Foobar2000:Title Formatting Reference

This article contains information about built-in titleformatting functions and field references with special meaning. References to documentation about fields and function which can only be used in specific components or which are provided by specific components can be found at the end of this article.

A field reference is a field name enclosed in percent signs, for example %artist%. A function call starts with a dollar sign, followed by the function name and the parameter list. A parameter list can either be empty - denoted as () - or contain one or more parameters separated by commata, for example $abbr(%artist%). Note that there must be no whitespace between the dollar sign and the function name, or the function name and the opening parenthesis of the parameter list.

Please see Title Formatting Introduction for a general overview of titleformat syntax and its basic rules. The article Titleformat Examples offers user-submitted examples of code for specific purposes; feel free to add your own if you think it can be of use to others.

For details of the query syntax, which uses some of these fields to find files for playlists, etc., see: Query Syntax.

Field remappings

Some of the fields accessible through %name% are remapped to other values to make writing titleformat scripts more convenient.

Metadata

%album artist%

Name of the artist of the album specified track belongs to. Checks following metadata fields, in this order: "album artist", "artist", "composer", "performer". The difference between this and %artist% is that %album artist% is intended for use where consistent value across entire album is needed even when per-track artists values vary.

%album%

Name of the album specified track belongs to. Checks following metadata fields, in this order: "album", "venue".

%artist%

Name of the artist of the track. Checks following metadata fields, in this order: "artist", "album artist", "composer", "performer". For a SHOUTcast stream which contains metadata, it is the StreamTitle up to the first "-" character.

%discnumber%

Index of disc specified track belongs to, within the album. Available only when "discnumber"/"disc" field is present in track’s metadata.

%track artist%

Name of the artist of the track; present only if %album artist% is different than %artist% for specific track. Intended for use together with %album artist%, to indicate track-specific artist info, e.g. "%album artist% - %title%[ '//' %track artist%]". In this case, the last part will be displayed only when track-specific artist info is present.

%title%

Title of the track. If "title" metadata field is missing, file name is used instead. For a SHOUTcast stream which contains metadata, it is the StreamTitle after the first "-" character.

%tracknumber%

Two-digit index of specified track within the album. Available only when "tracknumber" field is present in track’s metadata. An extra '0' is placed in front of single digit track numbers (5 becomes 05).

%track number%

Similar to %tracknumber%, however single digit track numbers are not reformatted to have an extra 0.

Technical information

%bitrate%

Bitrate of the track; includes dynamic VBR bitrate display for currently played track.

%channels%

Number of channels in the track (mono/stereo/etc). Returns the number of channels in text form; returns "mono" and "stereo" instead of "1" and "2".

%filesize%

Defined as %_filesize%. Returns the filesize in bytes.

%filesize_natural%

Size of the file, automatically formatted in appropriate units such as megabytes or kilobytes.

%samplerate%

Sample rate of the track, in Hz.

%codec%

Name of codec used to encode the track. If exact codec name is not available, file extension is used.

Control flow

The functions in this section can be used to conditionally execute statements.

[...] (conditional section)

Evaluates the expression between [ and ]. If it has the truth value true, its string value and the truth value true are returned. Otherwise an empty string and false are returned.

Example: [%artist%] returns the value of the artist tag, if it exists. Otherwise it returns nothing, when artist would return "?".

$if(cond,then)

If cond evaluates to true, the then part is evaluated and its value returned. Otherwise, false is returned.

$if(cond,then,else)

If cond evaluates to true, the then part is evaluated and its value returned. Otherwise, the else part is evaluated and its value returned.

$if2(a,else)

Like $if(a,a,else) except that a is only evaluated once.

$if3(a1,a2,...,aN,else)

Evaluates arguments a1 ... aN, until one is found that evaluates to true. If that happens, its value is returned. Otherwise the else part is evaluated and its value returned.

$ifequal(n1,n2,then,else)

Compares the integer numbers n1 and n2, if n1 is equal to n2, the then part is evaluated and its value returned. Otherwise the else part is evaluated and its value returned.

