RightProperties

RightProperties is a sample .NET console app which produces properties of files on Windows in JSON format.

On Windows, to lookup the properties of a file, you right-click on it and select Properties item of the menu. That's the name, RightProperties, comes from.

Quick Start

Following command retrieves all properties of files under $FOLDER_PATH recursively:

RightProperties.exe $FOLDER_PATH

, which saves a props.${DateTime.Now}.json file with following content:

[
    // ...
    {
        "System.DateAccessed": "2023-08-26T12:23:00+08:00",
        "System.ItemPathDisplay": "C:\\Projects\\RightProperties\\Demos\\demo.mp4",
        "System.Video.FrameRate": 23976,
        "System.MIMEType": "video/mp4",
        "System.ParsingName": "demo.mp4",
        "System.Video.EncodingBitrate": 1356936,
        "System.Video.IsSpherical": false,
        "System.FileAttributes": 32,
        "System.Audio.ChannelCount": 2,
        "{9E5E05AC-1936-4A75-94F7-4704B8B01923} 0": "demo.mp4",
        "System.ShareScope": "Projects\\RightProperties\\Demos",
        "System.Security.AllowedEnterpriseDataProtectionIdentities": [
            ""
        ],
        "System.Link.TargetExtension": null,
        "System.Document.DateSaved": "2023-08-05T22:03:02.1249333+08:00",
        "System.NetworkLocation": null,
        "System.ThumbnailCacheId": 8093909192380025925,
        "System.Video.HorizontalAspectRatio": 1215,
        "System.ExpandoProperties": null,
        "System.DateCreated": "2023-08-05T22:02:22+08:00",
        "System.ItemTypeText": "MP4 File",
        "System.Link.TargetSFGAOFlagsStrings": null,
        "System.FileOwner": "DESKTOP-DEMO\\RightProperties",
        "System.Media.DlnaProfileID": [
            "AVC_MP4_HP_HD_AAC"
        ],
        "System.SharedWith": null,
        "System.IsShared": false,
        "System.VolumeId": "5c97d01b-0000-0000-0000-508604000000",
        "System.SyncTransferStatusFlags": null,
        "System.AppUserModel.ID": null,
        "{CFA31B45-525D-4998-BB44-3F7D81542FA4} 1": "AVC_MP4_HP_HD_AAC",
        "System.Document.DateCreated": "2023-08-05T22:02:22+08:00",
        "System.ItemFolderNameDisplay": "Demos",
        "System.DRM.IsProtected": false,
        "System.Audio.StreamNumber": 1,
        "System.Kind": [
            "video"
        ],
        "System.LastWriterPackageFamilyName": null,
        "System.Video.TotalBitrate": 1484632,
        "System.NotUserContent": false,
        "System.FileExtension": ".mp4",
        "System.AppZoneIdentifier": null,
        "System.ParsingPath": "C:\\Projects\\RightProperties\\Demos\\demo.mp4",
        "System.ItemName": "demo.mp4",
        "System.ItemPathDisplayNarrow": "demo (C:\\Projects\\RightProperties\\Demos)",
        "System.Security.EncryptionOwnersDisplay": null,
        "System.Link.TargetSFGAOFlags": null,
        "System.FileName": "demo.mp4",
        "System.StorageProviderAggregatedCustomStates": null,
        "System.Video.FrameHeight": 1080,
        "System.KindText": "Video",
        "System.Media.Duration": 1765100000,
        "System.FileAttributesDisplay": null,
        "System.ItemFolderPathDisplay": "C:\\Projects\\RightProperties\\Demos",
        "System.DateModified": "2023-08-05T22:03:02.1249333+08:00",
        "System.ItemNameDisplayWithoutExtension": "demo",
        "System.Video.VerticalAspectRatio": 1216,
        "System.Audio.SampleRate": 48000,
        "System.Video.IsStereo": false,
        "System.ItemNameDisplay": "demo.mp4",
        "System.Audio.SampleSize": 16,
        "System.SharingStatus": 2,
        "System.Video.FrameWidth": 608,
        "{46802C11-ADA9-41B7-8EBE-65BA6699358B} 100": 1,
        "System.Shell.SFGAOFlagsStrings": [
            "filesys",
            "stream"
        ],
        "System.Security.EncryptionOwners": null,
        "System.ZoneIdentifier": 3,
        "System.AppUserModel.ParentID": null,
        "System.Audio.EncodingBitrate": 127696,
        "System.Audio.Format": "{00001610-0000-0010-8000-00AA00389B71}",
        "System.Size": 32899952,
        "System.Video.Orientation": 0,
        "System.ItemDate": "2023-08-05T22:02:22+08:00",
        "System.SFGAOFlags": 1077936503,
        "System.Video.Compression": "{34363248-0000-0010-8000-00AA00389B71}",
        "System.ComputerName": "DESKTOP-DEMO",
        "System.ItemFolderPathDisplayNarrow": "Demos (C:\\Projects\\RightProperties)",
        "System.IsFolder": false,
        "System.OfflineStatus": null,
        "System.OfflineAvailability": null,
        "System.Video.FourCC": 875967048,
        "System.DateImported": "2023-08-05T22:02:22+08:00",
        "System.FilePlaceholderStatus": 6,
        "System.Video.StreamNumber": 2,
        "System.Link.TargetParsingPath": null,
        "System.ContentType": "video/mp4",
        "System.PerceivedType": 4,
        "System.ItemType": ".mp4"
    }
    // ...
]

Currently, RightProperties only works on Windows.

