Actions and action groups¶

Actions turn a repeated tagging job into a saved workflow. An action can change a field, rename a file, adjust artwork or produce an output file. A group combines actions so that the next step can use the previous step's result.

Start with copies of a few files. Save or discard pending tag-panel edits, select the files to process, then choose one of these routes:

Route	Use it for	What the confirmation does
Actions → Actions (Quick)… (`Alt`+`Shift`+`6`)	One change, such as replacing underscores	Apply action runs the action and saves immediately
Actions → Actions… (`Alt`+`6`)	A reusable sequence	Save groups keeps the workflow; Apply checked groups saves it and processes the selected files
A named group in the Actions menu	Running a saved workflow again	Runs that group on the selected files

Alt is ⌥ Option on a Mac. The menus show the available commands when files are selected and the current source permits writing.

A new installation starts with five unchecked groups under Examples. Review and enable only the examples wanted for a run. Saving an empty library keeps it empty; removing examples does not make them return at the next start.

Choose an action¶

Goal	Action
Change capitalization	Case Conversion
Repair a confirmed legacy encoding mistake	Convert Codepage
Calculate one field or a name from tags	Format Value
Extract several fields from structured text	Guess Values
Substitute exact text	Replace
Match varying text with a pattern	Replace with Regular Expression
Turn a delimited string into several values	Split Field by Separator
Join several field values into one	Merge Duplicate Fields
Retain the first value or remove equal values	Remove Duplicate Fields
Delete specified fields	Remove Fields
Delete everything except a keep list	Remove Fields Except
Embed an existing image	Import Cover from File
Copy embedded images to files	Export Cover to File
Resize or convert embedded images	Adjust Cover
Change picture roles and descriptions	Set Cover Properties
Fill a field from a text file	Import Text File
Write a text report	Export
Write playlists grouped by folder or another value	Generate Playlists

Try a quick action¶

Select one practice file whose title contains an underscore.
Choose Actions → Actions (Quick)….
Choose Replace in Action type.
Enter TITLE in Field, _ in Original string, and one space in Replace with.
Leave Only as whole word and Case-sensitive comparison off.
Choose Apply action, then check the title in the file list.

Low_Tide becomes Low Tide. This is a saved change; there is no extra Save tags step. OpenTag remembers the last quick-action type and its settings. Check them before the next application.

Build a reusable group¶

Open Actions → Actions… and choose New… under Groups.
Give the group a clear name, such as Titles: underscores and spaces.
Select the group and choose Edit actions….
Choose New…, select an action type, enter its settings and choose Keep action. Repeat to add more actions.
Use ↑ Move up and ↓ Move down to put the actions in order.
Keep the edited action list, then choose Save groups.
Check only the groups needed for this run and choose Apply checked groups.

A group's name does not need to match a field or filename. Duplicate it with Duplicate… before adapting a workflow you want to preserve. Rename… changes its name; Remove removes the saved group, not your music files. Closing with unsaved group changes asks whether to discard them. Hold Alt while choosing a move button to send the selected entries to the beginning or end. The same controls arrange both groups and their actions.

Understand the order¶

Checked groups run in their displayed order. Within a group, field and file changes feed the following actions. For example, copy the guest artist into TITLE before removing it from ARTIST.

Export and Generate Playlists are batch outputs: OpenTag produces them after the other actions in that group. They see the group's final values even if their row appears earlier. Use a separate group when an output must capture a particular intermediate state.

A failed action warns for that file, then the file's remaining actions and later groups continue. It still participates in batch exports and playlists. Earlier successful writes remain; read every warning and inspect the practice files before repeating. Use Edit → Undo for recorded file changes in the current desktop session; keep backups for recovery beyond that session. Export Cover includes created and replaced images in its undo step. Generated reports and playlists may need separate cleanup.