$ifgreater(n1,n2,then,else)

Compares the integer numbers n1 and n2, if n1 is greater than n2, the then part is evaluated and its value returned. Otherwise the else part is evaluated and its value returned.

$iflonger(s,n,then,else)

Compares the length of the string s to the number n, if s is longer than n characters, the then part is evaluated and its value returned. Otherwise the else part is evaluated and its value returned.

$select(n,a1,...,aN)

If the value of n is between 1 and N, an is evaluated and its value returned. Otherwise false is returned.

Arithmetic functions

The functions in this section can be used to perform arithmetic on integer numbers. A string will be automatically converted to a number and vice versa. The conversion to a number uses the longest prefix of the string that can be interpreted as number. Leading whitespace is ignored. Decimal points are not supported. Examples:

• "c3po" → 0
• "4.8" → 4
• "-12" → -12
• "- 12" → 0

$add(a,b)

Adds a and b.

Can be used with an arbitrary number of arguments. $add(a,b,...) is the same as $add($add(a,b),...).

$div(a,b)

Divides a by b and rounds down to an integer. If b evaluates to zero, it returns a.

Can be used with an arbitrary number of arguments. $div(a,b,...) is the same as $div($div(a,b),...).

$greater(a,b)

Returns true, if a is greater than b, otherwise false.

$max(a,b)

Returns the maximum of a and b.

Can be used with an arbitrary number of arguments. $max(a,b,...) is the same as $max($max(a,b),...).

$min(a,b)

Returns the minimum of a and b.

Can be used with an arbitrary number of arguments. $min(a,b,...) is the same as $min($min(a,b),...).

$mod(a,b)

Computes the remainder of dividing a through b. The result has the same sign as a. If b evaluates to zero, the result is a.

Can be used with an arbitrary number of arguments. $mod(a,b,...) is the same as $mod($mod(a,b),...).

$mul(a,b)

Multiplies a and b.

Can be used with an arbitrary number of arguments. $mul(a,b,...) is the same as $mul($mul(a,b),...).

$muldiv(a,b,c)

Multiplies a and b, then divides by c. The result is rounded to the nearest integer.

$rand()

Generates a random number in the range from 0 to 2³²-1. Available only in sort-related contexts, such as the Edit → Sort → Sort by ... menu command.

$sub(a,b)

Subtracts b from a.

Can be used with an arbitrary number of arguments. $sub(a,b,...) is the same as $sub($sub(a,b),...).

Boolean functions

The functions in this section can be used to work with truth values (true and false), which have no explicit representation in titleformat scripts. They do not return a string or number value. You can use them for more complex conditions with $if and related functions.

$and(...)

Logical And of an arbitrary number of arguments. Returns true, if and only if all arguments evaluate to true.

Special case: $and(x,y) is true, if both x and y are true. Otherwise it is false.

$or(...)

Logical Or of an arbitrary number of arguments. Returns true, if at least one argument evaluates to true.

Special case: $or(x,y) is true, if x or y is true, or if both are true. Otherwise it is false.

$not(x)

Logical Not. Returns false, if x is true, otherwise it returns true.

$xor(...)

Logical Exclusive-or of an arbitrary number of arguments. Returns true, if an odd number of arguments evaluate to true.

Special case: $xor(x,y) is true, if one of x and y is true, but not both. Otherwise it is false.

Color functions

For the Default User Interface

Starting in version 1.0, the Default UI playlist view doesn't support color functions. In that location, text color can only be adjusted via angle-bracket syntax: Use < and > characters to make specific text <dimmed> vs. the default color or >highlight>ed with the highlight color, with up to three levels in each case, e.g.: <dimmed>, >highlight<, >>more highlight<<, <<<very dim>>>.

