Sound.id3 Property

An MP3 file must be loaded in its entirety before its ID3 tags are available (ID3v1 and ID3v1.1 tags are stored at the end of an MP3 file). If the MP3 file does not contain valid ID3 tags in a version supported by the Flash Player, the id3 object's properties are undefined .

Usage

The ID3 "standard" is not an official specification maintained by a recognized standards body. Rather, it is an agreed-upon system for embedding metadata in an MP3 file; this system was created by a single programmer, Eric Kemp (who also assembled the first list of 80 genre names). Genre names above 80 are not formalized , nor is the entire genre system considered adequate by most music professionals. For one list of genres, see:

http://www.mp3dev.org/mp3/doc/html/id3.html

For more information on the ID3 format, see http://www.id3.org/.

Bugs

The id3 properties are not immediately available from Sound.onLoad ( ) . Use setInterval ( ) to poll for a valid duration before accessing the id3 object, as shown in the following Example. (The id3 properties themselves will be undefined if no ID3 tags are found, so they cannot be polled reliably.)

Example

The following code loads an MP3 file and displays its ID3 tags once it has finished loading:

// REQUIRES FLASH PLAYER 6.0.40.0 OR HIGHER
// Create a text field in which to display the ID3 information.
this.createTextField("output_txt", 1, 100, 100, 400, 300);
output_txt.border = true;
   
// Create a


Sound


object.
song = new Sound();
// When the sound loads, display the ID3 information.
song.onLoad = function (success) {
  // Store a reference to the current sound.
  var theSound = this;
   
  // Create a function that displays the ID3 info once sound


duration


is valid.
  function pollForDuration () {
    if (theSound.duration > 0) {
      // Display ID3 information.
      output_txt.text += "Title:  " + theSound.id3.songname + "\n";
      output_txt.text += "Artist: " + theSound.id3.artist + "\n";
      output_txt.text += "Album:  " + theSound.id3.album + "\n";
      output_txt.text += "Year:   " + theSound.id3.year + "\n";
      output_txt.text += "Track:  " + theSound.id3.track + "\n";
      output_txt.text += "Genre:  " + theSound.id3.genre + "\n";
      output_txt.text += "Notes:  " + theSound.id3.comment + "\n";
   
      // Play the sound.
      theSound.start();
   
      // Stop polling for a valid


duration


. This is required due to a
      // bug: the


id3


property is not immediately available from


Sound.onLoad()


.
      clearInterval(intID);
    }
  }
   
  // If the sound loaded properly...
  if (success =  = true) {
    // ...repeatedly check for a valid


duration


.
    var intID = setInterval(pollForDuration, 100);
  }
}
   
// Load the MP3 file
song.loadSound("track1.mp3", false);

See Also

capabilities.hasMP3 , Sound.loadSound ( ) , Sound.onLoad ( )