Which File Types Can Have Tags?

I find tags very useful in Vista. But, which file types can have tags
and which cannot?

I can add tags to Office documents. I can add tags to pictures, but I
cannot add tags to .mp3, .wav, .txt, .vbs?

Why not? Why can't all files have tags?

I agree with you.. that was something I hoped vista would have instead of
all the other usless trash it has...

the tags are dependant on the file because the file contains the data.. but
for mp3 there is a way to embed info inside the mp3 see this program

Mp3tag - the universal Tag Editor (ID3v1, ID3v2, APEv2)An easy-to-use tool
to edit metadata of common audio formats. It can rename files, replace
characters, import/export tag information, create playlists...
www.mp3tag.de/en/






"Den Fox" <> wrote in message
news: oups.com...
>I find tags very useful in Vista. But, which file types can have tags
> and which cannot?
>
> I can add tags to Office documents. I can add tags to pictures, but I
> cannot add tags to .mp3, .wav, .txt, .vbs?
>
> Why not? Why can't all files have tags?
>

On Mon, 30 Jul 2007 16:54:32 -0000, Den Fox <>
wrote:

>I find tags very useful in Vista. But, which file types can have tags
>and which cannot?
>
>I can add tags to Office documents. I can add tags to pictures, but I
>cannot add tags to .mp3, .wav, .txt, .vbs?
>
>Why not? Why can't all files have tags?

Only some file types support metadata. If they can then Windows
Explorer should be able to add/change what's there. To learn more on
how and why the Explorer shell was designed and functions like it
does, listen to Ales Holecek, Director of Development for the Windows
Shell team. An interesting interview. If you don't have time to listen
to the whole 41+ minute interview, pick it up at about the nine minute
mark.

http://channel9.msdn.com/Showpost.aspx?postid=244592

On Jul 30, 1:25 pm, Adam Albright <A...@ABC.net> wrote:
> On Mon, 30 Jul 2007 16:54:32 -0000, Den Fox <thefoolish...@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> >I find tags very useful in Vista. But, which file types can have tags
> >and which cannot?
>
> >I can add tags to Office documents. I can add tags to pictures, but I
> >cannot add tags to .mp3, .wav, .txt, .vbs?
>
> >Why not? Why can't all files have tags?
>
> Only some file types support metadata. If they can then Windows
> Explorer should be able to add/change what's there. To learn more on
> how and why the Explorer shell was designed and functions like it
> does, listen to Ales Holecek, Director of Development for the Windows
> Shell team. An interesting interview. If you don't have time to listen
> to the whole 41+ minute interview, pick it up at about the nine minute
> mark.
>
> http://channel9.msdn.com/Showpost.aspx?postid=244592

Very interesting. Thank you.

Of course, this only generates a slew of additional concerns. Since
the tags are stored as metadata inside the actual file, this means
that the tags are available to others I share the file with. So, we
can benefit from each others' tags and metadata - that's good; but, it
is also something to watch as information might be passed
unintentionally in the metadata. We used to have the same problem with
revisions remaining embedded in the file even after all revisions were
accepted. Now, we must watch out for metadata too.

On Jul 30, 1:04 pm, "Lano DeMentar" <NospamLanoDeMen...@eatit.com>
wrote:
> I agree with you.. that was something I hoped vista would have instead of
> all the other usless trash it has...
>
> the tags are dependant on the file because the file contains the data.. but
> for mp3 there is a way to embed info inside the mp3 see this program
>
> Mp3tag - the universal Tag Editor (ID3v1, ID3v2, APEv2)An easy-to-use tool
> to edit metadata of common audio formats. It can rename files, replace
> characters, import/export tag information, create playlists...www.mp3tag.de/en/
>
> "Den Fox" <thefoolish...@gmail.com> wrote in message
>
> news: oups.com...
>
> >I find tags very useful in Vista. But, which file types can have tags
> > and which cannot?
>
> > I can add tags to Office documents. I can add tags to pictures, but I
> > cannot add tags to .mp3, .wav, .txt, .vbs?
>
> > Why not? Why can't all files have tags?

I guess that for what I wanted they'd have to come up with a new file
system (something that was supposed to happen), but I guess they
couldn't quite get there with Vista.

