Playlist plugin (last update: version 3.2 30/06/12)

There are many requests on processing playlists by Serviio. So I've tried something. Please be thoughtful, I'm newbie in java and groovy.

Some generell remarks on using the plugin:

• it handles playlists like web sites, so the playlists need an entry at Serviio consoles 'Online source' tab
• source type here has to be 'Web Resource'
• the plugin behavior is managed by different switches

ServiioConsoleEntry.PNG (20.48 KiB) Viewed 107313 times

Principle construction of Serviio console 'Online sources' - 'Source URL' entries:

• http://switch-1{entry for switch-1}[switch-2{entry for switch-2}...[switch-n{entry for switch-n}]]]
• there must be NO spaces or other separators between 'http://' and the first switch or between the switches
• there must be slashes instead of backslashes, for Windows pathes also

Principle construction of each switch:

• -SWITCH-x or shortcut -SW-x
• where x determines the type of switch
• naming is case sensitive
• sequence of switches doesn't matter

Meaning and use of the different switches:

• -SWITCH-u or -SW-u:
  
  • indicates the path of the playlist file
  • is required
  • entry is allowed in one of the following syntaxes (slashes instead of backslashes!):
    
    • http(s):// ...
    • file:///{letter local drive}:/ ... (Windows only)
    • file:///{name server}/ ... (Windows only)
    • file:/// ...
  • entry should be URL-encoded, i.e. requires '%20' instead of spaces
  • example:

      Code:

    -SW-ufile:///c:/Users/Smith/My%20Music/TestPlaylist.m3u

• -SWITCH-p or -SW-p:
  
  • indicates the path of the thumbnail file
  • is optional
  • in case of a local playlist: only used if no cover art file is inside the tracks folders
  • requirements are the same as for -SW-u
  • example:

      Code:

    -SW-phttp://www.veryicon.com/icon/png/System/Rhor%20v2%20Part%202/MP3%20File.png

• -SWITCH-a or -SW-a:
  
  • indicates a pattern for individual naming the media entries
  • is optional
  • entry should be URL-encoded, i.e. requires '%20' instead of space
  • following wildcards are possible:
    
    • -at: album title
    • -y: year of production
    • -ar: artist
    • -tt: track title
    • -co: composer
  • default pattern is

      Code:

    -ar%20-%20-tt

    if the switch -SW-a is omitted
  • wildcard substitutions are taken from playlist entries or meta data
  • if none of the demanded substitutions can be taken neither from playlist entries nor from meta data following backup mechanism for media name will taking place: 'Title' entry in pls or extm3u playlists > entry -SW-n (see below) > media name constructed from the URL
  • example:

      Code:

    -SW-a-ar:%20-tt%20(-at%20-%20-y)

    will be resolved to 'The Beatles: A day in the life (Sgt. Pepper's Lonly Hearts Club Band - 1967)'
• -SWITCH-n or -SW-n:
  
  • indicates a common name for all media titles in the playlist
  • is optional
  • only for back up reasons when naming the media entries (see above: -SW-a)
  • entry should be URL-encoded, i.e. requires '%20' instead of spaces
  • example:

      Code:

    -SW-nLove%20Songs

• -SWITCH-m or -SW-m:
  
  • indicates to omit automatic track numbering
  • is optional
  • no special entry possible
  • example:

      Code:

    -SW-m

• -SWITCH-t or -SW-t:
  
  • indicates the media type of the entries in the playlist
  • is optional but SHOULD BE USED
  • if not available the plugin decides depending on the media name extension (this desicion may be wrong!)
  • all entries inside a playlist must be of the same type, i.e. VIDEO or AUDIO (no mixing possible)
  • the radio buttons 'Audio' and 'Video' at Serviio console 'Enter details of online source' mask must be set in the same sence; they do decide in which list of the renderer (i.e. TV) the playlist is listed; BUT they do not decide which type of media is contained inside the playlist in matters of the plugin and Serviios file streaming
  • examples:

      Code:

    -SW-tAUDIO or -SW-tVIDEO (the only possible entries)

• -SWITCH-l or -SW-l ('l' = small letter 'L'):
  
  • indicates whether the playlist entries are live tracks or not
  • is optional
  • if not available the plugin decides: every local medium is not live, every online medium is live
  • examples:

      Code:

    -SW-lLIVE or -SW-lNOTLIVE (the only possible entries)

• -SWITCH-i or -SW-i:
  
