mkvtoolnix/doc/man/mkvpropedit.1

'\" t
.\"     Title: mkvpropedit
.\"    Author: Moritz Bunkus <moritz@bunkus.org>
.\" Generator: DocBook XSL Stylesheets v1.75.2 <http://docbook.sf.net/>
.\"      Date: 2012-04-06
.\"    Manual: User Commands
.\"    Source: MKVToolNix 5.5.0
.\"  Language: English
.\"
.TH "MKVPROPEDIT" "1" "2012\-04\-06" "MKVToolNix 5\&.5\&.0" "User Commands"
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.SH "NAME"
mkvpropedit \- Modify properties of existing Matroska(TM) files without a complete remux
.SH "SYNOPSIS"
.HP \w'\fBmkvpropedit\fR\ 'u
\fBmkvpropedit\fR [options] {source\-filename} {actions}
.SH "DESCRIPTION"
.PP
This program analyses an existing
Matroska(TM)
file and modifies some of its properties\&. Then it writes those modifications to the existing file\&. Among the properties that can be changed are the segment information elements (e\&.g\&. the title) and the track headers (e\&.g\&. the language code, \*(Aqdefault track\*(Aq flag or the name)\&.
.PP
Options:
.PP
\fB\-l\fR, \fB\-\-list\-property\-names\fR
.RS 4
Lists all known and editable property names, their type (string, integer, boolean etc) and a short description\&. The program exits afterwards\&. Therefore the
\fIsource\-filename\fR
parameter does not have to be supplied\&.
.RE
.PP
\fB\-p\fR, \fB\-\-parse\-mode\fR \fImode\fR
.RS 4
Sets the parse mode\&. The parameter \*(Aq\fImode\fR\*(Aq can either be \*(Aqfast\*(Aq (which is also the default) or \*(Aqfull\*(Aq\&. The \*(Aqfast\*(Aq mode does not parse the whole file but uses the meta seek elements for locating the required elements of a source file\&. In 99% of all cases this is enough\&. But for files that do not contain meta seek elements or which are damaged the user might have to set the \*(Aqfull\*(Aq parse mode\&. A full scan of a file can take a couple of minutes while a fast scan only takes seconds\&.
.RE
.PP
Actions:
.PP
\fB\-e\fR, \fB\-\-edit\fR \fIselector\fR
.RS 4
Sets the
Matroska(TM)
file section (segment information or a certain track\*(Aqs headers) that all following
add,
set
and
delete
actions operate on\&. This option can be used multiple times in order to make modifications to more than one element\&.
.sp
By default
\fBmkvpropedit\fR(1)
will edit the segment information section\&.
.sp
See the section about
edit selectors
for a full description of the syntax\&.
.RE
.PP
\fB\-a\fR, \fB\-\-add\fR \fIname\fR=\fIvalue\fR
.RS 4
Adds a property
\fIname\fR
with the value
\fIvalue\fR\&. The property will be added even if such a property exists already\&. Note that most properties are unique and cannot occur more than once\&.
.RE
.PP
\fB\-s\fR, \fB\-\-set\fR \fIname\fR=\fIvalue\fR
.RS 4
Sets all occurrences of the property
\fIname\fR
to the value
\fIvalue\fR\&. If no such property exists then it will be added\&.
.RE
.PP
\fB\-d\fR, \fB\-\-delete\fR \fIname\fR
.RS 4
Deletes all occurrences of the property
\fIname\fR\&. Note that some properties are required and cannot be deleted\&.
.RE
.PP
\fB\-t\fR, \fB\-\-tags\fR \fIselector\fR:\fIfilename\fR
.RS 4
Add or replace tags in the file with the ones from
filename
or remove them if
filename
is empty\&.
\fBmkvpropedit\fR(1)
reads the same XML tag format that
\fBmkvmerge\fR(1)
reads as well\&.
.sp
The
\fIselector\fR
must be one of the words
\fBall\fR,
\fBglobal\fR
or
\fBtrack\fR\&. For
\fBall\fR
\fBmkvpropedit\fR(1)
will replace or remove all tags in a file\&. With
\fBglobal\fR
only global tags will be replaced or removed\&.
.sp
With
\fBtrack\fR
\fBmkvpropedit\fR(1)
will replace tags for a specific track\&. Additionally the tags read from
filename
will be assigned to the same track\&. The track is specified in the same way
edit selectors
are specified (see below), e\&.g\&.
\-\-tags track:a1:new\-audio\-tags\&.xml\&.
.RE
.PP
\fB\-c\fR, \fB\-\-chapters\fR \fIfilename\fR
.RS 4
Add or replace chapters in the file with the ones from
filename
