This function is used to export a track's metadata.
A folder path and a base filename are specified or constructed. A base filename is required as more than one file may be written. The folder and filename together specify the destination of the files being exported. If the base filename is omitted, the audio file's filename will be used. When specifying a base filename, these should be an escape sequence component which differentiates the name, otherwise files will simply be overwritten.
The destination folder can be absolute or relative to the folder containing the audio file. Relative paths are specified by the number of levels up from the file's containing folder. Zero levels implies that the new folder structure should be in the files's containing folder. One level implies that the new folder structure should be in the parent of the file's containing folder, etc.
At runtime the path must resolve to be:
Choose up to three fields to be used as folders to be appended to the absolute or relative base path. When the path is constructed if you specified Album Artist and the field is empty, Artist will be used. If the value associated with a chosen field is empty an error will be issued unless a placeholder is specified. Note that if a non empty placeholder is specified and a field is not specified, the placeholder will be used.
Transformations can be applied to each of the three fields to be optionally appended. To configure the transformations press the Transformations... button. A panel will be displayed containing the transformation settings. Close the panel by clicking off the panel or by pressing the Escape key. For more information see Statement Transformations.
To summarize the destination folder location is calculated as follows:
Yate, will create the final path if it doesn't exist.
It is possible that more than one file will be created during the export process. All created files have the same base filename. You can enter a specific filename or leave the field empty to use the audio file's name.
If you specify the Text only option, only textual data will be exported. Currently this means that the following metadata will be ignored: Artwork, General Encapsulated Objects and Private Information Items. When this option is enabled, at most one file will be created per track.
All text fields may contain any of the escape sequences described in Escape Sequences.
When executing stepwise, exported files for Artwork, General Encapsulated Objects and Private Information Items, will not be duplicated for components which are identical. This means that you will not get multiple jpg files for common artwork. Note that importing will work as expected, finding the correct Artwork, General Encapsulated Objects and Private Information Items regardless of the assigned filenames. When importing, the file which corresponds to a particular track will have the same filename as the track with a .plist filename extension. The names assigned to other exported components may be considered irrelevant.
The function sets the Retained Path 1 property to the folder which received the exported data. The Retained Path 2 property is set to the base filename. On failure, both properties are emptied.