On Mon, 30 Jul 2007 18:52:30 -0000, Den Fox <>
wrote:

>On Jul 30, 1:25 pm, Adam Albright <A...@ABC.net> wrote:
>> On Mon, 30 Jul 2007 16:54:32 -0000, Den Fox <thefoolish...@gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>> >I find tags very useful in Vista. But, which file types can have tags
>> >and which cannot?
>>
>> >I can add tags to Office documents. I can add tags to pictures, but I
>> >cannot add tags to .mp3, .wav, .txt, .vbs?
>>
>> >Why not? Why can't all files have tags?
>>
>> Only some file types support metadata. If they can then Windows
>> Explorer should be able to add/change what's there. To learn more on
>> how and why the Explorer shell was designed and functions like it
>> does, listen to Ales Holecek, Director of Development for the Windows
>> Shell team. An interesting interview. If you don't have time to listen
>> to the whole 41+ minute interview, pick it up at about the nine minute
>> mark.
>>
>> http://channel9.msdn.com/Showpost.aspx?postid=244592
>
>Very interesting. Thank you.
>
>Of course, this only generates a slew of additional concerns. Since
>the tags are stored as metadata inside the actual file, this means
>that the tags are available to others I share the file with. So, we
>can benefit from each others' tags and metadata - that's good; but, it
>is also something to watch as information might be passed
>unintentionally in the metadata. We used to have the same problem with
>revisions remaining embedded in the file even after all revisions were
>accepted. Now, we must watch out for metadata too.

I don't remember if it somewhere in this interview or another one on
Channel 9 that someone from Microsoft got into more details on how
some tag data gets stored. If I recall correctly some of the data you
add when you right click on a file's properties if the file types
doesn't support it getting written as metadata it gets stored
elsewhere in another database that Vista keeps track of. Then they
went on to explain one the mysteries why you see that scroll bar at
the top of Explorer repeatedly scanning a folder from the start for no
apparent reason over and over. They came up with a scheme where a
file's tags are split into two primary classifications. The first like
a file's name, type, other key data a user needs right away is
generated first, then Vista goes back and fills in missing information
which may come from the lower priority stash that Vista squirrel away
somewhere else.

There's a lot of little bits of useful information contained in
hundreds of videos over at Channel 9 when they interview a lot of the
actual Vista development team from Microsoft. I try to spend a little
time there when I can to learn.

Den, a new file system WAS planned for vista...
Im not sure if tags were part of the new one.. but it should!

they dropped it as well as many other features they planned for vista... and
what did we get instead of a revolutionary new OS? XP with a new ug;y theme
and very small improvements which are all questionable.. and thousands of
problems!

You notice some dissatisfaction of mine with vista? Well good, because it
STINKS BIG TIME!



"Den Fox" <> wrote in message
news: ups.com...
> On Jul 30, 1:04 pm, "Lano DeMentar" <NospamLanoDeMen...@eatit.com>
> wrote:
>> I agree with you.. that was something I hoped vista would have instead of
>> all the other usless trash it has...
>>
>> the tags are dependant on the file because the file contains the data..
>> but
>> for mp3 there is a way to embed info inside the mp3 see this program
>>
>> Mp3tag - the universal Tag Editor (ID3v1, ID3v2, APEv2)An easy-to-use
>> tool
>> to edit metadata of common audio formats. It can rename files, replace
>> characters, import/export tag information, create
>> playlists...www.mp3tag.de/en/
>>
>> "Den Fox" <thefoolish...@gmail.com> wrote in message
>>
>> news: oups.com...
>>
>> >I find tags very useful in Vista. But, which file types can have tags
>> > and which cannot?
>>
>> > I can add tags to Office documents. I can add tags to pictures, but I
>> > cannot add tags to .mp3, .wav, .txt, .vbs?
>>
>> > Why not? Why can't all files have tags?
>
> I guess that for what I wanted they'd have to come up with a new file
> system (something that was supposed to happen), but I guess they
> couldn't quite get there with Vista.
>