For Columns UI

The playlist in the Columns UI still supports the following functions:

$blend(color1,color2,part,total)

Returns a color that is a blend between color1 and color2. If part is smaller than or equal to zero, color1 is returned. If part is greater than or equal to total, color2 is returned. Otherwise a blended color is returned that is part parts color1 and total-part parts color2. The blending is performed in the RGB color space.

$hsl()

Resets the text color to the default color.

$hsl(h,s,l)

Sets the color for text in the HSL color space. h, s and l are the hue, saturation, and lightness of the color for unselected text. The color for selected text is set to the inverse color. The ranges of h, s, and l are from 0 to 240; the function is designed to interpret those values in the same way as the standard Windows color dialog.

$hsl(h1,s1,l1,h2,s2,l2)

Sets the color for text in the HSL color space. h1, s1 and l1 are the hue, saturation, and lightness of the color for unselected text. h2, s2 and l2 are the hue, saturation, and lightness of the color for selected text.

$rgb()

Resets the text color to the default color.

$rgb(r,g,b)

Sets the color for text. r, g and b are the red, green and blue component of the color for unselected text. The color for selected text is set to the inverse color.

$rgb(r1,g1,b1,r2,g2,b2)

Sets the color for text. r1, g1 and b1 are the red, green and blue component of the color for unselected text. r2, g2 and b2 are the red, green and blue component of the color for selected text.

$transition(string,color1,color2)

Inserts color codes into string, so that the first character has color1, the last character has color2, and intermediate characters have blended colors. The blending is performed in the RGB color space. Note that color codes are additional characters that will also be counted by string manipulation functions. For example, if you need to truncate a string, you should do this before applying $transition.

Now playing info

The following functions and fields are usable for scripts used with the currently playing item, for example the status bar, the main window title and the copy command script.

Special fields

%playback_time%

Returns the elapsed time formatted as [HH:]MM:SS.

%playback_time_seconds%

Returns elapsed time in seconds. Old version: %_time_elapsed%

%playback_time_remaining%

Returns remaining time until track ends, formatted as [HH:]MM:SS. Old version: %_time_remaining%

%playback_time_remaining_seconds%

Returns remaining time in seconds. Old version: %_time_remaining_seconds%

%length%

Returns the length of the track formatted as hours, minutes, and seconds, rounded to the nearest second. Old version: %_time_total%

%length_ex%

Returns the length of the track formatted as hours, minutes, seconds, and milliseconds, rounded to the nearest millisecond.

%length_seconds%

Returns the length of the track in seconds, rounded to the nearest second. Old version: %_time_total_seconds%

%length_seconds_fp%

Returns the length of the track in seconds as floating point number.

%length_samples%

Returns the length of the track in samples.

Playlist info

The following functions and fields are usable for playlist display formatting (eg. per-column title formatting patterns).

Special fields

%isplaying%

Returns "1" if file is currently playing and empty string otherwise.

%ispaused%

Returns "1" if playback is paused, empty string otherwise.

%list_index%

Returns a zero-padded playlist index of specified item. The first item is at index 1.

%list_total%

Returns number of items in the playlist.

%queue_index%

Index of the specified item in the playback queue; available in playlist only. If the item has been queued multiple times, %queue_index% evaluates to the first index.

%queue_indexes%

List of indexes of the specified item in the playback queue; available in playlist only. Same as %queue_index% unless the item has been queued more than once.

%queue_total%

Total amount of tracks in playback queue. Available only for queued tracks, for technical reasons.

String functions

The functions in this section can be used to manipulate character strings.

$abbr(x)

Returns abbreviation of x. Words which begin with an alphanumeric character are shortened to the first character. Spaces and parentheses are stripped. Example:

• $abbr('This is a Long Title (12-inch version) [needs tags]') → TiaLT1v[needst

$abbr(x,len)

Returns abbreviation of x, if x is longer than len characters, otherwise returns x.

$ansi(x)

Converts x to system codepage and back. Any characters that are not present in the system codepage will be removed / replaced. Useful for mass-renaming files to ensure compatibility with non-unicode-capable software.

