Using Audtool to select playlist by name/title

[vexillia]

I'm doing a bit of scripting and would like to do the above to add daily podcast files to a playlist called "Podcasts" which won’t always be in a fixed position in the list of playlists.

I can get the script working using audtool --set-current-playlist but this works with a number not a name/title.

My problem arises because I create, delete and reorder playlists a lot; sometimes at random so the number of playlists changes the "Podcasts " playlist isn't always guaranteed to be in a fixed position.

It seems to me that, at the moment, the only fixed position playlists that I can reliably address by number are the first (1) and last (via audtool --number-of-playlists).

However, the "Podcasts " playlists isn't guaranteed to be the last so effectively the only fixed position is the first (1).

This is a touch restrictive so any help gratefully received.

[mschwendt]

I'd like to suggest a quick workaround. As there is a pair of set/get comands for a playlist's name ("set-current-playlist-name" and "current-playlist-name"), you could iterate over the number of playlists and check their name for your podcasts playlist.

[vexillia]

Thanks.

Looping through the playlists until the name matched gave me the position independent solution I was after.

Bit brute force but it works. :-)

If anyone wants the script ask here.

[mschwendt]

Yeah, sure it's brute-force as an immediate workaround. Theoretically, audtool could be enhanced to provide a new set-current-playlist-by-name command, but that would require touching the code and Audacious' dbus-server, too.

[vexillia]

After a bit more testing I can't automate the script.

I can write a script that cycles through the playlists and this works just fine when run as a user as either a bash or sh script. When run as a cron job the audtool commands don't run even though it's the user crontab.

Obviously, the crontab environment isn't the same as the user environment. I just can't find a way to set the right variables so it can address audtool.

Any suggestions?

[vexillia]

Solved!

Identified problem as this error:

D-Bus error: Cannot autolaunch D-Bus without X11 $DISPLAY

Solution was to add this to the script file (lost the source):

export "$(strings /proc/"$(pidof audacious)"/environ | grep DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS)"

I ended up with a Bourne shell script not a Bash script as the latter didn't work and I was loosing the will to live.

[vexillia]

Solved!

Identified the cronjob problem from this error:

D-Bus error: Cannot autolaunch D-Bus without X11 $DISPLAY

Solution was to add this to the script file:

export "$(strings /proc/"$(pidof audacious)"/environ | grep DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS)"

Source: https://redmine.audacious-media-player.org/boards/1/topics/1581?r=1593#message-1593

I ended up with a Bourne shell script not a Bash script as the latter didn't work and I was loosing the will to live.