DESCRIPTION File – What is .description file and how to open it?

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DESCRIPTION File Extension

Youtube-dl Video Description – file format by Youtube-dl Developers

DESCRIPTION is a file extension used by Youtube-dl to store metadata about downloaded videos. It contains information such as the video title, description, uploader, and duration. This metadata can be used to organize and search for downloaded videos.

DESCRIPTION File Format

A DESCRIPTION file is a metadata file that stores information about a video downloaded using the YouTube-dl video downloader. It contains details such as the video’s title, description, uploader, upload date, duration, and available quality formats. The file is created automatically when a video is downloaded and is saved alongside the downloaded video file.

The DESCRIPTION file is a plaintext file that uses a simple key-value pair format. Each line of the file consists of a key followed by a colon and the corresponding value. The keys are predefined and represent specific metadata attributes, while the values contain the actual data. For instance, a DESCRIPTION file might contain the following key-value pairs:

  • title: How to Create a YouTube Video
  • description: A step-by-step guide on creating and uploading a video to YouTube.
  • uploader: John Doe
  • upload_date: 2023-03-08
  • duration: 10:06
  • formats: mp4 720p, mp4 1080p, webm 360p

What is a DESCRIPTION file?

A DESCRIPTION file is a text file that contains the description of a YouTube video. The description can include information such as the video title, author, date published, and tags. DESCRIPTION files are used by the YouTube Data API to retrieve information about videos.

How to open a DESCRIPTION file

DESCRIPTION files can be opened with any text editor, such as Notepad or TextEdit. To open a DESCRIPTION file, simply double-click on the file in Windows or macOS. You can also open a DESCRIPTION file by right-clicking on the file and selecting “Open with” from the menu.

Once you have opened a DESCRIPTION file, you can view the contents of the file. The file will contain the following information:

  • Video title
  • Author
  • Date published
  • Tags
  • Video description

File Structure and Format

A .DESCRIPTION file is a text file that contains the description of a YouTube video. It is typically stored in the same directory as the video file. The file is formatted in a simple key-value pair structure, with each line consisting of a key followed by a colon and a value. The keys are case-sensitive and must be unique.

The following keys are commonly used in .DESCRIPTION files:

  • title: The title of the video.
  • description: The description of the video.
  • tags: A comma-separated list of tags associated with the video.
  • category: The category of the video.
  • uploader: The name of the user who uploaded the video.
  • upload_date: The date when the video was uploaded.

Usage

.DESCRIPTION files are used by YouTube-dl, a command-line program for downloading videos from YouTube. When YouTube-dl downloads a video, it looks for a .DESCRIPTION file in the same directory as the video file. If a .DESCRIPTION file is found, YouTube-dl will parse the file and extract the metadata from it. This metadata is then used to create the .info.json file, which contains information about the video.

.DESCRIPTION files can also be used by other programs that need to access the metadata of a YouTube video. For example, the ffmpeg program can use a .DESCRIPTION file to create a thumbnail for a video.

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