$ascii(x)

Converts x to ASCII. Any characters that are not present in ASCII will be removed / replaced.

$caps(x)

Converts first letter in every word of x to uppercase, and all other letters to lowercase.

$caps2(x)

Converts first letter in every word of x to uppercase, and leaves all other letters as they are.

$char(x)

Inserts Unicode character with code x. You can search for characters and find the matching decimal number on this site.

$crc32(a)

Computes the CRC32 of the string a as a number. Intended for use in coloring scripts.

Example: $rgb($mod($crc32(%album%),256),128,128)

$crlf()

Inserts end-of-line marker (carriage return, line feed). Can be used to generate multiple lines in the output, for example for the tooltip of the system notification area ("systray") icon.

$cut(a,len)

Returns first len characters from the left of the string a. This function is the same as $left(a,len). Negative numbers produce the entire string. Examples:

• $cut('abc123',3) → abc
• $cut('abc123',0) → (nothing)
• $cut('abc123',-1) → abc123

$directory(x)

Extracts directory name from the file path x.

$directory(x,n)

Extracts directory name from the file path x; goes up by n levels.

$directory_path(x)

Extracts directory path from the file path x.

$ext(x)

Extracts file extension from x which must be a file name or path.

$filename(x)

Extracts file name from full path.

$fix_eol(x)

If x contains an end-of-line marker (CR-LF), the end-of-line marker and all text to the right of it is replaced by " (...)". Otherwise x is returned unaltered.

$fix_eol(x,indicator)

If x contains an end-of-line marker (CR-LF), the end-of-line marker and all text to the right of it is replaced by indicator. Otherwise x is returned unaltered.

$hex(n)

Formats the integer number n in hexadecimal notation.

$hex(n,len)

Formats the integer number n in hexadecimal notation with len digits. Pads with zeros from the left if necessary.

$insert(a,b,n)

Inserts b into a after n characters.

$left(a,len)

Returns first len characters from the left of the string a. This function is the same as $cut(a,len). Negative numbers produce the entire string. Examples:

• $left('abc123',3) → abc
• $left('abc123',0) → (nothing)
• $left('abc123',-1) → abc123

$len(a)

Returns length of string a in characters.

$len2(a)

Returns length of string x in characters, respecting double-width character rules (double-width characters will be counted as two).

$longer(a,b)

Returns true, if string a is longer than string b, false otherwise.

$lower(a)

Converts a to lowercase.

$longest(a,...)

Returns the longest of its arguments. Can be used with an arbitrary number of strings.

$num(n,len)

Formats the integer number n in decimal notation with len characters. Pads with zeros from the left if necessary. len includes the dash when the number is negative. If n is not numeric, it is treated as zero. Examples:

• $num(123,5) → 00123
• $num(-123,5) → -0123
• $num(4.8,5) → 00004
• $num(A1,5) → 00000

$pad(x,len)

Creates a left-aligned version of the string x. If x is shorter than len characters, the function adds spaces to the right of x to make the result len characters long. Otherwise the function returns x unchanged.

$pad_right(x,len)

Creates a right-aligned version of the string x. If x is shorter than len characters, the function adds spaces to the left of x to make the result len characters long. Otherwise the function returns x unchanged.

$pad(x,len,char)

Creates a left-aligned version of the string x. If x is shorter than len characters, the function adds char to the right of x to make the result len characters long. Otherwise the function returns x unchanged.

$pad_right(x,len,char)

Creates a right-aligned version of the string x. If x is shorter than len characters, the function adds char to the left of x to make the result len characters long. Otherwise the function returns x unchanged.

$padcut(x,len)

Returns first len characters from the left of x, if x is longer than len characters. Otherwise adds spaces to the right of x to make the result len characters long.

$padcut_right(x,len)

Returns first len characters from the left of x, if x is longer than len characters. Otherwise adds spaces to the left of x to make the result len characters long.

$progress(pos,range,len,a,b)

Creates a progress bar: pos contains position, range contains range, len progress bar length in characters, a and b are characters to build progress bar with.