  • indicates which iTunes subplaylist(s) in its general playlist 'iTunes Music Library.xml' should be played
  • only used in case of iTunes playlists
  • is optional
  • can be used several times for multiple iTunes subplaylists inside 'iTunes Music Library.xml'
  • if not available or entry -SW-iALL: all entries of the iTunes playlist are played, regardless of which iTunes subplaylist they belong to
  • entry(ies) should be URL-encoded, i.e. requires '%20' instead of space
  • example:

      Code:

    -SW-iKlassische%20Musik-SW-iJazz

  
  
• Examples for complete Serviios 'Source URL' entries:
  
  • simple:

      Code:

    http://-SW-ufile:///C:/Users/{username}/Music/iTunes/iTunes%20Music%20Library.xml

  • complex:

      Code:

    http://-SW-ufile:///C:/Users/{username}/Music/iTunes/iTunes%20Music%20Library.xml-SW-tAUDIO-SW-lNOTLIVE-SW-iKlassische%20Musik-SW-iJazz-SW-m-SW-phttp://www.veryicon.com/icon/png/System/Rhor%20v2%20Part%202/MP3%20File.png-SW-nMy%20Tracks-SW-a-ar:%20-tt%20(-at%20-%20-y)

Noticed extensions of the playlists:

• .m3u
• .xml (these files will be tested whether the playlist plugin is able to extract them, i.e. the file has a known playlist format)
• .asx
• .wpl
• .pls
• .xspf
• .smi
• .smil

Possible formats for the media paths inside a playlist:

• valid url including scheme and scheme specific part ('http://...', 'mms://...' etc.)
• [file:]{letter local drive}:{path to playlist}.{extension} (Windows only; '\' or '/': both work)
• [file:]//{name server}|localhost/{share name of drive}{path to playlist}.{extension} (Windows only; '\' or '/': both work)
• [file:]{path to playlist from scratch}.{extension} (Linux only; '\' or '/': both work)
• relative pathes starting from playlist path
• only for Serviio version 1.0.1: the file names must not contain any comma!

Tested for
Windows 7 and QNAP Linux

Feed back please! Does the plugin work for you? Does it work on different computers and different OSes? (i. e. I couldn't test it on Mac)

Thanks to zip and all the other developers of Serviio, great software! Enjoy!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Version history:

• 25/04/2012 version 1.0: initial release
• 29/04/2012 version 1.1: XSPF-support, eliminated some errors, internal design chances
• 06/05/2012 version 1.2: eliminates error with iTumes playlists, takes xml playlists only when the plugin is able to identify them, tracks are numbered automatically
• 08/05/2012 version 1.3: eliminates error that appears with Java versions befor version 7
• 12/05/2012 version 1.4: eliminates problems with UTF-8 BOM encoded playlists, additional protocols are recognized as web ones
• 15/05/2012 version 1.5: support of IPv4 addresses instead of clear text URLs in playlists, extension .xspf is now recognized
• 03/06/2012 version 2.0: 'force refresh' of Serviio console is now working with the plugin; more flexible numbering option; album cover art is read from local folders; pay attention: new syntax for all switches!
• 24/06/2012 version 3.0: meta data tags are used for creating track entries shown on the player (e.g. TV); with the new switch '-SW-a' it's also possible to create own patterns for track entries from the meta data tags; if it exists, meta data tag is used for thumbnails displayed on the player
• 26/06/2012 version 3.1: error on saving the thumbnails from meta data tags in the tmp directory on unix systems is eliminated
• 30/06/2012 version 3.2: error with some web URLs in playlists eliminated; added wildcard '-co' like 'composer' to -SW-a switch (track naming)

New version (1.1):

• XSPF-support

• eliminated some errors

• hope not to have integrated too many new errors

• internal design chances

[zip]

I suggest you just remove the original attachment and upload new versions to the first post to keep it easy to find the latest version

You're right. Done.

New version (1.2)

Nice to see this coming about. I'm running Serviio on a headless Ubuntu server and feeding a PS3 as my media receiver. I'm having an issue linking playlist file as a web resource so it shows. I'm still new to Serviio, I made the switch from Twonky due to the ease of transcoding with this great program (hats off to Zip). I followed the steps mentioned and would like some feed back if you don't mind.

