mkvtoolnix/doc/man/mkvpropedit.xml

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<!DOCTYPE refentry PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.5//EN" "/usr/share/xml/docbook/schema/dtd/4.5/docbookx.dtd"
[
<!ENTITY product "mkvpropedit">
<!ENTITY version "3.0.0">
<!ENTITY date "December 2009">

<!ENTITY mkvmerge "<citerefentry><refentrytitle>mkvmerge</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>">
<!ENTITY mkvinfo "<citerefentry><refentrytitle>mkvinfo</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>">
<!ENTITY mkvextract "<citerefentry><refentrytitle>mkvextract</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>">
<!ENTITY mkvpropedit "<citerefentry><refentrytitle>mkvpropedit</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>">
<!ENTITY mmg "<citerefentry><refentrytitle>mmg</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>">

<!ENTITY matroska "<productname>Matroska</productname>">
<!ENTITY oggvorbis "<productname>OggVorbis</productname>">
<!ENTITY xml "<abbrev>XML</abbrev>">

]>

<refentry lang="en" id="mkvextract">
 <refentryinfo>
  <productname>&product;</productname>
  <date>&date;</date>
  <authorgroup>
   <author>
    <contrib>Developer</contrib>
    <firstname>Moritz</firstname>
    <surname>Bunkus</surname>
    <email>moritz@bunkus.org</email>
   </author>
  </authorgroup>
 </refentryinfo>
 <refmeta>
  <refentrytitle>&product;</refentrytitle>
  <manvolnum>1</manvolnum>
  <refmiscinfo class="version">&version;</refmiscinfo>
  <refmiscinfo class="date">&date;</refmiscinfo>
  <refmiscinfo class="source">MkvToolNix</refmiscinfo>
  <refmiscinfo class="manual">User Commands</refmiscinfo>
 </refmeta>

 <refnamediv>
  <refname>&product;</refname>
  <refpurpose>Modify properties of existing &matroska; files without a complete remux</refpurpose>
 </refnamediv>

 <refsynopsisdiv id="mkvpropedit.synopsis">
  <title>Synopsis</title>
  <cmdsynopsis>
   <command>mkvpropedit</command>
   <arg>options</arg>
   <arg choice="req">source-filename</arg>
   <arg choice="req">actions</arg>
  </cmdsynopsis>
 </refsynopsisdiv>

 <refsect1 id="mkvpropedit.description">
  <title>Description</title>
  <para>
   This program analyses an existing &matroska; 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, 'default track' flag or the name).
  </para>

  <para>
   Options:
  </para>

  <variablelist>
   <varlistentry id="mkvpropedit.description.list_property_names">
    <term><option>-l</option>, <option>--list-property-names</option></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      Lists all known and editable property names, their type (string, integer, boolean etc) and a short description. The program exits
      afterwards. Therefore the <parameter>source-filename</parameter> parameter does not have to be supplied.
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry id="mkvpropedit.description.parse_mode">
    <term><option>-p</option>, <option>--parse-mode</option> <parameter>mode</parameter></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      Sets the parse mode. The parameter '<parameter>mode</parameter>' can either be '<literal>fast</literal>' (which is also the default)
      or '<literal>full</literal>'. The '<literal>fast</literal>' 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 se the '<literal>full</literal>' parse mode. A full scan of a file can take a
      couple of minutes while a fast scan only takes seconds.
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>
  </variablelist>

  <para>
   Actions:
  </para>

  <variablelist>
   <varlistentry id="mkvpropedit.description.edit">
    <term><option>-e</option>, <option>--edit</option> <parameter>selector</parameter></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      Sets the &matroska; file section (segment information or a certain track's headers) that all following <link
      linkend="mkvpropedit.description.add">add</link>, <link linkend="mkvpropedit.description.set">set</link> and <link
      linkend="mkvpropedit.description.delete">delete</link> actions operate on. This option can be used multiple times in order to make
      modifications to more than one element.
     </para>