Example:$progress(%_time_elapsed_seconds%, %_time_total_seconds%, 20,'#','=') produces "====#===============", the # character is moving with playback position.

$progress2(pos,range,len,a,b)

Creates a progress bar: pos contains position, range contains range, len progress bar length in characters, a and b are characters to build progress bar with. Produces different appearance than $progress.

$repeat(a,n)

Returns n copies of a. Note that a is evaluated once before its value is used, so $repeat cannot be used for loops.

$replace(a,b,c)

Replaces all occurrences of string b in string a with string c.

Can also be used with an arbitrary number of arguments. Note that $replace(a,b1,c1,b2,c2) is generally not the same as $replace($replace(a,b1,c1),b2,c2).

Example: $replace(ab,a,b,b,c) → "bc", $replace($replace(ab,a,b),b,c) → "cc"

$right(a,len)

Returns the first len characters from the right of a.

$roman(n)

Formats the integer number n in roman notation.

$rot13()

Performs ROT13 transformation to given string.

Example: $rot13('foobar2000') → "sbbone2000".

$shortest

Returns the shortest of its arguments. Can be used with an arbitrary number of strings.

$strchr(s,c)

Finds first occurence of character c in string s.

Example: $strchr(abca,a) → 1

$strrchr(s,c)

Finds last occurence of character c in string s.

Example: $strrchr(abca,a) → 4

$strstr(s1,s2)

Finds first occurence of string s2 in string s1.

$strcmp(s1,s2)

Performs a case-sensitive comparison of the strings s1 and s2.

$stricmp(s1,s2)

Performs a case-insensitive comparison of the strings s1 and s2.

$substr(s,m,n)

Returns substring of string s, starting from m-th character and ending at n-th character.

$stripprefix(x)

Removes A and The prefixes from x.

$stripprefix(x,prefix1,prefix2,...)

Removes the specified prefixes from x.

$swapprefix(x)

Moves A and The prefixes to the end of x.

$swapprefix(x,prefix1,prefix2,...)

Moves the specified prefixes to the end of x.

$trim(s)

Removes leading and trailing spaces from string s.

$tab()

Inserts one tabulator character.

$tab(n)

Inserts n tabulator characters.

$upper(s)

Converts string s to uppercase.

Track info

The functions and fields in this section can be used to access information about tracks.

Metadata

$meta(name)

Returns value of tag called name. If multiple values of that tag exist, they are concatenated with ", " as separator.

Example: $meta(artist) → "He, She, It"

$meta(name,n)

Returns value of n-th (0,1,2 and so on) tag called name.

Example: $meta(artist,1) → "She"

$meta_sep(name,sep)

Returns value of tag called name. If multiple values of that tag exist, they are concatenated with sep as separator.

Example: $meta_sep(artist,' + ') → "He + She + It"

$meta_sep(name,sep,lastsep)

Returns value of tag called name. If multiple values of that tag exist, they are concatenated with sep as separator between all but the last two values which are concatenated with lastsep.

Example: $meta_sep(artist,', ',', and ') → "He, She, and It"

$meta_test(...)

Returns 1, if all given tags exist, undefined otherwise.

Example: $meta_test(artist,title) → true

$meta_num(name)

Returns the number of values for the tag called name.

Example: $meta_num(artist) → 3

Technical information

$info(name)

Returns value of technical information field called name.

For convenience, the %__name% alias is also available.