I picked web resource an put in the local address of the playlist file:

file:///mnt/Media3/Playlists/test.m3u

I selected audio as the media type and left the display name blank (tested later with a display name, same result). I restarted Serviio and nothing shows in the category of Online Sources. I have everything else working great on Serviio except using any plugins with online sources of any type. I do have the Plugins.groovy file in the plugins folder. I'm curious if this is a short coming of the media receivers I'm using or some error on my part. VLC doesn't see the online resource either.

Any advice?

New version 1.3:

There had been an error occuring with Java 6 and elder versions of Java. Thanks wildcard for his feedback.

Hey olli,

I have everything working perfectly. The plugin how ever, doesn't like to read .pls files. Yet .m3u works fine, which is what I used. I found that if I opened the .pls and removed all the "file://" before the file directory it would work fine and show in the Online folder. I use Rhythmbox to maintain my library and manage my playlists. With .pls on a linux network I can confirm the above mentioned quote needs to be removed from the .pls.

I will confirm that this plugin will not work properly with an xBox360, as I have and use both systems. I was using the xBox for audio as it read playlist files without issue from Twonky and PS3 MediaServer. It looks for the specific file such as the .m3u etc. They way this is being served up to the PS3 it can me interrupted and displayed as a directory that contains linked file references. The xBox 360 cannot do this at all. Plus side is I can use my PS3 for everything now given that it out of the two actually has a gigabit NIC.

I have to say this is the best plugin. I've been eager to remove Twonky Mediaserver, Mediatomb, and PS3 MediaServer from my list of DLNA/uPNP sharing options for music. Hands down Serviio is not my #1 program, especially the android app. I tip my cap to you ollie, great work helping add this feature in. As well to Zip for such a great program.

Hi Wildcard

Could you please email an example of one original pls that doesn't work? Perhaps with about 2 or 3 tracks inside the playlist. The problem is that I havn't had so many wildlife playlists at the time of programming the plugin. I would like to have a look at a 'real' playlist to correct the error.

Thanks and greatings,
Olaf

Sorry for the delay, work seems to interfere with stuff. I figured out what was wrong, when I setup the .pls via Rhythmbox it was writing directories with the wrong slash. Using "\" instead of "/". I have zero clue why... I ended up resetting Rhythmbox. So ignore me, I have it working fine just haven't had time to update you or provide a response.

Ugh, I'm surprised. By design neither 'file:' nor '/' or '\' should compromise the action of the plugin ('file:' be deleted, backslashes be switched to slashes before testing and saving path and name of a track). Nevertheless, I hope the plugin is now working with pls files as well?

Cheers, Olaf

[devil2]

what am i doing wrong? i put thins link "file:///C:/PLAY/teste.m3u" in the web resources folder , the folder "PLAY" appears on my tv but there ´s nothing in it, the playlist don´t appears . I have windows 7.
sorry my english

Thanks devil2 for detailed information you've provided me by email. So I hope the error has been eliminated. New version is out and can be downloaded.

Olaf

I'm having some trouble getting the playlist plugin to work under Mac OSX

• I installed the complete plugin pack
• Added a Web Resource under Library / Online Sources
• The source URL for the playlist is file:///Users/nilicule/_pls/techhouse.pls
• Display name is set to Tech House
• Media type is 'audio'

When I browse to Audio / Online on my TV I see the Tech House entry, but it seems to be empty.

The contents of the playlist I'm trying to load are as follows:

  Code:

[playlist]
NumberOfEntries=3
File1=http://10.0.0.110:80/techhouse_hi?iePAnf26HA9NVasdf
Title1=Digitally Imported - Tech House
Length1=-1
File2=http://10.0.0.111:80/techhouse_hi?iePAnf26HA9NVasdf
Title2=Digitally Imported - Tech House
Length2=-1
File3=http://10.0.0.112:80/techhouse_hi?iePAnf26HA9NVasdf
Title3=Digitally Imported - Tech House
Length3=-1
Version=2


If I take any of the above URLs and create a 'live stream' online source, then things work as they should - which leads me to believe the problem might be in the way the playlist file is parsed.

I tried escaping the '?' in the stream URLs, but this didn't seem to make a difference. The Serviio logs, even with loglevel set to DEBUG, are not showing anything out of the ordinary.

What could I be overlooking?

EDIT: The stream URLs I'm adding are authenticated Digitally Imported streams, so there is a workaround. I'm still curious though why things aren't working using the playlist plugin.