     <para>
      See the section about <link linkend="mkvpropedit.edit_selectors">edit selectors</link> for a full description of the syntax.
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry id="mkvpropedit.description.add">
    <term><option>-a</option>, <option>--add</option> <parameter>name</parameter>=<parameter>value</parameter></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      Adds a property <parameter>name</parameter> with the value <parameter>value</parameter>. The property will be added even if such a
      property exists already. Note that most properties are unique and cannot occur more than once.
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry id="mkvpropedit.description.set">
    <term><option>-s</option>, <option>--set</option> <parameter>name</parameter>=<parameter>value</parameter></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      Sets all occurences of the property <parameter>name</parameter> to the value <parameter>value</parameter>. If no such property exists
      then it will be added.
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry id="mkvpropedit.description.delete">
    <term><option>-d</option>, <option>--delete</option> <parameter>name</parameter></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      Deletes all occurences of the property <parameter>name</parameter>. Note that some properties are required and cannot be deleted.
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>
  </variablelist>

  <para>
   Other options:
  </para>

  <variablelist>
   <varlistentry id="mkvpropedit.description.command_line_charset">
    <term><option>--command-line-charset</option> <parameter>character-set</parameter></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      Sets the character set to convert strings given on the command line from. It defaults to the character set given by system's current
      locale.
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry id="mkvpropedit.description.output_charset">
    <term><option>--output-charset</option> <parameter>character-set</parameter></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      Sets the character set to which strings are converted that are to be output.  It defaults to the character set given by system's
      current locale.
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry id="mkvpropedit.description.redirect_output">
    <term><option>-r</option>, <option>--redirect-output</option> <parameter>file-name</parameter></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      Writes all messages to the file <parameter>file-name</parameter> 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 <link
      linkend="mkvpropedit.description.output_charset"><option>--output-charset</option></link> is honored.
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry id="mkvpropedit.description.ui_language">
    <term><option>--ui-language</option> <parameter>code</parameter></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      Forces the translations for the language <parameter>code</parameter> to be used (e.g.  '<literal>de_DE</literal>' for the German
      translations). It is preferable to use the environment variables <varname>LANG</varname>, <varname>LC_MESSAGES</varname> and
      <varname>LC_ALL</varname> though. Entering '<literal>list</literal>' as the <parameter>code</parameter> will cause &mkvextract; to
      output a list of available translations.
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><option>-v</option>, <option>--verbose</option></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      Be verbose and show all the important &matroska; elements as they're read.
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><option>-h</option>, <option>--help</option></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      Show usage information and exit.
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><option>-V</option>, <option>--version</option></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      Show version information and exit.
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><option>@</option>options-file</term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      Reads additional command line arguments from the file <parameter>options-file</parameter>.  Lines whose first non-whitespace
      character is a hash mark ('<literal>#</literal>') 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.  There is no meta character escaping.
     </para>

     <para>
      The command line '<command>mkvpropedit source.mkv --edit track:a2 --set title=Comments</command>' could be converted into the
      following option file:
     </para>

     <programlisting>
# Modify source.mkv
source.mkv
# Edit the second audio track
--edit
track:a2
# and set the title to 'Comments'
--set
title=Comments
     </programlisting>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>
  </variablelist>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1 id="mkvpropedit.edit_selectors">
  <title>Edit selectors</title>
  <para>
   The <link linkend="mkvpropedit.description.edit"><option>--edit</option></link> option sets the &matroska; file section (segment
   information or a certain track's headers) that all following <link linkend="mkvpropedit.description.add">add</link>, <link
   linkend="mkvpropedit.description.set">set</link> and <link linkend="mkvpropedit.description.delete">delete</link> actions operate
   on. This stays valid until the next <link linkend="mkvpropedit.description.edit"><option>--edit</option></link> option is found. The
   argument to this option is called the edit selector.
  </para>

