Metadata displayed in W7 Explorer has changed; and I can't change Rating metadata

[Radiophile]

Recently I upgraded from dBpoweramp 13.x (I can't remember the version) to R14.2. Since the upgrade I've noticed some strange behavior in two areas:

1. The Windows 7 file explorer has a pane (at the bottom of the window) that displays ID3 tag metadata. Since the upgrade, what's displayed there has changed. Some categories were added, such as Channels, Audio sample rate. Audio sample size, Mood, Composers, Conductors, Part of a set, and Part of a compilation. I don't really need any of those, but they're easy to ignore. More important though, some items were removed; in particular, Artist and Year. I refer to these items often, and I would like to be able to get them back. I did an Internet search (admittedly brief) to try to find out how to control which of these items are displayed in Windows 7, and didn't find an answer. So my question is, how do I change which items are displayed here? And, why did the R14.2 upgrade change them?

2. Song "Rating" information. I set this tag element for songs. Since the R14.2 upgrade, I've noticed changes in the behavior of the Rating element.
(a) I see that I can now change the rating of a song while it's playing. Before the upgrade I got an error message saying I could not change the file while it was in use. For some reason I no longer get this message. This is good, but I wonder how it is possible. If the rating information is no longer stored in the song file itself, I would think that would be bad.
(b) Sometimes I can't change or set the rating. The other day I wanted to set the ratings of several songs. After setting a few, I couldn't set any more. I'd select the song in Windows Explorer and down in the tag display pane I'd click the stars to set the rating. Then I'd click the Save button. But nothing would happen. The rating for that song would not "take." Today it happened again: After successfully setting the rating of two songs, I could set no more. I tried closing and restarting Windows Explorer - no good. Then I tried a PC reboot. I still can't set any ratings. As a test I tried to change another tag element (Album) and it changed successfully. So it would appear this problem is only with Rating.

[Spoon]

Re: Metadata displayed in W7 Explorer has changed; and I can't change Rating metadata

1. In dBpoweramp Configuration >> Music converter >> disable the 'Thumbnail and Property Handler', dBpoweramp uses its own so formats such as FLAC can display ID Tags in explorer.

How are you changing the rating? by right click on file >> edit tag?

[Radiophile]

Re: Metadata displayed in W7 Explorer has changed; and I can't change Rating metadata

1. In dBpoweramp Configuration >> Music converter >> disable the 'Thumbnail and Property Handler', dBpoweramp uses its own so formats such as FLAC can display ID Tags in explorer.

I did that, and now all the tag information has disappeared from the Windows Explorer bottom pane. The pane is completely empty except for the album graphic.

How are you changing the rating? by right click on file >> edit tag?

No. I go to the bottom pane and click on the appropriate star in the displayed Rating tag field. (At least it used to be displayed, until I disabled Thumbnail and Property Handler.) After I change it, a "Save" button appears to the right of the tag info in the bottom pane, and I click that.

[Spoon]

Re: Metadata displayed in W7 Explorer has changed; and I can't change Rating metadata

Which audio format are you using? also check you are on 14.2, not r14.1

> This is good, but I wonder how it is possible.

dBpoweramp was changing the rating, if you remove the dBpoweramp from the explorer Windows will revert to the old behavior.

[Radiophile]

Re: Metadata displayed in W7 Explorer has changed; and I can't change Rating metadata

Which audio format are you using? also check you are on 14.2, not r14.1

MP3. Oops - I thought I downloaded and was using 14.2. But according to dBpoweramp Configuration, I have "dBpoweramp Music Converter: Registered Reference 14.1". :blush:

[Spoon]

Re: Metadata displayed in W7 Explorer has changed; and I can't change Rating metadata

You need R14.2, install, put that check option back, close dBpoweramp Configuration, then remove it.

[Radiophile]

Re: Metadata displayed in W7 Explorer has changed; and I can't change Rating metadata

Just to be sure I get this right, this is what I should do:
- Download and install 14.2
- Run dBpoweramp Configuration
- Check (enable) the 'Thumbnail and Property Handler' option
- Close dBpoweramp Configuration
- Run dBpoweramp Configuration again
- Uncheck (disable) the 'Thumbnail and Property Handler' option

Is this correct? Thanks.

[Spoon]

Re: Metadata displayed in W7 Explorer has changed; and I can't change Rating metadata

Bingo

[Radiophile]

Re: Metadata displayed in W7 Explorer has changed; and I can't change Rating metadata

Thanks Spoon. That did the trick. With 'Thumbnail and Property Handler' disabled, everything is back the way it used to be.

However I have some flac files, and it would be nice if I could use tags with them.
- Why does 'Thumbnail and Property Handler' change the tag items displayed in the Windows Explorer bottom pane? Is there a way that I can control which items are displayed there?
- When 'Thumbnail and Property Handler' is enabled, where is tag metadata stored? For flac files I guess it is stored in a dBpoweramp database and not in the files themselves. (Is this true?) But how about regular MP3 files? Is the metadata embedded in the files themselves like normally happens, or is the metadata stored somewhere else?

[Spoon]

Re: Metadata displayed in W7 Explorer has changed; and I can't change Rating metadata

Any tagging by dBpoweramp is always done to the file.

See the 'exclusions' button next to Thumbnail and Property Handler

[Radiophile]

Re: Metadata displayed in W7 Explorer has changed; and I can't change Rating metadata

Any tagging by dBpoweramp is always done to the file.

That's very good to know. And that means that I don't need to exclude anything.

But please answer my remaining question: Why does enabling the Thumbnail and Property Handler change which tag items are displayed in the Windows Explorer pane? And how can I control which items are displayed here?

[Spoon]

Re: Metadata displayed in W7 Explorer has changed; and I can't change Rating metadata

Either Windows is in charge of that section, or dBpoweramp, if dBpoweramp then it changes (for the audio types which are not excluded).

[Radiophile]

Re: Metadata displayed in W7 Explorer has changed; and I can't change Rating metadata

Either Windows is in charge of that section, or dBpoweramp, if dBpoweramp then it changes (for the audio types which are not excluded).

So I can enable Thumbnail and Property Handler with MP3 excluded and it won't affect the tag pane for MP3 files? I tried it: I excluded all audio types except flac. The tag pane changed (to the dBpoweramp version) for all audio file types I had available for testing (MP3, M4A, FLAC).

So unfortunately I'll have to disable Thumbnail and Property Handler so I can have a reasonably useful tag pane in Windows Explorer.

Since dBpoweramp is in control of the tag pane when Thumbnail and Property Handler is enabled, might I humbly request that future program development include the ability of the user to choose which tag elements to display? This would be an additional feature, and one that I would like and use.

[Spoon]

Re: Metadata displayed in W7 Explorer has changed; and I can't change Rating metadata

It should be possible, it could be a bug which I will look at for R14.3