§The Tag Editor (Spreadsheet Mode)

Introduction to the Tag Editor (Spreadsheet Mode)

The Tag Editor (Spreadsheet Mode) is a tag editor in Helium Music Manager which allows you to quickly edit multiple files at once using an easy to use spreadsheet user interface.

The major benefit with this tag editor is that it shows a great overview of all your files' tags at once, as opposed to the Tag Editor where instead you work with one file at a time.

Using the Tag Editor (Spreadsheet Mode)

• Starting the Tag Editor (Spreadsheet Mode)
• Modifying tracks
• Downloading Information
• Commands
• Settings
• Tutorial

Starting the Tag Editor (Spreadsheet Mode)

The Tag Editor (Spreadsheet Mode) can be used as a separate tool, but is also embedded in several other tools. The following tools uses the Tag Editor (Spreadsheet Mode) embedded:

• Subtrack Editor

• Add Audio CD

• Add Vinyl/Cassette etc.

• CD Ripper

Browse for some tracks using any of the Browsers, select the ones you want to edit and start the Tag Editor (Spreadsheet Mode) by any of the methods below:

• Press Shift+CTRL+E on your keyboard.
• Click the button on the main toolbar.
• Click the button on the main toolbar and select Edit Tags (Spreadsheet Mode).
• Click on Tags | Edit Tags (Spreadsheet Mode) from the main menu.
• Click on Tools | Edit Tags (Spreadsheet Mode) from the main menu.
• Right click the selected tracks and select the Tags | Edit Tags (Spreadsheet Mode) option.

Modifying Tracks

Tagging tracks is the procedure of adding or updating information for the tracks on your computer. Each type of information you add to track is called a tag field (or just field). Some examples of tag fields follows below:

• Artist
• Album
• Track Number
• Biography
• Lyrics
• Title

To read more about tags and tag fields, read the description of Tags and Tag formats help section.
 
Each type of tag field in the Tag Editor (Spreadsheet Mode) is equal to one of the available columns. You can customize which tag fields (columns) that should be shown by clicking the Customize button. Click here to read more about customizing the Tag Editor (Spreadsheet Mode).
 
When the Tag Editor (Spreadsheet Mode) is started, tags will automatically be loaded for the selected files. Each line in the spreadsheet represents one file (you can see the filename of the selected file in the edit control just below the spreadsheet).
 
To start editing a specific tag field for a file, select the cell containing the value the do one of the following operations:

• Double/singleclick the field.
• Press F2 on your keyboard
• Press Enter on your keyboard

Depending on which tag field that's selected different input controls will be shown. All different input controls are listed and explained below:
 

Textual input control
The textual input control field is used for many different tag fields and is the most common input field in the Tag Editor (Spreadsheet Mode). It allows you to enter a text as well as to reuse a previously entered text. This input field will auto complete any texts you enter. You can paste a text from the clipboard to this input control using CTRL+V without the need of entering edit mode.

 

 
Numerical input control
The numerical input control allows you to only enter numerical values. You can increase/decrease the current value by pressing the Up/Down keys on your keyboard.
 
 

Artist input control
This input control is only used for the artist tag field. By default it works just as a textual input control, but if you click the Edit button to the right, the Multiple Artists Editor will be opened. When the selected file contains multiple artists, the fields will be read only. You must then edit the field by clicking the Edit button in the Multiple Artists Editor.
 

Rating input control
The rating control will allow you to set rating for the selected track. Select the desired rating from the drop-down list. You cannot enter any values in this field.
 

Release Type, Popularity and Quality
The release type control will allow you to set the Release Type for the selected file. Select the desired Release Type from the drop-down list.
This type of control is also used for setting Popularity and Quality.
 

Time input control
The time input control is used in the Subtrack Editor, when you add Custom Items  or when you manually add Audio CDs to your database. This input control only allows you to enter properly formatted times.
 

Downloading Information

You can take advantage of plug-ins to download track information from the Tag Editor (Spreadsheet Mode). To get track information for all tracks in one album (assuming that all these files are loaded to the Tag Editor (Spreadsheet Mode) already) simply click the Download button. If you have loaded a multi CD album, select the tracks from one  CD and the click the Download button. Repeat this step for each of the CDs loaded.

Commands

The Tag Editor (Spreadsheet Mode) contains several commands that speeds up and simplified your tagging. These commands are available from rightclick context menu and some of them are also available from the bottom toolbar. The commands are listed below:

• Apply will apply the selected cell value to all cells in the selected column. This command is very useful to quickly copying a value to the entire column, the album name for example. You can also access the Apply command by pressing CTRL+D.

• Apply Down works equal to Apply, but Apply Down will only apply the current cell value to the remaining cells in the column. You can also access the Apply Down command by pressing Shift+CTRL+D.

