MKVPROPEDIT(1) User Commands MKVPROPEDIT(1)NAMEmkvpropedit - Modify properties of existing Matroska(TM) files without
a complete remux
SYNOPSISmkvpropedit [options] {source-filename} {actions}
DESCRIPTION
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, 'default track' flag or the name).
Options:
-l, --list-property-names
Lists all known and editable property names, their type (string,
integer, boolean etc) and a short description. The program exits
afterwards. Therefore the source-filename parameter does not have
to be supplied.
-p, --parse-mode mode
Sets the parse mode. The parameter 'mode' can either be 'fast'
(which is also the default) or 'full'. The 'fast' 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 'full' parse mode.
A full scan of a file can take a couple of minutes while a fast
scan only takes seconds.
Actions that deal with track and segment info properties:
-e, --edit selector
Sets the Matroska(TM) file section (segment information or a
certain track's 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.
By default mkvpropedit(1) will edit the segment information
section.
See the section about edit selectors for a full description of the
syntax.
-a, --add name=value
Adds a property name with the value value. The property will be
added even if such a property exists already. Note that most
properties are unique and cannot occur more than once.
-s, --set name=value
Sets all occurrences of the property name to the value value. If no
such property exists then it will be added.
-d, --delete name
Deletes all occurrences of the property name. Note that some
properties are required and cannot be deleted.
Actions that deal with tags and chapters:
-t, --tags selector:filename
Add or replace tags in the file with the ones from filename or
remove them if filename is empty. mkvpropedit(1) reads the same
XML tag format that mkvmerge(1) reads as well.
The selector must be one of the words all, global or track. For
allmkvpropedit(1) will replace or remove all tags in a file. With
global only global tags will be replaced or removed.
With trackmkvpropedit(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.
--add-track-statistics-tags
Calculates statistics for all tracks in a file and adds new
statistics tags for them. If the file already contains such tags
then they'll be updated.
--delete-track-statistics-tags
Deletes all existing track statistics tags from a file. If the file
doesn't contain track statistics tags then it won't be modified.
-c, --chapters filename
Add or replace chapters in the file with the ones from filename or
remove them if filename is empty. mkvpropedit(1) reads the same
XML and simple chapter formats that mkvmerge(1) reads as well.
Actions for handling attachments:
--add-attachment filename
Adds a new attachment from filename.
If the option --attachment-name has been used prior to this option
then its value is used as the new attachment's name. Otherwise it
is derived from filename.
If the option --attachment-mime-type has been used prior to this
option then its value is used as the new attachment's MIME type.
Otherwise it is auto-detected from the content of filename.
If the option --attachment-description has been used prior to this
option then its value is used as the new attachment's description.
Otherwise no description will be set.
If the option --attachment-uid has been used prior to this option
then its value is used as the new attachment's UID. Otherwise a
random UID will be generated automatically.
--replace-attachment selector:filename
Replaces one or more attachments that match selector with the file
filename. If more than one existing attachment matches selector
then all of their contents will be replaced by the content of
filename.
The selector can have one of four forms. They're exlained below in
the section attachment selectors.
If the option --attachment-name has been used prior to this option
then its value is set as the new name for each modified attachment.
Otherwise the names aren't changed.
If the option --attachment-mime-type has been used prior to this
option then its value is set as the new MIME type for each modified
attachment. Otherwise the MIME types aren't changed.
If the option --attachment-description has been used prior to this
option then its value is set as the new description for each
modified attachment. Otherwise the descriptions aren't changed.
If the option --attachment-uid has been used prior to this option
then its value is set as the new UID for each modified attachment.
Otherwise the UIDs aren't changed.
--update-attachment selector
Sets the properties of one or more attachments that match selector.
If more than one existing attachment matches selector then all of
their properties will be updated.
The selector can have one of four forms. They're exlained below in
the section attachment selectors.
If the option --attachment-name has been used prior to this option
then its value is set as the new name for each modified attachment.
Otherwise the names aren't changed.
If the option --attachment-mime-type has been used prior to this
option then its value is set as the new MIME type for each modified
attachment. Otherwise the MIME types aren't changed.
If the option --attachment-description has been used prior to this
option then its value is set as the new description for each
modified attachment. Otherwise the descriptions aren't changed.
If the option --attachment-uid has been used prior to this option
then its value is set as the new UID for each modified attachment.
