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Reading and writing MP3 ID3v1 tags

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4 Dec 2003 210.3K   4K   68   35
A simple class for mainpulating ID3v1 tags of MP3 files.

Introduction

This article provides a simple class which can read and write MP3 ID3v1 tags.

The code

The code itself is very easy to understand, here it is:

VB.NET
Imports System.IO

Public Class MP3ID3v1

    ' Constructor
    Public Sub New(Optional ByVal Filename As String = "")
        MyBase.New()
        If (Filename <> "") Then Me.Filename = Filename
    End Sub

    ' Genres
    Public Enum Genres As Byte
        Blues = 0
        ClassicRock = 1
        Country = 2
        Dance = 3
        Disco = 4
        Funk = 5
        Grunge = 6
        HipHop = 7
        Jazz = 8
        Metal = 9
        NewAge = 10
        Oldies = 11
        Other = 12
        Pop = 13
        RnB = 14
        Rap = 15
        Reggae = 16
        Rock = 17
        Techno = 18
        Industrial = 19
        Alternative = 20
        Ska = 21
        DeathMetal = 22
        Pranks = 23
        Soundtrack = 24
        EuroTechno = 25
        Ambient = 26
        TripHop = 27
        Vocal = 28
        JazzFunk = 29
        Fusion = 30
        Trance = 31
        Classical = 32
        Instrumental = 33
        Acid = 34
        House = 35
        Game = 36
        SoundClip = 37
        Gospel = 38
        Noise = 39
        AlternRock = 40
        Bass = 41
        Soul = 42
        Punk = 43
        Space = 44
        Meditative = 45
        InstrumentalPop = 46
        InstrumentalRock = 47
        Ethnic = 48
        Gothic = 49
        Darkwave = 50
        TechnoIndustrial = 51
        Electronic = 52
        PopFolk = 53
        Eurodance = 54
        Dream = 55
        SouthernRock = 56
        Comedy = 57
        Cult = 58
        Gangsta = 59
        Top40 = 60
        ChristianRap = 61
        PopFunk = 62
        Jungle = 63
        NativeAmerican = 64
        Cabaret = 65
        NewWave = 66
        Psychadelic = 67
        Rave = 68
        Showtunes = 69
        Trailer = 70
        LoFi = 71
        Tribal = 72
        AcidPunk = 73
        AcidJazz = 74
        Polka = 75
        Retro = 76
        Musical = 77
        RocknRoll = 78
        HardRock = 79
        None = 255
    End Enum

    ' Frame types
    Public Enum FrameTypes As Byte
        Title = 0
        Artist = 1
        Album = 2
        Year = 3
        Track = 4
        Comment = 5
        Genre = 6
    End Enum

    ' Filename
    Private mstrFilename As String
    Public Property Filename() As String
        Get
            Return mstrFilename
        End Get
        Set(ByVal Value As String)
            Dim objFile As File
            If (objFile.Exists(Value)) Then
                mstrFilename = Value
                Refresh()
            Else
                Throw New System.IO.FileLoadException( _
                    "The specified file does not exist", Value)
            End If
        End Set
    End Property

    ' TagExists
    Private mblnTagExists As Boolean
    Public ReadOnly Property TagExists() As Boolean
        Get
            Return mblnTagExists
        End Get
    End Property

    ' Frame
    Private mobjFrame(7) As Object
    Public Property Frame(ByVal FrameType As FrameTypes)
        Get
            Return mobjFrame(FrameType)
        End Get
        Set(ByVal Value)
            mobjFrame(FrameType) = Value
        End Set
    End Property

    ' Refresh (gets all tags from the specified file)
    Public Sub Refresh()

        ' Declarations
        Dim strTag As New String(" ", 3)
        Dim strTitle As New String(" ", 30)
        Dim strArtist As New String(" ", 30)
        Dim strAlbum As New String(" ", 30)
        Dim strYear As New String(" ", 4)
        Dim strComment As New String(" ", 28)
        Dim bytDummy As Byte
        Dim bytTrack As Byte
        Dim bytGenre As Byte

        ' Open the file
        Dim intFile As Integer = FreeFile()
        FileOpen(intFile, mstrFilename, OpenMode.Binary, _
              OpenAccess.Read, OpenShare.LockWrite)

        ' Gets length of file
        Dim lngLOF As Long = LOF(intFile)
        If (lngLOF > 128) Then

            ' Check for the ID3v1 tag
            FileGet(intFile, strTag, lngLOF - 127, True)
            If (strTag.ToUpper <> "TAG") Then

