**pytaglib** – TagLib bindings for Python
=========================================

Overview
--------

**pytaglib** is a full-featured, easy-to-use, cross-platform audio
metadata ("tag") library for `Python <http://www.python.org>`__ (all
versions supported). It uses the popular, fast and rock-solid
`TagLib <http://taglib.github.io>`__ C++ library internally;
**pytaglib** is a very thin wrapper about TagLib (<150 lines of code),
meaning that you immediately profit from the underlying library's speed
and stability.

Features include `support of more than a dozen file
formats <http://taglib.github.io>`__, `arbitrary tag
names <#arbitag>`__, and `multiple values per tag <#multival>`__.

Usage Example
-------------

-  Open a file and read its tags:

   .. code:: python

       >>> import taglib
       >>> song = taglib.File("/path/to/my/file.mp3")
       >>> song.tags
       {'ARTIST': ['piman', 'jzig'], 'ALBUM': ['Quod Libet Test Data'], 'TITLE': ['Silence'], 'GENRE': ['Silence'], 'TRACKNUMBER': ['02/10'], 'DATE': ['2004']}

-  Read some additional properties of the file:

   .. code:: python

       >>> song.length
       239
       >>> song.channels
       2

-  Change the file's tags:

   .. code:: python

       >>> song.tags["ALBUM"] = ["White Album"] # always use lists, even for single values
       >>> del song.tags["DATE"]

-  Multiple values per tag:

   .. code:: python

       >>> song.tags["GENRE"] = ["Vocal", "Classical"]

-  Non-standard tags:

   .. code:: python

       >>> song.tags["PERFORMER:HARPSICHORD"] = ["Ton Koopman"] 

-  Save your changes:

   .. code:: python

       >>> returnvalue = song.save()
       >>> returnvalue
       {}

   The dictionary returned by ``save`` contains all tags that could not
   be saved (might happen if the specific format does not support e.g.
   multi-values).

| **Note:** All strings in the tag dictionary are unicode strings (type
  ``str`` in Python 3 and ``unicode`` in Python 2). On the input side,
  however, the library is rather permissive and supports both byte- and
  unicode-strings. Internally, ``pytaglib`` converts
| all strings to ``UTF-8`` before storing them in the files.

Installation
------------

The most recommended installation method is

::

        pip install pytaglib

subject to the following notes:

-  Ensure that ``pip`` points to the correct Python version; you might
   need to use, e.g., ``pip-3.5`` if you want to install ``pytaglib``
   for Python 3.5 and your system's default is Python 2.7.
-  You may need administrator rights to install a package, i.e.,
   ``sudo pip install pytaglib`` on Unix or running the command on a
   Admin console on windows
-  Alternatively, install locally into your user home with
   ``pip install --user pytaglib``.
-  You need to have ``taglib`` installed with development headers
   (package ``libtag1-dev`` for debian-based linux,
   ``brew install taglib`` on OS X).
-  If ``taglib`` is installed at a non-standard location, you can tell
   ``pip`` where to look for its include (``-I``) and library (``-L``)
   files:

   ::

       pip install --global-option=build_ext --global-option="-I/usr/local/include/" --global-option="-L/usr/local/lib" pytaglib

If the above does not work, continue reading for alternative methods of
installation.

Linux / Unix
~~~~~~~~~~~~

Distribution-Specific Packages
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

-  Debian- and Ubuntu-based linux flavors have binary packages for the
   Python 3 version, called ``python3-taglib``. Unfortunatelly, they are
   heavily outdated, so you should use the above "pip" method whenever
   possible.
-  For Arch users, there is a
   `package <https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/python-pytaglib/>`__ in
   the user repository (AUR) which I try to keep up-to-date.

   .. rubric:: Manual Compilation
      :name: manual-compilation

   Alternatively, you can download / checkout the sources and compile
   manually:

   ::

       python setup.py build
       python setup.py test  # optional
       sudo python setup.py install

You can manually specify ``taglib``'s include and library directories:

::

    python setup.py build --include-dirs /usr/local/include --library-dirs /usr/local/lib

| **Note**: The ``taglib`` Python extension is built from the file
  ``taglib.cpp`` which in turn is
| auto-generated by `Cython <http://www.cython.org>`__ from
  ``taglib.pyx``. To re-cythonize this file
| instead of using the shipped ``taglib.cpp``, invoke ``setup.py`` with
  the ``--cython`` option.

Windows
~~~~~~~

Currently, the PyPI archive contains a binary version only for
Python3.5/x64. For different combinations of Python version and
architecture, you need to build yourself.

**Note**: The following procedure was tested for Python 3.5 on x64 only.
Other python versions probably require some more work; see e.g.
`this <https://blog.ionelmc.ro/2014/12/21/compiling-python-extensions-on-windows/>`__
page.

#. Install `Microsoft Visual Studio 2015 Community
   Edition <https://www.visualstudio.com/downloads/download-visual-studio-vs>`__.
   In the installation process, be sure to enable C/C++ support.
#. Download and build taglib:

   #. Download the current `taglib
      release <https://github.com/taglib/taglib/releases>`__ and extract
      it somewhere on your computer.
   #. Start the VS2015 x64 Native Tools Command Prompt. On Windows 8/10,
      it might not appear in your start menu, but you can find it here:
      ``C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Visual Studio 2015\Visual Studio Tools\Windows Desktop Command Prompts``
   #. Navigate to the extracted taglib folder and type:
      ``cmake -G "Visual Studio 14 2015 Win64" -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=".\taglib-install"``
      to generate the Visual Studio project files.
   #. Type ``msbuild INSTALL.vcxproj /p:Configuration=Release`` which
      will "install" taglib into the ``taglib-install`` subdirectory.

#. Still in the VS2015 command prompt, navigate to the pytaglib
   directory.
#. Tell pytaglib where to find taglib:
   ``set TAGLIB_HOME=C:\Path\To\taglib-install``
#. Build pytaglib: ``python setup.py build`` and install:
   ``python setup.py install``

``pyprinttags``
---------------

| This package also installs the small script ``pyprinttags``. It takes
  one or more files as
| command-line parameters and will display all known metadata of that
  files on the terminal.
| If unsupported tags (a.k.a. non-textual information) are found, they
  can optionally be removed
| from the file.

``Contact``
-----------

| For bug reports or feature requests, please use the
| `issue tracker <https://github.com/supermihi/pytaglib/issues>`__ on
  GitHub. For anything else, contact
| me by `email <mailto:michaelhelmling@posteo.de>`__.