  <refsect2 id="mkvpropedit.edit_selectors.segment_info">
   <title>Segment information</title>
   <para>
    The segment information can be selected with one of these three words: '<literal>info</literal>', '<literal>segment_info</literal>' or
    '<literal>segmentinfo</literal>'. It contains properties like the segment title or the segment <abbrev>UID</abbrev>.
   </para>
  </refsect2>

  <refsect2 id="mkvpropedit.edit_selectors.track_headers">
   <title>Track headers</title>
   <para>
    Track headers can be selected with a slightly more complex selector. All variations start with '<literal>track:</literal>'. The track
    header properties include elements like the language code, 'default track' flag or the track's name.
   </para>

   <variablelist>
    <varlistentry>
     <term><option>track:</option><parameter>n</parameter></term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       If the parameter <parameter>n</parameter> is a number then the <parameter>n</parameter>th track will be selected. The track order is
       the same that &mkvmerge;'s <option>--identify</option> option outputs.
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term><option>track:</option><parameter>t</parameter><parameter>n</parameter></term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       If the parameter starts with a single character <parameter>t</parameter> followed by a <parameter>n</parameter> then the
       <parameter>n</parameter>th track of a specific track type will be selected. The track type parameter <parameter>t</parameter> must be
       one of these fourc characters: '<literal>a</literal>' for an audio track, '<literal>b</literal>' for a button track,
       '<literal>s</literal>' for a subtitle track and '<literal>v</literal>' for a video track. The track order is the same that
       &mkvmerge;'s <option>--identify</option> option outputs.
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term><option>track:</option>=<parameter>uid</parameter></term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       If the parameter starts with a '<literal>=</literal>' followed by a number <parameter>uid</parameter> then the track whose track
       <abbrev>UID</abbrev> element equals this <parameter>uid</parameter>. Track <abbrev>UIDs</abbrev> can be obtained with &mkvinfo;.
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
     <term><option>track:</option>@<parameter>number</parameter></term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       If the parameter starts with a '<literal>@</literal>' followed by a number <parameter>number</parameter> then the track whose track
       number element equals this <parameter>number</parameter>. Track number can be obtained with &mkvinfo;.
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>
   </variablelist>
  </refsect2>

  <refsect2 id="mkvpropedit.edit_selectors.notes">
   <title>Notes</title>
   <para>
    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're given on the command line.
   </para>
  </refsect2>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1 id="mkvpropedit.examples">
  <title>Examples</title>
  <para>
   The following example edits a file called '<literal>movie.mkv</literal>'. 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 <link
   linkend="mkvpropedit.description.edit"><option>--edit</option></link> option because editing the segment information element is the
   default for all options found before the first <link linkend="mkvpropedit.description.edit"><option>--edit</option></link> option anyway.
  </para>

  <screen>
$ mkvpropedit movie.mkv --edit info --set "title=The movie" --edit track:a1 --set language=fre --edit track:a2 --set language=ita
  </screen>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Exit codes</title>

  <para>
   &mkvpropedit; exits with one of three exit codes:
  </para>

  <itemizedlist>
   <listitem>
    <para>
     <constant>0</constant> -- This exit codes means that the modification has completed successfully.
    </para>
   </listitem>

   <listitem>
    <para>
     <constant>1</constant> -- In this case &mkvpropedit; has output at least one warning, but the modification did continue.  A warning is
     prefixed with the text '<literal>Warning:</literal>'.  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.
    </para>
   </listitem>

   <listitem>
    <para>
     <constant>2</constant> -- This exit code is used after an error occured.  &mkvpropedit; aborts right after outputting the error message.
     Error messages range from wrong command line arguments over read/write errors to broken files.
    </para>
   </listitem>
  </itemizedlist>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1 id="mkvpropedit.seealso">
  <title>See also</title>
  <para>
   &mkvmerge;, &mkvinfo;, &mkvextract;, &mmg;
  </para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1 id="mkvpropedit.www">
  <title>WWW</title>
  <para>
   The latest version can always be found at <ulink url="http://www.bunkus.org/videotools/mkvtoolnix/">the MKVToolNix homepage</ulink>.
  </para>
 </refsect1>

</refentry>