                ' No ID3v1 tag found
                mblnTagExists = False
                mobjFrame(0) = ""
                mobjFrame(1) = ""
                mobjFrame(2) = ""
                mobjFrame(3) = ""
                mobjFrame(4) = ""
                mobjFrame(5) = ""
                mobjFrame(6) = ""

            Else

                ' ID3v1 tag found
                mblnTagExists = True

                ' Read all frames from the file
                FileGet(intFile, strTitle)
                FileGet(intFile, strArtist)
                FileGet(intFile, strAlbum)
                FileGet(intFile, strYear)
                FileGet(intFile, strComment)
                FileGet(intFile, bytDummy)
                FileGet(intFile, bytTrack)
                FileGet(intFile, bytGenre)

                ' Assign the frame content to the properties
                mobjFrame(0) = strTitle
                mobjFrame(1) = strArtist
                mobjFrame(2) = strAlbum
                mobjFrame(3) = strYear
                mobjFrame(4) = bytTrack
                mobjFrame(5) = strComment
                mobjFrame(6) = bytGenre

            End If
        End If

        ' Close the file
        FileClose(intFile)

    End Sub

    ' Update
    Public Sub Update()

        ' Declarations
        Dim strTag As New String(" ", 3)
        Dim strTitle As New String(" ", 30)
        Dim strArtist As New String(" ", 30)
        Dim strAlbum As New String(" ", 30)
        Dim strYear As New String(" ", 4)
        Dim strComment As New String(" ", 28)
        Dim bytDummy As Byte
        Dim bytTrack As Byte
        Dim bytGenre As Byte

        ' Open the file
        Dim intFile As Integer = FreeFile()
        FileOpen(intFile, mstrFilename, OpenMode.Binary, _
           OpenAccess.ReadWrite, OpenShare.LockWrite)

        ' Gets length of file
        Dim lngLOF As Long = LOF(intFile)
        If (lngLOF > 0) Then
            If (lngLOF > 128) Then

                ' Check for an existing ID3v1 tag
                FileGet(intFile, strTag, lngLOF - 127)
                If (strTag.ToUpper <> "TAG") Then

                    ' No ID3v1 tag found, so just add one
                    Seek(intFile, lngLOF)
                    strTag = "TAG"
                    FilePut(intFile, strTag)

                End If

                ' Fix the length of the frames
                strTitle = LSet(mobjFrame(0), Len(strTitle))
                strArtist = LSet(mobjFrame(1), Len(strArtist))
                strAlbum = LSet(mobjFrame(2), Len(strAlbum))
                strYear = LSet(mobjFrame(3), Len(strYear))
                bytTrack = mobjFrame(4)
                strComment = LSet(mobjFrame(5), Len(strComment))
                bytGenre = mobjFrame(6)

                ' Write the frames to the file
                FilePut(intFile, strTitle)
                FilePut(intFile, strArtist)
                FilePut(intFile, strAlbum)
                FilePut(intFile, strYear)
                FilePut(intFile, strComment)
                FilePut(intFile, bytDummy)
                FilePut(intFile, bytTrack)
                FilePut(intFile, bytGenre)

            End If
        End If

        ' Close the file
        FileClose(intFile)

    End Sub

End Class

Using the code

To implement the class in your projects, just add the class file to your solution and declare a new instance of it:

VB.NET
Dim objMP3V1 As New MP3ID3v1("c:\song.mp3")

If the MP3 file contains tags, the property TagExists will be True, so you can start reading the tags (you'll find all frame types inside the code):

VB.NET
If (objMP3V1.TagExists) Then
    MessageBox.Show(objMP3V1.Frame(MP3ID3v1.FrameTypes.Album))
    MessageBox.Show(objMP3V1.Frame(MP3ID3v1.FrameTypes.Artist))
End If

For assigning a new tag, just set the property to the new value and call Update():

VB.NET
objMP3V1.Frame(MP3ID3v1.FrameTypes.Album) = "Album name"
objMP3V1.Update()

That's it.

License

This article has no explicit license attached to it but may contain usage terms in the article text or the download files themselves. If in doubt please contact the author via the discussion board below.

A list of licenses authors might use can be found here


Written By
Software Developer (Senior) CIBER AG
Germany Germany
Feel free to contact me via Email or MSN Messenger (thommy@live.com).