I have a problem.
I put Playlist.groovy under c:\Program Files\Serviio\plugins\
Then I restarted Serviio
I put 1.xspf

  Code:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<playlist version="1" xmlns="http://xspf.org/ns/0/">
   <trackList>
      <track>
         <location>udp://@233.166.172.91:1234</location>
         <title>First</title>
      </track>
</playlist>


under e:\1\ folder

Then I made such configuration:


But my Toshiba doesn't see this playlist in Video/Online

I've added a m3u playlist.
The same problem
TV doesn't see it.

Hi,
plugin dont work for me.

system : linux
device: sony bravia 2011
transcoding : enable

playlist file : relative.m3u
content(item) : Test/gaga.mp3

it shows the playlist and the item (metadata is correct)

Problem: On TV i get the message "File not found"

Log says:

  Code:

2012-05-15 02:28:38,719 DEBUG [FeedItemUrlExtractor] Playlist extractor: Starting parsing resource: file:/data/vdr/data/3_MUSIK/relative.m3u
2012-05-15 02:28:38,719 DEBUG [FeedItemUrlExtractor] Playlist extractor:   - OS: UNIXOID
2012-05-15 02:28:38,720 DEBUG [FeedItemUrlExtractor] Playlist extractor:   - transmitted from WebResourceParser - playlistUrl: file:/data/vdr/data/3_MUSIK/relative.m3u
2012-05-15 02:28:38,720 DEBUG [FeedItemUrlExtractor] Playlist extractor:   - transmitted from WebResourceParser - playlistThumbnailUrl: http://www.veryicon.com/icon/png/System/Rhor%20v2%20Part%202/MP3%20File.png
2012-05-15 02:28:38,720 DEBUG [FeedItemUrlExtractor] Playlist extractor:   - transmitted from WebResourceParser - playlistMediaType: null
2012-05-15 02:28:38,720 DEBUG [FeedItemUrlExtractor] Playlist extractor:   - transmitted from WebResourceParser - playlistName: null
2012-05-15 02:28:38,720 DEBUG [FeedItemUrlExtractor] Playlist extractor:   - transmitted from WebResourceParser - itunesPlaylistName: []
2012-05-15 02:28:38,720 DEBUG [FeedItemUrlExtractor] Playlist extractor:   - transmitted from WebResourceParser - playlistLive: UNKNOWN
2012-05-15 02:28:38,748 DEBUG [FeedItemUrlExtractor] Playlist extractor:   - playlistType: M3U
2012-05-15 02:28:38,749 DEBUG [FeedItemUrlExtractor] playlist extractor:   - playlistLine no: 0, content: Test/gaga.mp3
2012-05-15 02:28:38,752 DEBUG [FeedItemUrlExtractor] playlist extractor:   - original mediaUrl: Test/gaga.mp3
2012-05-15 02:28:38,753 DEBUG [FeedItemUrlExtractor] playlist extractor:   - mediaUrl interpreted as local URL
2012-05-15 02:28:38,755 DEBUG [FeedItemUrlExtractor] playlist extractor:   - corrected relative mediaUrl by addition
2012-05-15 02:28:38,772 INFO  [LibraryUpdatesCheckerThread] Finished looking for updates to currently shared files
2012-05-15 02:28:38,816 DEBUG [FeedItemUrlExtractor] playlist extractor:   - mediaName from meta data: Born This Way (Main)
2012-05-15 02:28:38,817 DEBUG [FeedItemUrlExtractor] playlist extractor:   - transmitted to ContentURLContainer extractUrl - playlistThumbnailUrl: http://www.veryicon.com/icon/png/System/Rhor%20v2%20Part%202/MP3%20File.png
2012-05-15 02:28:38,822 DEBUG [FeedItemUrlExtractor] playlist extractor:   - transmitted to ContentURLContainer extractUrl - mediaType: null
2012-05-15 02:28:38,822 DEBUG [FeedItemUrlExtractor] playlist extractor:   - transmitted to ContentURLContainer extractUrl - mediaUrl: /data/vdr/data/3_MUSIK/Test/gaga.mp3
2012-05-15 02:28:38,823 DEBUG [FeedItemUrlExtractor] playlist extractor:   - transmitted to ContentURLContainer extractUrl - mediaName: 001 - Born This Way (Main)
2012-05-15 02:28:38,823 DEBUG [FeedItemUrlExtractor] playlist extractor:   - transmitted to ContentURLContainer extractUrl - mediaLive: false
2012-05-15 02:28:38,823 DEBUG [FeedItemUrlExtractor] playlist extractor: --- medium cached in mediaItems
...
...
2012-05-15 02:28:38,836 DEBUG [FeedItemUrlExtractor] Playlist extractor: Starting extraction of url for item: 001 - Born This Way (Main)
2012-05-15 02:28:38,836 DEBUG [FeedItemUrlExtractor] Playlist extractor:   - mediaType: AUDIO
2012-05-15 02:28:38,837 DEBUG [FeedItemUrlExtractor] Playlist extractor: Finished extraction of url: ContentURLContainer [fileType=AUDIO, contentUrl=/data/vdr/data/3_MUSIK/Test/gaga.mp3, thumbnailUrl=http://www.veryicon.com/icon/png/System/Rhor%20v2%20Part%202/MP3%20File.png, live=false, expiresImmediately=false, ]
2012-05-15 02:28:38,837 DEBUG [WebResourceParser] Added resource item 1: '001 - Born This Way (Main)' (/data/vdr/data/3_MUSIK/Test/gaga.mp3
...
..
 WARN  [ResourceTransportRequestHandler] Error while processing resource, sending back 404 error.  Message: Cannot retrieve online media item URL: no protocol: /data/vdr/data/3_MUSIK/Test/gaga.mp3
....
..



