String Replacement - can't get the right expression format?

Help
1

Trying to do this substitution in the Artist field:

Old: Lastname, Firstname
New: Firstname Lastname

Using Kid3 3.9.6 on mac OSX Sequoia 15.5

Process I’ve tried:
Kid3 → Preferences → Tags → All Tags
Check: Automatically Apply Format
Check: String Replacement
In the String replacement panel, I have tried various formats to create a “From” regex for matching two fields, including /./, /./ which seems like what the handbook specifies.
The “To” I have entered is \2 \1

Then hit “OK.”
Then: select a track, Tools → Apply Tag Format

Nothing changes.

Any tips on how to do this? I think I’m following the instructions correctly but I have not mangaed to make it work. Thanks for any help that you can offer.

2

The tag format is not suitable for this task because it is applied to all frames, not only the “Artist” frame.

You could use “File/Import from Tags” with the following format:
Click “Add” to add a new format, then
Format: “Lastname, Firstname” (name it as you like it)
Source: “%{artist} %{artist}”
Extraction: “[^,]+, %{artist}([^,]+)”

Save it using “Save Settings”, use “Apply” to apply it to the selected files.

3

Thank you so much! I appreciate the help, and learned something in process. Now I have to decode how that command works, but I’m way ahead of where I used to be!