How does iTunes ID music exactly?

Question

Let's say I download an MP3 (with permission from the copyright owner, of course) which is named to reflect artist, song, album and track, but doesn't contain any MP3 ID tags. Does iTunes attempt to guess the name of song album and artist from the file name? If so, does it attempt to write containing folders and ID tags to correspond?
What about the opposite case? The MP3 has an uninformative name, but good ID tags. Does iTunes rename the file -- and the folders it is nested in -- to reflect the ID tags?
Finally, let's say I edit information about a song already in iTunes. I correct song, album name, artist, track number, or whatever. When I do this, does iTunes change the name of the file, the name of the containing folders, the ID tags, or all of the above?
Thanks in advance,
Tim

Answer 1

Let's say I download an MP3 (with permission from the
copyright owner, of course) which is named to reflect
artist, song, album and track, but doesn't contain
any MP3 ID tags. Does iTunes attempt to guess the
name of song album and artist from the file name? If
so, does it attempt to write containing folders and
ID tags to correspond?
iTunes uses the mp3 tags exclusively. If the track you downloaded (and yes, I have downloaded lots of legal tracks, often from record label sites) that have file names with all the info but no tag info. iTunes will list it as Track 1 (or some such). It's a real pain. It does no guessing.
What about the opposite case? The MP3 has an
uninformative name, but good ID tags. Does iTunes
rename the file -- and the folders it is nested in --
to reflect the ID tags?
iTunes couldn't care less about the file name. See above.
Finally, let's say I edit information about a song
already in iTunes. I correct song, album name,
artist, track number, or whatever. When I do this,
does iTunes change the name of the file, the name of
the containing folders, the ID tags, or all of the
above?
I don't know if iTunes changes the file name. However, if you have iTunes set to keep your library organized, it may move the file to the appropriate folder (from Unknown Artist to Artist XXX). If you don't have iTunes organzing your library, changing the tags won't affect were the file is stored.
Meg