-colons.

Content group

contentgroup

User-defined string.

Encoded by

encoder

User-defined string.

Encoding software

encodingsoftware

User-defined string.

Genre

genre

User-defined string.

Mood

mood

User-defined string.

Publisher

publisher

User-defined string.

Subtitle

subtitle

User-defined string.

Year

year

Accepts a four digit year (YYYY).


Document Properties

Authors

author

User-defined string. Multiple authors can be separated with semi-colons.

Category

category

User-defined string.

Company

company

User-defined string.

Content Status

contentstatus

User-defined string.

Content Type

contenttype

User-defined string.

Copyright

copyright

User-defined string.

Creator

creator

User-defined string.

Language

language

User-defined string.

Last saved by

lastsavedby

User-defined string.

Manager

manager

User-defined string.

Producer

producer

User-defined string.

Subject

subject

User-defined string.

Title

title

User-defined string.