• Auto Track will fill the selected column with a value that will start at 1 and be incremented by one for each row. Use the auto track command to qucikly generate track number series for a album. Please note that Auto Track only works in numerical cells.

• Auto Track Down works equal to Auto Track, but Auto Track Down will only work from the current cell and downto the last cell.

• The Extract menu contains the following commands:

• Extract Title (Remix) will extract texts inside parentheses and copy the extracted part to the remix column.
  
  Example:
  
  1) The title column contains the text "Got to get it (Club Remix)"
  2) After using the Extract Title (Remix) command, the Remix cell will contain "Club Remix" and the title cell will contain "Got to get it"

• Extract Title (Subtitle) works just as Extract Title (Remix) but with the subtitle tag field instead of remix.

• Extract Artist-Title will try to split the current cell value into Artist and Title strings, using - as a separator. The resulting texts will be copied into the Artist and Title cells.
  
  Example:
  1) A cell contains "Madonna - Ray Of Light"
  2) After using the Extract Artist-Title command, the Artist cell will contain "Madonna" and the title cell will contain "Ray Of Light"

• Extract Artist/Title works just as Extract Artist-Title, but / will be used as separator instead of -.

• Extract Title/Artist works just as Extract Artist/Title, but the fields will be extracted in another order. (Title first instead of Artist)

• Extract Title-Artist works just as Extract Artist-Title, but the fields will be extracted in another order. (Title first instead of Artist)

• Extract Multiple Artists will try to extract multiple artists from a artist cell text, which does not already contain multiple artists. Extract Multiple Artists can also be accessed by pressing Shift+CTRL+A. To read more about multiple artist editing, click this link.

• The Switch  menu contains the following commands:

• Switch with artist will switch the current fields contents with the artist field

• Switch with title will switch the current fields contents with the title field

• Switch with album will switch the current fields contents with the album field

• Switch with remix will switch the current fields contents with the remix field

• Switch with subtitle will switch the current fields contents with the subtitle field

• The Filename To Tag menu contains the following commands:

• Filename To Tag (Non Verbose) will use the Filename To Tag function to extract tags into the cell names from the selected files filenames.

• Filename To Tag (Verbose) will perform the same command as Filename To Tag (Non Verbose), but if a conflict in the template matching occurs, you will be able to select the correct template visually by yourself.

• Calculate BPM will calculate the Beats Per Minute (BPM) for the selected files automatically. Please note that this field is only enabled if a BPM cell is selected.

• Auto-Fit Columns will resize the spreadsheet columns to be as small as possible.

• Customize will allow you to customize the columns in the Tag Editor (Spreadsheet Mode). Click here to read more about customizing the Tag Editor (Spreadsheet Mode).

• Edit Subtracks will start the Subtrack Editor for the selected file.

• Copy will copy the selected cell value to the clipboard. You can press CTRL+C to perform the same command.

• Paste will paste a text from the clipboard into the selected cell. You can press CTRL+V to perform the same command.

• Cut will copy the selected cell value to the clipboard and clear the cell. You can press CTRL+X to perform the same command.

• Undo will undo the last operation. You can press CTRL+Z to perform the same command.

• The Excel menu contains the following commands:

• Paste From Excel will paste a comma separated list from the clipboard into one or more cells. The Tag Editor (Spreadsheet Mode) will paste data into as many cells as possible. This command can also be accessed by pressing Shift+CTRL+V.

• Copy To Excel will copy the selected or all data in the Tag Editor (Spreadsheet Mode) into the clipboard as a comma separated list. This command can also be accessed by pressing Shift+CTRL+C.

Settings

 
On the tagging steps in the Tag Editor, you will find a menu with different settings that can be used. To view the settings menu, click the Settings button on the toolbar at the bottom. When you have clicked this button, Options will be opened and the Tag Editor page will be automatically selected.
 
The following settings are available from the bottom toolbar for quick access:

• Save ID3 v.1 tag will have the Tag Editor (Spreadsheet Mode) to automatically save ID3 v1.1 tags. This setting only applies when editing MP3 files.

• Save Lyrics3v2 tag will save lyrics and other information in the Lyrics3v2 tag. We recommend not using this setting, since the ID3 v2 tag includes all information in the Lyrics3 v2 tag.

• Auto Assign Sort Order will automatically fill in the sort order field for the following fields:

• • Artist

  • Album

  • Title

  • Album Artist

  The information will be copied from the respective non-sort order fields.

• Use Auto Correction will format all entered texts using the Auto Correction rules when enabled.

• Auto-extract multiple artists will automatically extract multiple artists, similar to the Extract Multiple Artists, described above.