troubleshooting incorrect date values problem

[simoncn]

From the ID3v2.3 specification:

TDAT
The 'Date' frame is a numeric string in the DDMM format containing the date for the recording. This field is always four characters long.

TYER
The 'Year' frame is a numeric string with a year of the recording. This frames is always four characters long (until the year 10000).

[hsimon46]

Hi. I am having the same problem with date-related log errors for many hundreds of files with dates formatted YYYY-DD-MM. I am not a programmer, just a humble MinimServer user for my music. So here are my questions (and thanks in advance for any help you can offer).

First, is there a relatively simple way to reformat the dates that an untrained but generally computer-literate person might be able to do? If so, can it be done as a batch or does one have to edit each file individually? And what would you consider the easiest tag-editing program for a layperson to use either on Mac OS or on Windows 7 Pro?

And second, given that I don't much care about indexing my music collection by the Date field, is there a way to tell MinimServer to ignore that field when scanning and running a log? Is that potentially an easier fix?

Thanks again.

-Howard

[simoncn]

In aswer to your second question, you can set the aliasTags property to Date:nil and this will ignore all Date tags.

[paultaylor]

(13-11-2017 02:43)hsimon46 Wrote:  First, is there a relatively simple way to reformat the dates that an untrained but generally computer-literate person might be able to do? If so, can it be done as a batch or does one have to edit each file individually? And what would you consider the easiest tag-editing program for a layperson to use either on Mac OS or on Windows 7 Pro?

Hi, you can only display the year part by setting tagOptions:Date.yearOnly.index.

I have written more detail about using dates with MinimServer at http://blog.jthink.net/2017/05/minimserv...art-8.html

[simoncn]

The Date.yearOnly option does not prevent warning messages about incorrect date values (YYYY-DD-MM instead of YYYY-MM-DD).

[paultaylor]

(13-11-2017 12:01)simoncn Wrote:  The Date.yearOnly option does not prevent warning messages about incorrect date values (YYYY-DD-MM instead of YYYY-MM-DD).

Oops, sorry misread that.

[simoncn]

There is another way to handle this situation. You could do the following:

1) Set aliasTags to Date:DateTag (or any other name of your choosing instead of DateTag)

2) In indexTags, replace Date by DateTag:Date

3) In tagOptions, set DateTag.yearOnly.index

This should give you a "year only" index named Date without checking that your dates are formatted correctly.

By doing this, you are treating all Date tags as if they were named DateTag. There is no checking for DateTag, so you don't get the warning messages.

[hsimon46]

(13-11-2017 13:08)simoncn Wrote:  There is another way to handle this situation. You could do the following:

1) Set aliasTags to Date:DateTag (or any other name of your choosing instead of DateTag)

2) In indexTags, replace Date by DateTag:Date

3) In tagOptions, set DateTag.yearOnly.index

This should give you a "year only" index named Date without checking that your dates are formatted correctly.

By doing this, you are treating all Date tags as if they were named DateTag. There is no checking for DateTag, so you don't get the warning messages.

[hsimon46]

Thanks -- I'll give this a try.

-Howard

[hsimon46]

Hi. I tried doing as you instructed, but the MinimWatch tray icon turned red. When I put the cursor over the red icon, the following error message came up: "Syntax error for 'DateTag:yearOnly' in property Tag Options." Please advise. Thanks, Simon.

-Howard