On Jul 30, 3:11 pm, Adam Albright <A...@ABC.net> wrote:
> On Mon, 30 Jul 2007 18:52:30 -0000, Den Fox <thefoolish...@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>
>
> >On Jul 30, 1:25 pm, Adam Albright <A...@ABC.net> wrote:
> >> On Mon, 30 Jul 2007 16:54:32 -0000, Den Fox <thefoolish...@gmail.com>
> >> wrote:
>
> >> >I find tags very useful in Vista. But, which file types can have tags
> >> >and which cannot?
>
> >> >I can add tags to Office documents. I can add tags to pictures, but I
> >> >cannot add tags to .mp3, .wav, .txt, .vbs?
>
> >> >Why not? Why can't all files have tags?
>
> >> Only some file types support metadata. If they can then Windows
> >> Explorer should be able to add/change what's there. To learn more on
> >> how and why the Explorer shell was designed and functions like it
> >> does, listen to Ales Holecek, Director of Development for the Windows
> >> Shell team. An interesting interview. If you don't have time to listen
> >> to the whole 41+ minute interview, pick it up at about the nine minute
> >> mark.
>
> >>http://channel9.msdn.com/Showpost.aspx?postid=244592
>
> >Very interesting. Thank you.
>
> >Of course, this only generates a slew of additional concerns. Since
> >the tags are stored as metadata inside the actual file, this means
> >that the tags are available to others I share the file with. So, we
> >can benefit from each others' tags and metadata - that's good; but, it
> >is also something to watch as information might be passed
> >unintentionally in the metadata. We used to have the same problem with
> >revisions remaining embedded in the file even after all revisions were
> >accepted. Now, we must watch out for metadata too.
>
> I don't remember if it somewhere in this interview or another one on
> Channel 9 that someone from Microsoft got into more details on how
> some tag data gets stored. If I recall correctly some of the data you
> add when you right click on a file's properties if the file types
> doesn't support it getting written as metadata it gets stored
> elsewhere in another database that Vista keeps track of. Then they
> went on to explain one the mysteries why you see that scroll bar at
> the top of Explorer repeatedly scanning a folder from the start for no
> apparent reason over and over. They came up with a scheme where a
> file's tags are split into two primary classifications. The first like
> a file's name, type, other key data a user needs right away is
> generated first, then Vista goes back and fills in missing information
> which may come from the lower priority stash that Vista squirrel away
> somewhere else.
>
> There's a lot of little bits of useful information contained in
> hundreds of videos over at Channel 9 when they interview a lot of the
> actual Vista development team from Microsoft. I try to spend a little
> time there when I can to learn.

Hi Adam,
That's a good tip.

BTW I looked inside office documents using a text editor (TextPad,
though the editor doesn't matter) and found that the tags are embedded
in the files, which is what I feared. Had MS gone with a new file
system, maybe the tags would be stored in the database, but since they
are metadata, I expect they will remain forever in the actual files.

It all just means that we have to be careful about metadata when
sharing files.

Love the feature though.

Hi Lano,
Yeah, I knew that they dropped the new file system.

The Vista Experience is definitely not for the faint of heart is it? I
have two pages of documentation on my own Vista Experience ranging
from upgrades, to patches, to hardware, to drivers.

Still, I absolutely love Vista. I have seen others with slow boots,
but my restarts are lightening fast and I see people laboring with XP
and wonder if I couldn't tweak their systems to perform better, or how
much of it is that Vista really is better.

However, I do not over sing the praises of Vista, it took a lot for me
to get it right and I still run Virtual PC 2007 with an instance of XP
for those critical applications that don't yet run on Vista. So, I
have Vista as a host and XP as a guest - and, I wouldn't be able to
function without the XP, though I do most everything in Vista.

Vista is sure to be a major headache for business for a long time to
come. I'm afraid their rushing SP1 solely because they realize that
Vista won't be embraced by business until SP1 is released.

Thanks for the tips!