or remove them if
filename
is empty\&.
\fBmkvpropedit\fR(1)
reads the same XML and simple chapter formats that
\fBmkvmerge\fR(1)
reads as well\&.
.RE
.PP
Other options:
.PP
\fB\-\-command\-line\-charset\fR \fIcharacter\-set\fR
.RS 4
Sets the character set to convert strings given on the command line from\&. It defaults to the character set given by system\*(Aqs current locale\&.
.RE
.PP
\fB\-\-output\-charset\fR \fIcharacter\-set\fR
.RS 4
Sets the character set to which strings are converted that are to be output\&. It defaults to the character set given by system\*(Aqs current locale\&.
.RE
.PP
\fB\-r\fR, \fB\-\-redirect\-output\fR \fIfile\-name\fR
.RS 4
Writes all messages to the file
\fIfile\-name\fR
instead of to the console\&. While this can be done easily with output redirection there are cases in which this option is needed: when the terminal reinterprets the output before writing it to a file\&. The character set set with
\fB\-\-output\-charset\fR
is honored\&.
.RE
.PP
\fB\-\-ui\-language\fR \fIcode\fR
.RS 4
Forces the translations for the language
\fIcode\fR
to be used (e\&.g\&. \*(Aqde_DE\*(Aq for the German translations)\&. It is preferable to use the environment variables
\fILANG\fR,
\fILC_MESSAGES\fR
and
\fILC_ALL\fR
though\&. Entering \*(Aqlist\*(Aq as the
\fIcode\fR
will cause
\fBmkvextract\fR(1)
to output a list of available translations\&.
.RE
.PP
\fB\-\-debug\fR \fItopic\fR
.RS 4
Turn on debugging for a specific feature\&. This option is only useful for developers\&.
.RE
.PP
\fB\-\-engage\fR \fIfeature\fR
.RS 4
Turn on experimental features\&. A list of available features can be requested with
\fBmkvpropedit \-\-engage list\fR\&. These features are not meant to be used in normal situations\&.
.RE
.PP
\fB\-v\fR, \fB\-\-verbose\fR
.RS 4
Be verbose and show all the important
Matroska(TM)
elements as they\*(Aqre read\&.
.RE
.PP
\fB\-h\fR, \fB\-\-help\fR
.RS 4
Show usage information and exit\&.
.RE
.PP
\fB\-V\fR, \fB\-\-version\fR
.RS 4
Show version information and exit\&.
.RE
.PP
\fB\-\-check\-for\-updates\fR
.RS 4
Checks online for new releases by downloading the URL
http://mkvtoolnix\-releases\&.bunkus\&.org/latest\-release\&.xml\&. Four lines will be output in
key=value
style: the URL from where the information was retrieved (key
version_check_url), the currently running version (key
running_version), the latest release\*(Aqs version (key
available_version) and the download URL (key
download_url)\&.
.sp
Afterwards the program exists with an exit code of 0 if no newer release is available, with 1 if a newer release is available and with 2 if an error occured (e\&.g\&. if the update information could not be retrieved)\&.
.sp
This option is only available if the program was built with support for libcurl\&.
.RE
.PP
\fB@\fR\fIoptions\-file\fR
.RS 4
Reads additional command line arguments from the file
\fIoptions\-file\fR\&. Lines whose first non\-whitespace character is a hash mark (\*(Aq#\*(Aq) are treated as comments and ignored\&. White spaces at the start and end of a line will be stripped\&. Each line must contain exactly one option\&.
.sp
Several chars can be escaped, e\&.g\&. if you need to start a non\-comment line with \*(Aq#\*(Aq\&. The rules are described in
the section about escaping text\&.
.sp
The command line \*(Aq\fBmkvpropedit source\&.mkv \-\-edit track:a2 \-\-set name=Comments\fR\*(Aq could be converted into the following option file:
.sp
.if n \{\
.RS 4
.\}
.nf
# Modify source\&.mkv
source\&.mkv
# Edit the second audio track
\-\-edit
track:a2
# and set the title to \*(AqComments\*(Aq
\-\-set
title=Comments
.fi
.if n \{\
.RE
.\}
.RE
.SH "EDIT SELECTORS"
.PP
The
\fB\-\-edit\fR
option sets the
Matroska(TM)
file section (segment information or a certain track\*(Aqs headers) that all following
add,
set
and
delete
actions operate on\&. This stays valid until the next
\fB\-\-edit\fR
