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30 Most Recent RSS FeedSome iTunes Match AppleScripting Notes
Cloud-stored tracks that have not been downloaded to iTunes are seen by AppleScript as class shared track until they are downloaded at which point they morph into class file track. This is similar to how an un-downloaded podcast episode morphs from URL track to file track after downloading it. (I have also occasionally experienced a phenomenon whereby, after downloading a cloud track, AppleScript still treats it as a shared track until I restart iTunes. Not sure why that's happening.) A shared track inherits properties from track and does not have a location (file path) property as does file track. Typically, a shared track is the class of track listed in Home Sharing libraries (or old-style shared libraries).
For the most part, the track properties of a cloud track can be manipulated with AppleScript. This is different from how a Home Shared shared track works, the tags and such of which cannot be changed with AppleScript. Presumably, you are the "owner" of cloud tracks and have permission to edit the tags but you are not the owner of Home Shared tracks since they are on a different machine. My understanding is that changes made to a cloud track's tags locally are not automatically updated on other devices on which they appear. A track on another device would need to be deleted and re-downloaded in order for changes to be seen. [Update: I misspoke. Some data, like played counts and ratings, apparently travel to the cloud automatically.]
Smart Playlist to Gather Upgradeable iTunes Match Tracks
Macworld's Jason Snell describes in this article how to upgrade tracks with iTunes Match to 256kbps AACs. iTunes Match will allow you to re-download these types of files even if the matched tracks are lesser quality. To gather these lesser-quality matched-tracks together, Jason describes how to create a Smart Playlist with the correct criteria. I've created that Smart Playlist and exported it and have included it in a script which, when run, will add that Smart Playlist to your iTunes for you. Here is the direct download link. Just download and double-click the script; make sure iTunes is running. Be sure to read Jason's article to understand the rest of the details.
iTunes 10.5.1 with iTunes Match Available
Today Apple posted iTunes 10.5.1 which features iTunes Match syncing over iCloud.
UPDATED: Music Folder Files Not Added v3.0
Music Folder Files Not Added v3.0 is a Cocoa-AppleScript applet that will list the file paths of the audio and video files in your designated "iTunes Media" folder which are not in iTunes' library.
Additionally, you can select a different parent folder and its contents will be compared to the iTunes library. Includes options to Add a selection of found files to iTunes, move them to the Trash, and—new in this version—export to a text file.
(An earlier version of this script, Music Folder Files Not Added v1.1, runs on pre-10.6 systems. Also, this script replaces the functionality available in List Music Folder Files Not Added.)
Daypart v2.1.0 Released
Daypart is a simple yet full-featured Mac application that allows you to schedule iTunes playlists when to play, giving you an easy way to program varied musical content throughout the week in your home or workplace.
With Daypart you can:
- Schedule playlists flexibly, for just a few minutes or several hours
- Schedule intricate configurations of playlists on a weekly basis
- Segue between playlists without cutting off songs
- Automatically shuffle and/or repeat playlists
- Store and re-use frequently used scheduling criteria
- See how playlists are scheduled over a period of days
- Log information about playing tracks
- Automatically load and engage a schedule at startup
Plus, Daypart features:
- Uncluttered, easy-to-use interface
- Scheduling tips
- Scheduling conflict-awareness
- Detailed Help book
Updated in version Daypart 2.1:
- Fixes issues which precluded scheduling the iTunes DJ playlist in previous version; iTunes DJ can now be scheduled
- Adds preference to create a text log of played tracks (registered only)
- Adds preference to quit after last scheduled Event action of the current day (registered only)
- Un-registered versions limited to 90 minute demo period per launch
Daypart is $20. Un-registered versions run in a limited-feature demo mode. This update is free for all registered users.
UPDATED: Sundry Info to Comments (or Category or Description) v3.0
I sometimes hear it lamented that tracks in iTunes don't have a tag for file path or account ID or other sundry information. While you can't add new tags to a track or new columns to the iTunes browser window you can use existing less-frequently-used tags to store some of that information. I often copy a track's location (file path) to its comment tag so I can do a sort by file location when I sort by Comments. But there's some information about a track or its file that isn't as easily accessible. For instance, there's no track property for a purchased track's account ID. You have to get that by other means. And that's what this script does.
Sundry Info To Comments v3.0 is a Cocoa-AppleScript applet that copies your single choice of file name, file path (location), parent folder name, current playlist, sound volume, file's Spotlight comments, file creation date, purchase name or purchase account ID to the Category, Comments or Description tag of each selected track.
Being able to copy such data into one of these tags make it sortable or available for Smart Playlist criteria.
Name New Playlist From Selection
I use the "New Playlist from Selection" command a lot to create temporary playlists. Actually, I use the Shift-Command-N shortcut more often than clicking the command in the File menu. But I'm irritated at all the dancing I have to do to name the new "untitled playlist". It takes my attention away from what I was intending to do with the tracks. So, I rigged the script below to the keyboard shortcut Shift-Command-N—it works, luckily; sometimes assigning a shortcut that iTunes is already using doesn't override the original command. The script does exactly what "New Playlist from Selection" does except now I can enter the name for the playlist before it's created.
Here's the script:
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UPDATED: Trackographer v2.0
Trackographer v2.0 is a stay-open applet that will monitor iTunes as tracks are playing and send tag information from each playing track (including radio streams if they provide track info) to a text file. Preferences can be set to include or not include various basic tags and to create a plain text file or a tab-delimited text file which can be imported into a spreadsheet. The text output looks something like this:
This latest version is a maintenance update that fixes some issues with text not rendering properly in modern OS's.
UPDATED: Track Down Purchases v2.0
If you have been making purchases from the iTunes Store using several names or account names then maybe you'll have noticed that there's no easy way to sort purchased tracks by the name or account name used to make the purchase. Oh, wait a minute. Yes there is.
Track Down Purchases v2.0 will examine each track in your entire iTunes library—or a selection of tracks—for items purchased from the iTunes Store (audio, video, and books) and then sort them by either the purchaser's name (the "Purchased by" entry in a track's Get Info Summary tab) or account ("Account Name") into discrete playlists.
This latest version is written as a Cocoa-AppleScript applet for OS 10.6 or 10.7 only, adds the ability to sort by account name, and provides a progress indicator. (My thanks to Correspondent Andrew Wynn Rouse for inventing the account name search portion.)
UPDATED: Assimilate View Options v3.0
Assimilate View Options v3.0 re-creates a selected playlist so its View Options (visible columns) are the same as the main Music library (taking advantage of the fact that new playlists acquire the Music library's View Options). Works only with regular playlists and Smart playlists.
This latest version works with playlists inside a folder playlist.
Assign it a keyboard shortcut for ease of use.
