I have a situation with a lot of files missing some tag data due to iTunes simply not writing the data to the files. I can see no reason for this other than an iTunes bug, but whatever the reason, I have a lot of files that need correcting.

So, I load those files from iTunes (that shows them to have complete metadata) into Yate and I can see where the gaps are. My question is, how can I correct this?

Prior to finding Yate, I was having to manually update each file, by either typing again each tag I had already entered in iTunes, or by copying from iTunes and pasting into the appropriate tag in Yate. Both of these are very slow and very time consuming, not to mention tedious - made worse by knowing I'm only having to do it a second time due to iTunes screwing up. Anyway…

Is there any way I can tell Yate to simply 'import' the iTunes data so I can then simply save the files in Yate and they will then be correct, with file tags matching iTunes library data? I see there is an 'Apple App Import' option, but that is limited to data fields that iTunes maintains in the library only and not tag data written to the file. This is no good as that is not the data that is missing. Well, it might be, but it's not data I care about. What I do care about is missing tags like Album, Artist, Sort Artist, Album Artist and Sort Album Artist. The basic data that binds tracks together into usable groups, like albums.

Is there any way to simply grab that data from iTunes and add it to the tracks in Yate and then save it? This would save me hours, days even of work, but I cannot find anything in Yate that appears to do this. Am I missing something?

Linkage might be an issue due to the inconsistent metadata.

You can drag the files from iTunes into Yate then do an Apple Apps>Import Base Settings from Apple App. To get the artwork do an Artwork>Get Artwork from Apple App.

Try the above with a single album. That way you can check the result.

If you're happy with the results you can do two batch runs to do it for your collection. The first step is to run the Batch Extract Persistent Ids process on the Actions menu. This will allow you to link files with inconsistent metadata. The second step is to write a small action as follows and to run it through the Batch Processor:

Link to Apple App using retained PID
Import Base Settings from Apple App
Get Artwork from Apple App
Save all files if modified

The above can do your entire collection. However, it will always overwrite existing data in the files.

Try the manual method first.

I'm mainly thinking of working on files dragged from iTunes. I can find files with missing metadata externally if I need, then just drag what needs fixing from iTunes into Yate.

So Apple Apps>Import Base Settings from Apple App is the what I need to choose? That imports all the basic tag data as I said above that I need? Settings implied something different from the data I was needing.

Apple Apps>Import Base Settings from Apple App is definitely the one I was hoping and looking for. Just confused by its name.

Thanks for explaining that. Time to get updating.

Same basic subject, but different question:-

I can drag thousands of tracks from iTunes into Yate which gets them all. But if instead I ensure they are selected in iTunes and then use Yate/File/Open Selected Items in/iTunes, I end up with what seems to be a maximum of 500 tracks in Yate.

With lots of tracks to 'import', it makes sense to me to use menu commands rather than dragging although I thought both methods would achieve the same end result. Why would using menus be limited to 500 tracks?