option is found\&. The argument to this option is called the edit selector\&.
.PP
By default
\fBmkvpropedit\fR(1)
will edit the segment information section\&.
.SS "Segment information"
.PP
The segment information can be selected with one of these three words: \*(Aqinfo\*(Aq, \*(Aqsegment_info\*(Aq or \*(Aqsegmentinfo\*(Aq\&. It contains properties like the segment title or the segment
UID\&.
.SS "Track headers"
.PP
Track headers can be selected with a slightly more complex selector\&. All variations start with \*(Aqtrack:\*(Aq\&. The track header properties include elements like the language code, \*(Aqdefault track\*(Aq flag or the track\*(Aqs name\&.
.PP
\fBtrack:\fR\fIn\fR
.RS 4
If the parameter
\fIn\fR
is a number then the
\fIn\fRth track will be selected\&. The track order is the same that
\fBmkvmerge\fR(1)\*(Aqs
\fB\-\-identify\fR
option outputs\&.
.sp
Numbering starts at 1\&.
.RE
.PP
\fBtrack:\fR\fIt\fR\fIn\fR
.RS 4
If the parameter starts with a single character
\fIt\fR
followed by a
\fIn\fR
then the
\fIn\fRth track of a specific track type will be selected\&. The track type parameter
\fIt\fR
must be one of these four characters: \*(Aqa\*(Aq for an audio track, \*(Aqb\*(Aq for a button track, \*(Aqs\*(Aq for a subtitle track and \*(Aqv\*(Aq for a video track\&. The track order is the same that
\fBmkvmerge\fR(1)\*(Aqs
\fB\-\-identify\fR
option outputs\&.
.sp
Numbering starts at 1\&.
.RE
.PP
\fBtrack:\fR=\fIuid\fR
.RS 4
If the parameter starts with a \*(Aq=\*(Aq followed by a number
\fIuid\fR
then the track whose track
UID
element equals this
\fIuid\fR\&. Track
UIDs
can be obtained with
\fBmkvinfo\fR(1)\&.
.RE
.PP
\fBtrack:\fR@\fInumber\fR
.RS 4
If the parameter starts with a \*(Aq@\*(Aq followed by a number
\fInumber\fR
then the track whose track number element equals this
\fInumber\fR\&. Track number can be obtained with
\fBmkvinfo\fR(1)\&.
.RE
.SS "Notes"
.PP
Due to the nature of the track edit selectors it is possible that several selectors actually match the same track headers\&. In such cases all actions for those edit selectors will be combined and executed in the order in which they\*(Aqre given on the command line\&.
.SH "EXAMPLES"
.PP
The following example edits a file called \*(Aqmovie\&.mkv\*(Aq\&. It sets the segment title and modifies the language code of an audio and a subtitle track\&. Note that this example can be shortened by leaving out the first
\fB\-\-edit\fR
option because editing the segment information element is the default for all options found before the first
\fB\-\-edit\fR
option anyway\&.
.sp
.if n \{\
.RS 4
.\}
.nf
$ mkvpropedit movie\&.mkv \-\-edit info \-\-set "title=The movie" \-\-edit track:a1 \-\-set language=fre \-\-edit track:a2 \-\-set language=ita
.fi
.if n \{\
.RE
.\}
.PP
The second example removes the \*(Aqdefault track flag\*(Aq from the first subtitle track and sets it for the second one\&. Note that
\fBmkvpropedit\fR(1), unlike
\fBmkvmerge\fR(1), does not set the \*(Aqdefault track flag\*(Aq of other tracks to \*(Aq0\*(Aq if it is set to \*(Aq1\*(Aq for a different track automatically\&.
.sp
.if n \{\
.RS 4
.\}
.nf
$ mkvpropedit movie\&.mkv \-\-edit track:s1 \-\-set flag\-default=0 \-\-edit track:s2 \-\-set flag\-default=1
.fi
.if n \{\
.RE
.\}
.PP
Replacing the tags for the second subtitle track in a file looks like this:
.sp
.if n \{\
.RS 4
.\}
.nf
$ mkvpropedit movie\&.mkv \-\-tags track:s2:new\-subtitle\-tags\&.xml
.fi
.if n \{\
.RE
.\}
.PP
Removing all tags requires leaving out the file name:
.sp
.if n \{\
.RS 4
.\}
.nf
$ mkvpropedit movie\&.mkv \-\-tags all:
.fi
.if n \{\
.RE
.\}
.PP
Replacing the chapters in a file looks like this:
.sp
.if n \{\
.RS 4
.\}
.nf
$ mkvpropedit movie\&.mkv \-\-chapters new\-chapters\&.xml
.fi
.if n \{\
.RE
.\}
.PP
Removing all chapters requires leaving out the file name:
.sp
.if n \{\
.RS 4
.\}
.nf
$ mkvpropedit movie\&.mkv \-\-chapters \*(Aq\*(Aq
.fi
.if n \{\
.RE
.\}
.SH "EXIT CODES"
.PP