Comments and Discussions

 
QuestionDisplay mp3 tags on game screen (DirectX Windows) Pin
Marek Argent (Abrimaal)30-Dec-23 19:57
Marek Argent (Abrimaal)30-Dec-23 19:57 
QuestionImplementation Pin
gps587-Aug-18 22:48
gps587-Aug-18 22:48 
GeneralMy vote of 1 Pin
Mikloo29-Dec-13 8:43
Mikloo29-Dec-13 8:43 
QuestionFull ID3 1.0, 2.0, 2.3, 2.4 Classes for VB.Net - Credits to Shad4Ever Pin
Mikloo29-Dec-13 8:41
Mikloo29-Dec-13 8:41 
AnswerRe: Full ID3 1.0, 2.0, 2.3, 2.4 Classes for VB.Net - Credits to Shad4Ever Pin
shad4ever15-Jul-14 15:58
shad4ever15-Jul-14 15:58 
AnswerRe: Full ID3 1.0, 2.0, 2.3, 2.4 Classes for VB.Net - Credits to Shad4Ever Pin
Mikloo21-Aug-14 17:18
Mikloo21-Aug-14 17:18 
QuestionAdding Tag Pin
davemas19-Oct-13 4:53
davemas19-Oct-13 4:53 
QuestionHow do I use this? Pin
critchm23-Aug-13 20:31
critchm23-Aug-13 20:31 
QuestionHI HOW AI GET THE SEGONDS FROM MP3? Pin
Ivan Silva Lemos4-Jul-13 13:28
Ivan Silva Lemos4-Jul-13 13:28 
SuggestionJapanese characters Pin
SousukeSagara16-Sep-12 16:04
SousukeSagara16-Sep-12 16:04 
QuestionWriting/Editing Track Duration of MP3 Pin
trC_27-Aug-12 13:33
trC_27-Aug-12 13:33 
GeneralMy vote of 4 Pin
Arthas_ls21-Nov-11 12:56
Arthas_ls21-Nov-11 12:56 
GeneralThank You! Pin
CircusUgly29-Apr-11 13:10
CircusUgly29-Apr-11 13:10 
Generaltag size Pin
Nitin Bhave19-Jul-10 18:55
Nitin Bhave19-Jul-10 18:55 
GeneralRe: tag size Pin
Zachary Lyons19-Feb-13 6:45
Zachary Lyons19-Feb-13 6:45 
GeneralRe: tag size Pin
Zachary Lyons19-Feb-13 9:43
Zachary Lyons19-Feb-13 9:43 
AnswerRe: tag size Pin
Zachary Lyons20-Feb-13 11:18
Zachary Lyons20-Feb-13 11:18 
QuestionCan you do in C#? Pin
rnbguru22-Jul-09 15:34
rnbguru22-Jul-09 15:34 
AnswerRe: Can you do in C#? Pin
Chuck Deluxe1-Aug-09 4:14
Chuck Deluxe1-Aug-09 4:14 
GeneralMy vote of 1 Pin
joseyoommen15-Jul-09 22:51
joseyoommen15-Jul-09 22:51 
GeneralImplementation Pin
Chuck Deluxe7-Jul-09 5:03
Chuck Deluxe7-Jul-09 5:03 
Generalhip hop music writing Pin
Just Blaaaze12-Dec-08 5:34
Just Blaaaze12-Dec-08 5:34 
Questiongetting error message Pin
alex-pof23-Jul-07 5:54
alex-pof23-Jul-07 5:54 
GeneralRe: getting error message Pin
Célio2-Mar-08 11:36
Célio2-Mar-08 11:36 
AnswerRe: getting error message [modified] Pin
Satakus29-Aug-09 9:16
Satakus29-Aug-09 9:16 
I've got the same error, more or less.
I'm using the code provided combined with my own code (to load files and such) so that I can automatically put MP3's into folders
Now, where I create the directory using one of the tags (title or album), it gives an error saying there's an Illegal character in the string
After long searching I've came to the conclusion that the strings the tags are being stored to (strTitle and the others), though when watching the Stack and heap in visual studio,
normal strings look like this: "This is the string without the quotation marks"
in a messagebox: This is the string without the quotation marks
BUT strTitle and all the others look like this: "Adema
...without the last quotation mark
And if you try to concatenate another string behind strTitle, the strings behind it won't show
for example, if you put your code:
MessageBox.Show(strTitle & "this should come behind it")
you only get the value of strTitle in the messageBox

now my question is: how do I get those strings to have the same format as normal strings?
adding it manually in the stack heap while debugging solves it, but regular users (since i'm making it for me and some friends) can't constantly add it manually whilst debugging right?

thanks in advance!

-edit-
The solution is putting the strings into a textbox that's displayed on your form
And then you make separate strings you fill with the value of the matching textbox
(or you could work with 1 textbox on your form, and keep filling it with the data you need, and make the Text of the textbox empty once the entire action is finished)
By displaying it on the form, the string gets completed (with the last quotation mark) and can be used to store it into different strings

modified on Saturday, August 29, 2009 4:36 PM

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