AtomicParsley For Linux

AtomicParsley is a lightweight command line program for parsing, reading and setting metadata into MPEG-4 files supporting these styles of metadata:

• iTunes-style metadata into .mp4, .m4a, .m4p, .m4v, .m4b files • 3gp-style assets (3GPP TS 26.444 version 6.4.0 Release 6 specification conforming) in 3GPP, 3GPP2, MobileMP4 & derivatives • ISO copyright notices at movie & track level for MPEG-4 & derivative files • uuid private user extension text & file embedding for MPEG-4 & derivative files

The MPEG-4 container is based on Apple's Quicktime .mov container (just more sane) & there are a number of similarites - as well as differences. Each MPEG-4 file lists a "major file brand" that broadly says which specification the file adheres to. For example, an iTunes audio file typically lists 'M4A ' as its major file brand, while a 3GPP2 .3g2 file has something like '3g2a'. It is based on this major file brand that AtomicParsley allows a style of metadata to be set. Since there is nothing in the 3GPP2 specification regarding iTunes-style metadata, its use is prevented on such files. Similarly, a 3gp 'location' asset is not available for an iTMS video file. The first paragraph here sums the situation up well.

With the exception of artwork, all iTunes-style tags support only 1 piece of metadata - you can't have for example 3 title tags. 3gp assets and copyright notices support multiple tags, but they must differ in the language setting for that tag. You can have for example 3 title tags, but 1 in english, 1 in spanish, 1 in undefined. All iTunes-style text metadata is always in UTF-8; 3gp assets & copyright notices can be in set in UTF-8 or UTF-16. All strings are converted internally to UTF-8, converting as necessary. On *nix platforms, input is in UTF-8; the native Windows port supports full UTF-16 input.

What's New in This Release:

• new scanning method based on known atoms, basic properties and their parents • better separation of atom version/flags • allow negatives in 3gp asset coordinates (by switching cli args to high ascii) • new optimization routine for arranging 'moov' and 'udta' • implement utilization of padding for fast metadata updating • added user defined limits for padding behavior • for 3gp assets added support for multiple tags differing in language setting • added ability to set 'stik' to any 8-bit number; added 'Audiobook' setting • list standard genres & stik; bugfixes to standard genre setting • switch text output for rtng's "Lyrics" to "Content" • show file brands (major & minor) with "AP file --brands" • fix removing of some metadata from cli • prevent optimizing on PSP files, but allow it to dynamically update at end-of-file (but not faac) • slight bugfixes to win32 printing of uuid atoms with high-bit characters • added '�too' encoding tool tag • moved 'mmp4' file brand to older 3gp(5) grouping that doesn't support 'albm' asset • added 'kddi' brand to 3gp2 grouping supporting all 3gp assets • added ability to remove a language specific atom with --manualAtomRemove "moov.udta.ATOM:[eng]" where 'eng' is the target elimination language • better tree with track level details to reflect 'drmX' atoms as protected codecs • bugfix to APar_DetermineDynamicUpdate when delta was between 0 & -8 with no available padding - a full rewrite is required. • show language setting for 3gp assets in tree printout • fix reading language setting for classification/clsf in AParScanAtoms • new FindAtom routine that can find ----.name atoms of reverseDNS & atoms with an index like trak[2]; reduced complexity in finding an atom; comes with new CreateSparseAtom routine • simplified creation of req. moov.udta.meta.hdlr when tagging iTunes-style metadata • added "AP file -t 1" to show all tags irrespective of major brand • change to --manualAtomRemove to 3gp assets (now "moov.udta.ATOM:lang=eng") to accommodate removing reverseDNS atoms: "moov.udta.meta.ilst.----.name:[iTunNORM]" • better memory management • cleaner method of listing iTunes-style metadata; added sfID iTMS storefront lookup • extended limits of certain numbers (trackhum, bpm, season) past 256 to 16-bit • limit corruption of 3rd party 'cprt.data' atom & force to 9bytes • switch to fseeko for 2.5G < file < 4.2GB; corresponding changes from float to double for things like progress bar • fix co64 reduction offsets • added stik value for "Booklet" • only allow using padding when cli arg "--overWrite" is given • list padding amount (plus other stuff) with '-t +' • win32 build can now output utf8 if the program name ends with "-utf8.exe" (does not support unicode filenames; only raw utf8 text input & output) • AP -h now shows brief shorthelp, --longhelp shows the extended output (--longhelp gets translated on win32 to utf16 for atom names) • bugfix to removing non-existing atoms • any form of rewrite now requires a mod to the tree/atom contents now • added ability to force image dimensions on Mac OS X; • more accurate track level details (-T 1) and dates (-T +dates) • --stik Audiobook now changes file extension to '.m4b' (+macosx Finder code 'M4B ') • change limit for text strings to 255 characters (instead of bytes) • added ability to set copyright notices in multiple languages at movie & track levels • implement a proper uuid mechanism (sha1-based hash) • added ability to embed files on a uuid atom • nearly all memory are plugged (some Cocoa ones aren't) • added 'pgap' gapless playback atom setting • accommodate/duplicate NULL space at end of file (possibly part of iTunes7 gapless mechanism) • fixed clipping when setting unicode characters • fixed progress bar errata under some circumstances • drop the cygwin build (it still compiles there, but AP-win32 works *much* better)