Choose a field or a special target¶

Most field actions take a name such as TITLE, ARTIST or ALBUMARTIST. Use the Field helper to insert names. The available special targets depend on the action:

Target	Meaning	Available for
`_TAG`	Process every tag field	Case Conversion, Replace, Replace with Regular Expression, Convert Codepage, Merge Duplicate Fields, Split Field by Separator
`_ALL`	Process tag fields and the filename	Case Conversion, Replace, Replace with Regular Expression, Convert Codepage
`_ALL` in Remove Duplicate Fields	Process every tag field; does not rename files	Remove Duplicate Fields
`_FILENAME`	Process or construct the filename	Case Conversion, Replace, Replace with Regular Expression, Convert Codepage, Format Value
`_DIRECTORY`	Process or construct the containing folder's name	Case Conversion, Replace, Replace with Regular Expression, Convert Codepage, Format Value
`_FIELDNAME`	Change field-name spelling, keeping its values	Case Conversion, on APEv2 and Vorbis Comment tags

The regex action includes the extension in _FILENAME; the other text transformations operate on the name without it. Format Value builds a new name and preserves the audio extension. Read the action page before using a filename or folder target.

COVER and PICTURE have a separate meaning in Remove Fields and Remove Fields Except: they refer to embedded artwork.

Organize, select and repeat groups¶

Use Sort by name to alphabetize groups, or Sort by state to put checked groups first. Sorting changes execution order, so review the result. Checking a group controls whether Apply checked groups runs it; selecting a row chooses which group to edit. Those are different operations.

A Selection preset remembers which groups are checked. Check the groups, choose Save preset…, and give the selection a name. Choose that name from Selection preset to restore the checks. Remove preset… removes the saved selection while keeping the groups themselves. Save groups after changing presets.

For nested menu entries, use # in a name: Cleanup#Titles places Titles inside a Cleanup submenu. A single & marks a mnemonic character; && displays a literal ampersand. Keep names descriptive even without the mnemonic.

For example, name a group &Cleanup#&Titles. Outside a text box, press Alt+A to open the Actions menu, then C and T to run that group. The letters come from the characters following &, not from a separate arbitrary shortcut assignment.

After a run, Edit → Repeat can run the last action selection again. The Redo/Repeat command depends on the current undo history; read its label before using Cmd+Y / Ctrl+Y.

Import and export an action group¶

Choose Import .mta… and select an action-group file. UTF-8 and BOM-marked UTF-16 are accepted; for an older file, enter its original encoding when asked, such as Windows-1252. An imported name already in use receives a numbered suffix.

Inspect every imported action. An Unresolved imported action keeps the uninterpreted settings visible and prevents checked groups from running. Replace or correct that action explicitly; importing a file is not proof that every setting has an equivalent in OpenTag.

Choose Export .mta… for the selected group to write an exchange file. Only supported export mappings can be written; review any reported error rather than assuming a partial export is usable.

Keyboard controls in the group list¶

Use Cmd on macOS and Ctrl on Windows or Linux for the primary modifier.

Key	Effect
`Ins`	New group or action
`Del`	Remove the selected entries; Backspace also works on Mac keyboards
`Space`	Toggle checked groups
`Ctrl`+`A` / `Cmd`+`A`	Select all rows
`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`A` / `Cmd`+`Shift`+`A`	Invert the row selection
`Ctrl`+`E` / `Cmd`+`E`	Enable all groups
`Ctrl`+`D` / `Cmd`+`D`	Disable all groups
`Ctrl`+`S` / `Cmd`+`S`	Save groups
`Alt`+`Up` / `Alt`+`Down`	Move selected rows
`Alt`+`Page Up` / `Alt`+`Page Down`	Move selected rows to the beginning or end
`F2` in the group list	Rename the current group
`F4` or `Enter` in the group list	Edit the group's actions; double-clicking also opens them
`F4` in the action list	Edit the current action

Cmd/Ctrl-click toggles individual row selections; Shift-click selects a range. These controls apply inside the relevant lists, not while typing a field value.