How to use the command tmsu (with examples)

Tmsu is a simple command-line tool for tagging files. It provides an efficient way to organize and categorize your files using tags. This article illustrates each of the following use cases of the command.

Use case 1: Tag a specific file with multiple tags

Code:

tmsu tag path/to/file.mp3 music big-jazz mp3

Motivation: Tagging files helps in efficient organization and retrieval. Tagging a specific file with multiple tags allows for better categorization and makes it easier to find the file based on different criteria.

Explanation:

• tmsu tag: This is the command to tag a file.
• path/to/file.mp3: This is the path to the file that needs to be tagged.
• music big-jazz mp3: These are the tags that you want to add to the file.

Example output:

Tagged file 'path/to/file.mp3' with 'music', 'big-jazz', and 'mp3'.

Use case 2: Tag multiple files

Code:

tmsu tag --tags "music mp3" *.mp3

Motivation: Tagging multiple files with the same tags allows for efficient organization and categorization. This is particularly useful when you have a large number of files that belong to the same category.

Explanation:

• tmsu tag: This is the command to tag files.
• --tags "music mp3": This specifies the tags that need to be added to the files.
• *.mp3: This is a wildcard pattern that matches all files with the .mp3 extension in the current directory.

Example output:

Tagged 10 files with 'music' and 'mp3'.

Use case 3: List tags of specified file(s)

Code:

tmsu tags *.mp3

Motivation: When you have a large number of tagged files, it becomes important to easily find and identify the tags associated with a specific file. Listing the tags of a specified file helps in getting a quick overview of its categorization.

Explanation:

• tmsu tags: This is the command to list the tags of a file.
• *.mp3: This is a wildcard pattern that matches all files with the .mp3 extension in the current directory.

Example output:

Tags of file 'song1.mp3': music, rock
Tags of file 'song2.mp3': music, jazz

Use case 4: List files with specified tag(s)

Code:

tmsu files big-jazz music

Motivation: Listing files with specified tags helps in finding and retrieving files based on a particular category or combination of tags. This allows for convenient access to files that share common characteristics.

Explanation:

• tmsu files: This is the command to list files with specified tags.
• big-jazz music: These are the tags that you want to search for. Files that have either the ‘big-jazz’ or ‘music’ tag will be listed.

Example output:

Files with tags 'big-jazz' and 'music':
- path/to/file1.mp3
- path/to/file2.mp3

Use case 5: List files with tags matching boolean expression

Code:

tmsu files "(year >= 1990 and year <= 2000) and grunge"

Motivation: The ability to search for files with tags matching a boolean expression allows for complex and targeted searches. This is particularly useful when you want to find files that meet specific criteria or combinations of tags.

Explanation:

• tmsu files: This is the command to list files with tags matching a boolean expression.
• (year >= 1990 and year <= 2000) and grunge: This is a boolean expression that specifies the criteria for matching tags. In this example, it searches for files with the ‘grunge’ tag and a ‘year’ tag between 1990 and 2000.

Example output:

Files with tags matching boolean expression '(year >= 1990 and year <= 2000) and grunge':
- path/to/file1.mp3
- path/to/file2.mp3
- path/to/file3.mp3

Use case 6: Mount tmsu virtual filesystem to an existing directory

Code:

tmsu mount path/to/directory

Motivation: Mounting the tmsu virtual filesystem to a directory provides a convenient way to access and manage tagged files. It allows you to navigate through the tagged files using the traditional file system view and perform file operations like copying, moving, and deleting.

Explanation:

• tmsu mount: This is the command to mount the tmsu virtual filesystem.
• path/to/directory: This is the path to the directory where you want to mount the virtual filesystem.

Example output:

Mounted tmsu virtual filesystem to 'path/to/directory'.

Conclusion:

Tmsu is a powerful command-line tool for tagging files, providing an efficient way to organize and categorize your files using tags. With the examples provided in this article, you can learn how to tag files, list tags and files, and perform complex searches based on tags.