Everything seems ok but file dont play

Any solution ?

Hi guys

Sorry for the delay, I've been busy. And thanks for questions and the opportunity for me to improve the plugin.

First nilicule: the plugin wasn't be able to handle solved IP addresses. This problem is solved with the new version (1.5). Also you should confirm the AUDIO type by integrating switch -tAUDIO into the URL (e.g. 'file:///Users/nilicule/_pls/techhouseYYY-tAUDIOYYY.pls'. Another thing might be that the drive letter is missing, perhaps the entry in Serviio console should be 'file:///C:/Users/nilicule/_pls/techhouseYYY-tAUDIOYYY.pls' ? I don't know your system The questionmark is no problem, it doesn't disturbe the plugin and is transmitted to ffmpeg. In my experience the IP addresses might be switching very soon, this could be another problem.

Second AlexSP: about not handling solved IP addresses please take a look above. Nevertheless at least the .pls file you've submitted isn't well formed: the closing tag </trackList> is missing. Also the entry for the URL in the Serviio console should be 'file:///E:/1.1.xspf' (':' is missing). Support for extension '.xspf' I've added to the new plugin version. Nevertheless I don't know, whether an OSI layer 4 protocol (i.e. udp) is readable for ffmpeg in this way. But I'm no technician.

Third djoimania: thanks for transmitting the digest of the log file. This is informative for me. What I can see: 1. the plugin is interpreting the transmitted track URL as a relative one and it constructs '/data/vdr/data/3_MUSIK/Test/gaga.mp3' as the complete URL. 2. This should be a valide URL of an existing file, because of the plugin is testing the local URLs whether they do point to an existing file. Otherwise the URL won't be transmitted to Serviio. So it might be a question of rights to read this file (this isn't tested by the plugin)? It's just a assumption. You should test the URL by directly transmitting it to ffmpeg, as might be described here: http://wiki.serviio.org/doku.php?id=howto_lm_ffmpeg. Another possibilty for localizing the problem: test whether your file is played by the tv when you register its folder '/data/vdr/data/3_MUSIK/Test' under 'Shared folders' in Serviio's console.

Please feedback.

Cheers, Olaf

First nilicule: the plugin wasn't be able to handle solved IP addresses. This problem is solved with the new version (1.5). Also you should confirm the AUDIO type by integrating switch -tAUDIO into the URL (e.g. 'file:///Users/nilicule/_pls/techhouseYYY-tAUDIOYYY.pls'. Another thing might be that the drive letter is missing, perhaps the entry in Serviio console should be 'file:///C:/Users/nilicule/_pls/techhouseYYY-tAUDIOYYY.pls' ? I don't know your system The questionmark is no problem, it doesn't disturbe the plugin and is transmitted to ffmpeg. In my experience the IP addresses might be switching very soon, this could be another problem

I'm on Mac OSX, so there's no driveletter - I'll give the new version a try as soon as I get back home and will let you know if the new version fixes the problem.

Cheers Olaf!

nilicule, you drive letter needed. I'm on a headless ubuntu server and use the same format. I find when adding online sources that it's not 100% needed but help in restarting Serviio. I just added 3 new lists tonight and after waiting a bit still nothing. A reboot worked fine. I manage Serviio from the Android app.