Options

--no-recursive

--no-recursive tells RightProperties to not lookup sub-folders of $FOLDER_PATH.

By default, RightProperties checks all files of given $FOLDER_PATH recursively.

--no-video-missing-props-probe

--no-video-missing-props-probe tells RightProperties to not probe missing properties of video files.

By default, RightProperties probes missing properties of video files via ffprobe. Please refer to Video Files and The Properties section to get more details.

If you don't care the missing properties of video files, you can provide this flag to reduce execution time.

--ffprobe-bin $BIN_PATH

--ffprobe-bin tells RightProperties to use provided path to execute ffprobe. (Only works if --no-video-missing-props-probe is false)

By default, RightProperties uses ffprobe as ProcessStartInfo.FileName to start process.

--log-level

Available: debug, info, warn, error and silent
Default: info

The Structure of JSON Output

Note that the output doesn't follow the structure of the folder you query, RightProperties collects all files as one-level flatted array. You can use System.ItemFolderNameDisplay or System.ItemFolderPathDisplay to group files up.

Windows Property System

The names of properties with System prefix are Canonical Name from propertyDescription which describes a single unique canonical property used by the Windows Property System. You can find the whole definition at here.

Video Files and The Properties

The original purpose of this project is to retrieve properties of video files for management. So RightProperties only focuses on video files properly.

The Missing Properties

The properties/metadata are retrieved by Property Handlers(with specific file types). Sometimes, the properties can't be retrieved which may be caused by wrong file extensions or the property handler doesn't implement the properties.

If following properties of video files are missing, RightProperties uses ffprobe to fetch.

1. System.Media.Duration
2. System.Video.FrameWidth
3. System.Video.FrameHeight
4. System.Video.EncodingBitrate
5. System.Video.TotalBitrate
6. System.Video.FrameRate
7. System.Audio.EncodingBitrate
8. System.Audio.ChannelCount
9. System.Audio.SampleRate

These properties are displayed on the Details tab of the Properties dialog box and belong to groups System.PropGroup.Video and System.PropGroup.Audio.

If the properties are fetched by ffprobe, the prefix of name will be FFProbe instead of System.

{
    // ...
    "FFProbe.Media.Duration": "176.509667", // Second.
    "FFProbe.Video.FrameWidth": 608,
    "FFProbe.Video.FrameHeight": 1080,
    "FFProbe.Video.EncodingBitrate": "1360709", // Bit per second.
    "FFProbe.Video.TotalBitrate": "1491134", // Bit per second.
    "FFProbe.Video.FrameRate": "24000/1001",
    "FFProbe.Audio.EncodingBitrate": "128042", // Bit per second.
    "FFProbe.Audio.ChannelCount": 2,
    "FFProbe.Audio.SampleRate": "48000" // Hertz.
    // ...
}

To reduce complexity, RightProperties won't fetch metadata from the video if the number of streams isn't 2 or the stream is neither video nor audio.

Calculation of Bitrate

RightProperties calculates bitrate of video or audio streams approximately when ffprobe is unable to fetch bitrate set by encoders. The name of calculated properties are FFProbe.Video.EncodingBitrate.Calculated and FFProbe.Audio.EncodingBitrate.Calculated.

{
    "FFProbe.Video.EncodingBitrate.Calculated": "1360709",
    "FFProbe.Audio.EncodingBitrate.Calculated": "128073"
}

Calculation of Frame Rate

RightProperties calculates frame rate of video stream approximately when the fetched result of ffprobe is "0/0". The name of calculated property is FFProbe.Video.FrameRate.Calculated.
(Note that FFProbe.Video.FrameRate will be removed.)

{
-    "FFProbe.Video.FrameRate": "0/0",
+    "FFProbe.Video.FrameRate.Calculated": "4232/176.509667"
}

Extra Properties

If ffprobe is able to fetch metadata from video container, RightProperties will add the key, FFProbe.Format.Tags, with the metadata to the JSON output. If FFProbe.Format.Tags has "artist" or "album_artist" key/value pair, that value with the key, FFProbe.Music.Artist, will be added to JSON as well.

{
    "FFProbe.Format.Tags": {
        "major_brand": "isom",
        "minor_version": "512",
        "compatible_brands": "isomiso2avc1mp41",
        "encoder": "Lavf59.27.100",
        "artist": "demo"
    },
    "FFProbe.Music.Artist": "demo"
}

FAQ

probe_score

The probe_score field in the output of ffprobe is an internal score that represents the reliability or confidence level of the media file probe. It indicates how certain ffprobe is about the correctness of the format or codec detection for the given file.

• A higher probe_score typically indicates a higher level of confidence in the detected format or codec.
• A lower probe_score suggests that ffprobe may be less certain about the detected format or codec.
• A probe_score of 100 is often used when ffprobe is very confident about the detected format or codec.

- From ChatGPT

TODO

• Support .lnk files. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/187620/support-for-link-files-in-uwp
• Support MediaInfo