SNDFILE-METADATA-GET(1)

📦 version 1.2.2, in alpine 3.22, alpine 3.23, alpine 3.24, arch rolling, centos-stream 10, centos-stream 9, debian bookworm, debian trixie, fedora 43, fedora 44, nixpkgs unstable, opensuse-leap 16.0, ubuntu jammy, ubuntu noble, ubuntu questing, ubuntu resolute, ubuntu stonking

💖 sndfile-metadata-get — the manual page, but make it cute 💖

okay bestie, so this is SNDFILE-METADATA-GET(1), from the General Commands Manual, and it's literally about peeking at (or writing) the metadata hidden inside your sound files. it's giving librarian energy but for audio. let's go ✨

🌸 NAME 🌸

sndfile-metadata-get, sndfile-metadata-set — get or set metadata in a sound file

no cap, that's the whole vibe. two little tools, one job: metadata in, metadata out 💅

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

sndfile-metadata-get [options] file
sndfile-metadata-set [options] file
sndfile-metadata-set [options] input output

like, three whole ways to call these. the third one is the spicy one — hold that thought 🫶

🎀 DESCRIPTION 🎀

🦋 sndfile-metadata-get

so sndfile-metadata-get displays bext and string metadata stored in an audio file. that's it, that's the whole job — it reads the little secret notes your audio file has been keeping 🍓

the following options specify what to print:

  • --all — literally all the metadata. the whole buffet 🌈
  • --bext-description — description
  • --bext-originator — originator info
  • --bext-orig-ref — originator reference
  • --bext-umid — Unique Material Identifier
  • --bext-orig-date — origination date
  • --bext-orig-time — origination time
  • --bext-coding-hist — coding history
  • --str-title — title
  • --str-copyright — copyright
  • --str-artist — artist
  • --str-comment — comment
  • --str-date — creation date
  • --str-album — album
  • --str-license — license

🧚 sndfile-metadata-set

and sndfile-metadata-set sets bext and string metadata in an audio file — if the format supports it. that "if" is doing a lot of heavy lifting, bestie, so read carefully 👀

if the file does not contain a BEXT chunk to be modified, you must use the second synopsis, where another output file capable of storing the metadata is created. and heads up: this file is overwritten if it already exists. like, gone. poof. 💀

the following options take an argument specifying the metadata:

  • --bext-description — description
  • --bext-originator — originator
  • --bext-orig-ref — originator reference
  • --bext-umid — Unique Material Identifier
  • --bext-orig-date — origination date
  • --bext-orig-time — origination time
  • --bext-coding-hist — coding history
  • --bext-time-raf — time reference
  • --str-comment — comment
  • --str-title — title
  • --str-copyright — copyright
  • --str-artist — artist
  • --str-date — date
  • --str-album — album
  • --str-license — license

and the following options take no argument (they're just lil switches, no notes needed):

  • --bext-auto-time-date — Set the BEXT time and date to current.
  • --bext-auto-time — Set the BEXT time to current.
  • --bext-auto-date — Set the BEXT date to current.
  • --str-auto-date — Set the string date to current.

see how there's --bext-orig-date and --bext-auto-date? yeah, one's a value you hand over, the other just snatches the current one. iconic, honestly 👑

💅 EXIT STATUS 💅

the sndfile-metadata-get utility exits 0 on success, and >0 if an error occurs.

so 0 = we ate. >0 = something went wrong, crying in the group chat 😭

🔥 SEE ALSO 🔥

go read them, iykyk 📚

💜 AUTHORS 💜

Erik de Castro Lopo <erikd@mega-nerd.com>

and that's the whole page, bestie — this Debian edition dropped on November 2, 2014, and it's still serving. go forth and metadata responsibly 🎀✨🦋

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