\fBmkvpropedit\fR(1)
exits with one of three exit codes:
.sp
.RS 4
.ie n \{\
\h'-04'\(bu\h'+03'\c
.\}
.el \{\
.sp -1
.IP \(bu 2.3
.\}

\fB0\fR
\-\- This exit codes means that the modification has completed successfully\&.
.RE
.sp
.RS 4
.ie n \{\
\h'-04'\(bu\h'+03'\c
.\}
.el \{\
.sp -1
.IP \(bu 2.3
.\}

\fB1\fR
\-\- In this case
\fBmkvpropedit\fR(1)
has output at least one warning, but the modification did continue\&. A warning is prefixed with the text \*(AqWarning:\*(Aq\&. Depending on the issues involved the resulting files might be ok or not\&. The user is urged to check both the warning and the resulting files\&.
.RE
.sp
.RS 4
.ie n \{\
\h'-04'\(bu\h'+03'\c
.\}
.el \{\
.sp -1
.IP \(bu 2.3
.\}

\fB2\fR
\-\- This exit code is used after an error occurred\&.
\fBmkvpropedit\fR(1)
aborts right after outputting the error message\&. Error messages range from wrong command line arguments over read/write errors to broken files\&.
.RE
.SH "ESCAPING SPECIAL CHARS IN TEXT"
.PP
There are a few places in which special characters in text must or should be escaped\&. The rules for escaping are simple: each character that needs escaping is replaced with a backslash followed by another character\&.
.PP
The rules are: \*(Aq \*(Aq (a space) becomes \*(Aq\es\*(Aq, \*(Aq"\*(Aq (double quotes) becomes \*(Aq\e2\*(Aq, \*(Aq:\*(Aq becomes \*(Aq\ec\*(Aq, \*(Aq#\*(Aq becomes \*(Aq\eh\*(Aq and \*(Aq\e\*(Aq (a single backslash) itself becomes \*(Aq\e\e\*(Aq\&.
.SH "ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES"
.PP

\fBmkvpropedit\fR(1)
uses the default variables that determine the system\*(Aqs locale (e\&.g\&.
\fILANG\fR
and the
\fILC_*\fR
family)\&. Additional variables:
.PP
\fIMKVTOOLNIX_DEBUG\fR and its short form \fIMTX_DEBUG\fR
.RS 4
The content is treated as if it had been passed via the
\fB\-\-debug\fR
option\&.
.RE
.PP
\fIMKVTOOLNIX_ENGAGE\fR and its short form \fIMTX_ENGAGE\fR
.RS 4
The content is treated as if it had been passed via the
\fB\-\-engage\fR
option\&.
.RE
.PP
\fIMKVTOOLNIX_OPTIONS\fR and its short form \fIMTX_OPTIONS\fR
.RS 4
The content is split on white space\&. The resulting partial strings are treated as if it had been passed as command line options\&. If you need to pass special characters (e\&.g\&. spaces) then you have to escape them (see
the section about escaping special characters in text)\&.
.RE
.SH "SEE ALSO"
.PP

\fBmkvmerge\fR(1),
\fBmkvinfo\fR(1),
\fBmkvextract\fR(1),
\fBmmg\fR(1)
.SH "WWW"
.PP
The latest version can always be found at
\m[blue]\fBthe MKVToolNix homepage\fR\m[]\&\s-2\u[1]\d\s+2\&.
.SH "AUTHOR"
.PP
\fBMoritz Bunkus\fR <\&moritz@bunkus\&.org\&>
.RS 4
Developer
.RE
.SH "NOTES"
.IP " 1." 4
the MKVToolNix homepage
.RS 4
\%http://www.bunkus.org/videotools/mkvtoolnix/
.RE