The use of track and album databases, gives you the ability to search and filter your collection. What metadata appears in the databases is completely under you control. You can in fact do far more, including looking for duplicates.
You can make changes in the databases or loaded files and update the other. You can even make changes in the databases in any CSV editor and later apply the changes from within Yate.
One of the main benefits of track databases is that they can eliminate the need to load thousands of files in order to get a complete picture of your collection. From within the database, you can open files directly in the main window.
This document describes the steps required to create the databases and a workflow with which to use them.
The easiest way to produce the databases is to use the Create Database Utility. This utility can be found on the web resource page or via Yate>Resource Action Installer. The utility can create an album and track database at the same time. It can do more. Check out the action's documentation for additional information on how to use the utility.
It is strongly suggested that you let the utility create Yate Track IDs and Yate Album IDs if missing. Having these IDs saved to the audio files ensures that matching rows in the database is not tied to metadata which might change. If also means that renaming or moving files will not cause a database to contain an invalid path to a file.
While this document will not do a deep dive into the Create Database Utility, it is important to note that the most critical first step before you run the utility is the creation of the export sets which define the columns in the databases. Export sets are maintained in Settings - Export Sets. You create a new export set by clicking on the + button. This will display a menu allowing you to choose a template with a few preassigned columns. Sample Album Set and Sample Track Set are good starting points. If you use Sample Track Set, it is strongly suggested that you add Yate Album ID to the set. Once you have created a set you can add, remove or configure columns. Additional information can be found in the Settings - Export Sets help. You can add columns when viewing the database but the new column's content will not automatically be filled. For that reason, wisely defining your export set will eliminate the need to do a subsequent run of the Create Database Utility.
Settings - Databases contains a number of settings which will make your workflow easier to use.
Settings - Databases - Appearance allows you to set default values for the display of databases. The Background and Grid Style can be changed within a database via the context menu's View submenu. Font sizes can be changed in a database via ⌘+ and ⌘-
On the Settings - Databases - General panel you must enable the Default Track and Album database settings and supply the locations of the associated .csv files produced by the Create Database Utility.
If you set the source image to folder.jpg, these images will be displayed in both databases. This assumes that you're saving folder.jpg files to each folder. The writing of these files can also be done via the Create Database Utility.
Open databases sync their content with loaded files by means of the database context menu or via the File>Databases menu. The help button in a database window will describe the various context menu items. Help for the File>Databases menu can be found via Help>Quick Reference>Help by Menu or by clicking here. Note that these are all manual methods of updating.
The When editing automatically update values in loaded files setting will update files in the main window whenever you make a change to a loaded file in the database. It is recommended that you do not enable this setting until you're more familiar with the workings of the database viewer.
The When saving files setting controls the criteria when open databases are updated whenever a file is saved in the main window. Update existing items in will update the database content for existing rows whenever a main window file is saved. Update existing items in and Add New Items to will also add new items automatically to open databases. The automatic adding of new items should also be avoided until you have your workflow down pat. This is especially true if you do a number of saves when first working on a new album. It is recommended that you initially use the Update existing items in setting and manually add new items via File>Databases>Update Databases to add new items. The next section has additional rational.
If you do not run an action to manage your new albums, you must remember to do an Actions>Yate Database IDs. It is strongly recommended that you create both IDs in all tracks when adding new albums. When you've done all your editing, save the files and do a File>Databases>Update Databases to add the tracks to the databases. If you've set When saving files to Update existing items in and Add New Items to, this step is not necessary.
If you've set When saving files to anything except Do Not Update, all you have to do is save the files. Otherwise do a File>Databases>Update Databases.
If you rename or move files, the automatic updating will not occur as it is only triggered by saving files. Do a File>Databases>Update Databases to update the databases.
Simply open the databases and load the modified tracks in the main window. Do a File>Databases>Update Databases. If you've forgotten to update the databases for a while, you can always rerun the Create Database Utility.
Drag one or more rows from a database into the main window or use the database's Open context menu item. Remember: that the current Open Mode is used when opening files. Depending on the current Open Mode, all files in a folder can be opened by opening a single track.
This can be done by Actions>>Batch Processes>Apply Track Database Metadata Changes. Careful, whatever is in the database is considered correct.
As with all tagging methodology, you have to establish a workflow which meets your needs. You can use this document as a starting point for the usage of Album and Track databases, but more than likely you will modify things based on your own way of doing things.
You can create a bookmark to this page by doing a Help>Search Yate Help. From the left panel's context menu select Create Resource Bookmarks.
| Date | Version | Information |
|---|---|---|
| 2025-07-14 | 1.0 | First release. |
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