Example: $info(channels) → 2

Here is an informative list of recognized fields. Some of these depend on the media file type being queried.

field name	Description
General
codec	Codec (e.g. MP3)
codec_profile	Codec Profile (e.g. CBR)
samplerate	Sample Rate, in hertz (e.g. 44100)
bitrate	Bitrate, in kilobits per second (e.g. 320)
tool	Tool used to produce the file, possibly guessed (e.g. LAME3.97)
encoding	Encoding lossiness (e.g. lossy)
channels	Channels count (e.g. 2 [for stereo])
channel_mode	Channel Mode, description of channels (e.g. 3 front, 2 rear surround channels + LFE)
bitspersample	Bits Per Sample (e.g. 16)
tagtype	Tag Type, comma-separated list of tag formats (e.g. id3v2|apev2)
cue_embedded	Embedded Cuesheet presence (e.g. no [may be empty!])
md5	Audio MD5 hash, if container defines it (e.g. 1E24A910D91EF09A8CF403C9B6963961)
Other
ENC_DELAY	LAME proprietary MP3 enc_delay value (e.g. 576)
ENC_PADDING	LAME proprietary MP3 enc_padding value (e.g. 1536)
MP3_ACCURATE_LENGTH	mp3_accurate_length supported (LAME proprietary header)? (e.g. yes)
MP3_STEREO_MODE	Stereo mode used in MP3 file (e.g. mono, stereo, joint stereo, etc.)
VERSION	Version of tool (e.g. 3.99)
FLAGS	Flags of tool (e.g. 22)

$channels()

Returns number of channels in text format.

Example: $channels() → "stereo"

%replaygain_album_gain%

Returns ReplayGain album gain value.

%replaygain_album_peak%

Returns ReplayGain album peak value.

%replaygain_track_gain%

Returns ReplayGain track gain value.

%replaygain_track_peak%

Returns ReplayGain track peak value.

Special fields

%filename%

Returns the filename without directory and extension.

%filename_ext%

Returns the filename with extension, but without the directory.

%directoryname%

Returns the name of the parent directory only, not the complete path.

%last_modified%

Returns the date and time the file was last modified. Eg: 2005-12-22 00:04:10

%path%

Returns the path.

%_path_raw%

Returns the path as URL including the protocol scheme.

%subsong%

Returns the subsong index. The subsong index is used to distuingish multiple tracks in a single file, for example for cue sheets, tracker modules and various container formats.

%_foobar2000_version%

Returns a string representing the version of foobar2000.

Time/Date Functions

These functions are used to manipulate time/date strings, notably (but not limited to), those gathered by the Playback Statistics component.

$year(time)

Retrieves the year part (formatted as four digits) from a time/date string.

$month(time)

Retrieves the month part (formatted as two digits) from a time/date string.

$day_of_month(time)

Retrieves the day of month part (formatted as two digits) from a time/date string.

$date(time)

Retrieves the date part (formatted as YYYY-MM-DD) from a time/date string.

$time(time)

Retrieves the time part (formatted as HH:MM:SS or HH:MM) from a date/time string.

Variable operations

Variables can be used to store strings and number. They cannot store truth values. They are best used to store intermediate results that you need multiple times. Variable names are not case-sensitive.

For example:

code	output
$put(foo,bar)$char(10) $get(foo)$char(10) $get(Foo)$char(10) $puts(foo,2000)$char(10) $get(foo)$char(10)	bar bar bar 2000

$get(name)

Returns the value that was last stored in the variable name, if the variable was not defined (yet), it returns nothing. The truth value returned by $get indicates if the variable name was defined

$put(name,value)

Stores value in the variable name and returns value unaltered

$puts(name,value)

Stores value in the variable name and returns nothing

Component-provided fields and functions on tracks

This section lists components that provide additional fields and functions that are useable in the context of any track.

Playback statistics

• Playback statistics homepage
• Playback statistics titleformat reference

Component-specific fields and functions

This section lists components that provide additional fields and functions that are only usable in the context of the particular component.

Album list

• Album List Title Formatting
• Preferences: Album List

Playlist Organizer

• Playlist Organizer: Nodes Title Formatting

Columns UI

• Columns UI homepage
• Global variables reference
• Playlist colors reference
• Playlist switcher reference

Additional Reading

• Introduction to titleformat scripts
• titleformat_help.html in your Foobar2000 directory (ie C:\Program Files\foobar2000\titleformat_help.html) file:///C:/Program%20Files/foobar2000/titleformat_help.html