Otherwise the UIDs aren't changed.
--delete-attachment selector
Deletes one or more attachments that match selector.
The selector can have one of four forms. They're exlained below in
the section attachment selectors.
Options for attachment actions:
--attachment-name name
Sets the name to use for the following --add-attachment or
--replace-attachment operation.
--attachment-mime-type mime-type
Sets the MIME type to use for the following --add-attachment or
--replace-attachment operation.
--attachment-description description
Sets the description to use for the following --add-attachment or
--replace-attachment operation.
Other options:
--command-line-charset character-set
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.
--output-charset character-set
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.
-r, --redirect-output file-name
Writes all messages to the file file-name 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 --output-charset is honored.
--ui-language code
Forces the translations for the language code to be used (e.g.
'de_DE' for the German translations). It is preferable to use the
environment variables LANG, LC_MESSAGES and LC_ALL though. Entering
'list' as the code will cause mkvextract(1) to output a list of
available translations.
--debug topic
Turn on debugging for a specific feature. This option is only
useful for developers.
--engage feature
Turn on experimental features. A list of available features can be
requested with mkvpropedit--engage list. These features are not
meant to be used in normal situations.
--gui-mode
Turns on GUI mode. In this mode specially-formatted lines may be
output that can tell a controlling GUI what's happening. These
messages follow the format '#GUI#message'. The message may be
followed by key/value pairs as in
'#GUI#message#key1=value1#key2=value2...'. Neither the messages nor
the keys are ever translated and always output in English.
-v, --verbose
Be verbose and show all the important Matroska(TM) elements as
they're read.
-h, --help
Show usage information and exit.
-V, --version
Show version information and exit.
--check-for-updates
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's version
(key available_version) and the download URL (key download_url).
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).
This option is only available if the program was built with support
for libcurl.
@options-file
Reads additional command line arguments from the file options-file.
Lines whose first non-whitespace character is a hash mark ('#') 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.
Several chars can be escaped, e.g. if you need to start a
non-comment line with '#'. The rules are described in the section
about escaping text.
The command line 'mkvpropedit source.mkv --edit track:a2 --set
name=Comments' could be converted into the following option file:
# Modify source.mkv
source.mkv
# Edit the second audio track
--edit
track:a2
# and set the title to 'Comments'
--set
name=Comments
EDIT SELECTORS
The --edit option sets the Matroska(TM) file section (segment
information or a certain track's headers) that all following add, set
and delete actions operate on. This stays valid until the next --edit
option is found. The argument to this option is called the edit
selector.
By default mkvpropedit(1) will edit the segment information section.
Segment information
The segment information can be selected with one of these three words:
'info', 'segment_info' or 'segmentinfo'. It contains properties like
the segment title or the segment UID.
Track headers
Track headers can be selected with a slightly more complex selector.
All variations start with 'track:'. The track header properties include
elements like the language code, 'default track' flag or the track's
name.
track:n
If the parameter n is a number then the nth track will be selected.
The track order is the same that mkvmerge(1)'s --identify option
outputs.
Numbering starts at 1.
track:tn
If the parameter starts with a single character t followed by a n
then the nth track of a specific track type will be selected. The
track type parameter t must be one of these four characters: 'a'
for an audio track, 'b' for a button track, 's' for a subtitle
track and 'v' for a video track. The track order is the same that
mkvmerge(1)'s --identify option outputs.
Numbering starts at 1.
track:=uid
If the parameter starts with a '=' followed by a number uid then
the track whose track UID element equals this uid. Track UIDs can
be obtained with mkvinfo(1).
track:@number
If the parameter starts with a '@' followed by a number number then
the track whose track number element equals this number. Track
number can be obtained with mkvinfo(1).
Notes
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.
ATTACHMENT SELECTORS
An attachment selector is used with the two actions
--replace-attachment and --delete-attachment. It can have one of the
following four forms:
1. Selection by attachment ID. In this form the selector is simply a
number, the attachment's ID as output by mkvmerge(1)'s
identification command.
2. Selection by attachment UID (unique ID). In this form the selector
is the equal sign = followed by a number, the attachment's unique
ID as output by mkvmerge(1)'s verbose identification command.
3. Selection by attachment name. In this form the selector is the
literal word name: followed by the existing attachment's name. If
this selector is used with --replace-attachment then colons within
the name to match must be escaped as \c.