On Jul 30, 3:38 pm, "Lano DeMentar" <NospamLanoDeMen...@eatit.com>
wrote:
> Den, a new file system WAS planned for vista...
> Im not sure if tags were part of the new one.. but it should!
>
> they dropped it as well as many other features they planned for vista... and
> what did we get instead of a revolutionary new OS? XP with a new ug;y theme
> and very small improvements which are all questionable.. and thousands of
> problems!
>
> You notice some dissatisfaction of mine with vista? Well good, because it
> STINKS BIG TIME!
>
> "Den Fox" <thefoolish...@gmail.com> wrote in message
>
> news: ups.com...
>
> > On Jul 30, 1:04 pm, "Lano DeMentar" <NospamLanoDeMen...@eatit.com>
> > wrote:
> >> I agree with you.. that was something I hoped vista would have instead of
> >> all the other usless trash it has...
>
> >> the tags are dependant on the file because the file contains the data..
> >> but
> >> for mp3 there is a way to embed info inside the mp3 see this program
>
> >> Mp3tag - the universal Tag Editor (ID3v1, ID3v2, APEv2)An easy-to-use
> >> tool
> >> to edit metadata of common audio formats. It can rename files, replace
> >> characters, import/export tag information, create
> >> playlists...www.mp3tag.de/en/
>
> >> "Den Fox" <thefoolish...@gmail.com> wrote in message
>
> >>news: groups.com...
>
> >> >I find tags very useful in Vista. But, which file types can have tags
> >> > and which cannot?
>
> >> > I can add tags to Office documents. I can add tags to pictures, but I
> >> > cannot add tags to .mp3, .wav, .txt, .vbs?
>
> >> > Why not? Why can't all files have tags?
>
> > I guess that for what I wanted they'd have to come up with a new file
> > system (something that was supposed to happen), but I guess they
> > couldn't quite get there with Vista.

Den Fox wrote:

> On Jul 30, 3:11 pm, Adam Albright <A...@ABC.net> wrote:
>
>>On Mon, 30 Jul 2007 18:52:30 -0000, Den Fox <thefoolish...@gmail.com>
>>wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>>On Jul 30, 1:25 pm, Adam Albright <A...@ABC.net> wrote:
>>>
>>>>On Mon, 30 Jul 2007 16:54:32 -0000, Den Fox <thefoolish...@gmail.com>
>>>>wrote:
>>
>>>>>I find tags very useful in Vista. But, which file types can have tags
>>>>>and which cannot?
>>
>>>>>I can add tags to Office documents. I can add tags to pictures, but I
>>>>>cannot add tags to .mp3, .wav, .txt, .vbs?
>>
>>>>>Why not? Why can't all files have tags?
>>
>>>>Only some file types support metadata. If they can then Windows
>>>>Explorer should be able to add/change what's there. To learn more on
>>>>how and why the Explorer shell was designed and functions like it
>>>>does, listen to Ales Holecek, Director of Development for the Windows
>>>>Shell team. An interesting interview. If you don't have time to listen
>>>>to the whole 41+ minute interview, pick it up at about the nine minute
>>>>mark.
>>
>>>>http://channel9.msdn.com/Showpost.aspx?postid=244592
>>
>>>Very interesting. Thank you.
>>
>>>Of course, this only generates a slew of additional concerns. Since
>>>the tags are stored as metadata inside the actual file, this means
>>>that the tags are available to others I share the file with. So, we
>>>can benefit from each others' tags and metadata - that's good; but, it
>>>is also something to watch as information might be passed
>>>unintentionally in the metadata. We used to have the same problem with
>>>revisions remaining embedded in the file even after all revisions were
>>>accepted. Now, we must watch out for metadata too.
>>
>>I don't remember if it somewhere in this interview or another one on
>>Channel 9 that someone from Microsoft got into more details on how
>>some tag data gets stored. If I recall correctly some of the data you
>>add when you right click on a file's properties if the file types
>>doesn't support it getting written as metadata it gets stored
>>elsewhere in another database that Vista keeps track of. Then they
>>went on to explain one the mysteries why you see that scroll bar at
>>the top of Explorer repeatedly scanning a folder from the start for no
>>apparent reason over and over. They came up with a scheme where a
>>file's tags are split into two primary classifications. The first like
>>a file's name, type, other key data a user needs right away is
>>generated first, then Vista goes back and fills in missing information
>>which may come from the lower priority stash that Vista squirrel away
>>somewhere else.
>>
>>There's a lot of little bits of useful information contained in
>>hundreds of videos over at Channel 9 when they interview a lot of the
>>actual Vista development team from Microsoft. I try to spend a little
>>time there when I can to learn.
>
>
> Hi Adam,
> That's a good tip.
>
> BTW I looked inside office documents using a text editor (TextPad,
> though the editor doesn't matter) and found that the tags are embedded
> in the files, which is what I feared. Had MS gone with a new file
> system, maybe the tags would be stored in the database, but since they
> are metadata, I expect they will remain forever in the actual files.
>
> It all just means that we have to be careful about metadata when
> sharing files.
>
> Love the feature though.
>


Here is a rather concise and in depth article about removing metadata in
MS documents.

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/columni...ord-data_x.htm

Frank