4. Selection by MIME type. In this form the selector is the literal
word mime-type: followed by the existing attachment's MIME type. If
this selector is used with --replace-attachment then colons within
the MIME type to match must be escaped as \c.
EXAMPLES
The following example edits a file called 'movie.mkv'. 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
--edit option because editing the segment information element is the
default for all options found before the first --edit option anyway.
$ mkvpropedit movie.mkv --edit info --set "title=The movie" --edit track:a1 --set language=fre --edit track:a2 --set language=ita
The second example removes the 'default track flag' from the first
subtitle track and sets it for the second one. Note that
mkvpropedit(1), unlike mkvmerge(1), does not set the 'default track
flag' of other tracks to '0' if it is set to '1' for a different track
automatically.
$ mkvpropedit movie.mkv --edit track:s1 --set flag-default=0 --edit track:s2 --set flag-default=1
Replacing the tags for the second subtitle track in a file looks like
this:
$ mkvpropedit movie.mkv --tags track:s2:new-subtitle-tags.xml
Removing all tags requires leaving out the file name:
$ mkvpropedit movie.mkv --tags all:
Replacing the chapters in a file looks like this:
$ mkvpropedit movie.mkv --chapters new-chapters.xml
Removing all chapters requires leaving out the file name:
$ mkvpropedit movie.mkv --chapters ''
Adding a font file (Arial.ttf) as an attachment:
$ mkvpropedit movie.mkv --add-attachment Arial.ttf
Adding a font file (89719823.ttf) as an attachment and providing some
information as it really is just Arial:
$ mkvpropedit movie.mkv --attachment-name Arial.ttf --attachment-description 'The Arial font as a TrueType font' --attachment-mime-type application/x-truetype-font --add-attachment 89719823.ttf
Replacing one attached font (Comic.ttf) file with another one
(Arial.ttf):
$ mkvpropedit movie.mkv --attachment-name Arial.ttf --attachment-description 'The Arial font as a TrueType font' --replace-attachment name:Comic.ttf:Arial.ttf
Deleting the second attached file, whatever it may be:
$ mkvpropedit movie.mkv --delete-attachment 2
Deleting all attached fonts by MIME type:
$ mkvpropedit movie.mkv --delete-attachment mime-type:application/x-truetype-font
EXIT CODESmkvpropedit(1) exits with one of three exit codes:
· 0 -- This exit codes means that the modification has completed
successfully.
· 1 -- In this case mkvpropedit(1) has output at least one warning,
but the modification did continue. A warning is prefixed with the
text 'Warning:'. 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.
· 2 -- This exit code is used after an error occurred.
mkvpropedit(1) aborts right after outputting the error message.
Error messages range from wrong command line arguments over
read/write errors to broken files.
TEXT FILES AND CHARACTER SET CONVERSIONS
For an in-depth discussion about how all tools in the MKVToolNix suite
handle character set conversions, input/output encoding, command line
encoding and console encoding please see the identically-named section
in the mkvmerge(1) man page.
ESCAPING SPECIAL CHARS IN TEXT
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.
The rules are: ' ' (a space) becomes '\s', '"' (double quotes) becomes
'\2', ':' becomes '\c', '#' becomes '\h' and '\' (a single backslash)
itself becomes '\\'.
ENVIRONMENT VARIABLESmkvpropedit(1) uses the default variables that determine the system's
locale (e.g. LANG and the LC_* family). Additional variables:
MKVPROPEDIT_DEBUG, MKVTOOLNIX_DEBUG and its short form MTX_DEBUG
The content is treated as if it had been passed via the --debug
option.
MKVPROPEDIT_ENGAGE, MKVTOOLNIX_ENGAGE and its short form MTX_ENGAGE
The content is treated as if it had been passed via the --engage
option.
MKVPROPEDIT_OPTIONS, MKVTOOLNIX_OPTIONS and its short form MTX_OPTIONS
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).
SEE ALSOmkvmerge(1), mkvinfo(1), mkvextract(1), mkvtoolnix-gui(1)WWW
The latest version can always be found at the MKVToolNix homepage[1].
AUTHOR
Moritz Bunkus <moritz@bunkus.org>
Developer
NOTES
1. the MKVToolNix homepage
https://mkvtoolnix.download/
MKVToolNix 8.8.0 2016-01-10 MKVPROPEDIT(1)
