I need to script adding a file to itunes. After I add the file I want to delete it because I create the file in a temporary location. Now if the user has the preference checked to “copy the files into itunes when adding” then all is OK. The file is added to the itunes music library and I can delete the original… but if the user doesn’t have that preference checked then I can’t delete the original.
So how can I force itunes to copy the file into the music library no matter the preference setting?
EDIT:
Adding is simple but it works with that preference. You’ll note that I’m working with a pdf file.
set thePath to "/Users/hmcshane/Desktop/kMDItemContentTypes.pdf"
set macPath to POSIX file thePath
tell application "iTunes"
add macPath
end tell
However, I’m trying the “duplicate” command and it doesn’t work.
set thePath to "/Users/hmcshane/Desktop/kMDItemContentTypes.pdf"
set macPath to POSIX file thePath
tell application "iTunes"
duplicate macPath
end tell
You could make yourself a folder in the iTunes folder and move all files you add to that folder. Then you can add them to iTunes with knowing they will be there.
set fileToAdd to (choose file)
-- get the apps destination folder
set appDestinationFolder to do shell script "echo \"$HOME/Music/iTunes/Regulus Added Tracks\""
-- make sure it exists
do shell script "/bin/mkdir -p " & quoted form of appDestinationFolder
-- make sure filename isn't already in use
set fileNamesInUse to list folder (POSIX file appDestinationFolder)
set chosenFileName to fileNameWithoutNameExstentsion(name of (info for fileToAdd))
set fileExt to name extension of (info for fileToAdd)
if fileExt is missing value then set fileExt to ""
set newName to chosenFileName -- be sure we have a new name
set fileIndex to 2
repeat while (fileNamesInUse contains newName)
set newName to chosenFileName & " (" & fileIndex & ")"
if (fileExt is not "") then set newName to newName & "." & fileExt
set fileIndex to fileIndex + 1
end repeat
-- rename the file
set newFile to stringByDeletingLastPathComponent(POSIX path of fileToAdd) & newName
do shell script "/bin/mv " & quoted form of POSIX path of fileToAdd & space & quoted form of newFile
-- move the file to the directory
do shell script "/bin/mv " & quoted form of newFile & space & quoted form of appDestinationFolder
set fileToAdd to (POSIX file newFile)
-- add to itunes
tell application "iTunes" to add fileToAdd
(* HANDLERS *)
on fileNameWithoutNameExstentsion(aFilename)
set tid to AppleScript's text item delimiters
set AppleScript's text item delimiters to "."
set allItems to every text item of aFilename
if (count allItems) is 1 then
set AppleScript's text item delimiters to tid
return aFilename
end if
set toReturn to ((items 1 thru -2 of allItems) as text)
set AppleScript's text item delimiters to tid
return toReturn
end fileNameWithoutNameExstentsion
on stringByDeletingLastPathComponent(fileName)
-- if slash
if fileName is "/" then return fileName
-- if ends with slash
if fileName ends with "/" then set fileName to (characters 1 thru -2 of fileName) as string
set tid to AppleScript's text item delimiters
set AppleScript's text item delimiters to "/"
set allComponents to every text item of fileName
set AppleScript's text item delimiters to ""
-- if no dir
if (count allComponents) is 1 then return ""
set allComponents to (items 1 thru -2) of allComponents
set AppleScript's text item delimiters to "/"
set newPath to allComponents as text
set AppleScript's text item delimiters to ""
if newPath does not end with "/" then set newPath to (newPath & "/") as string
set AppleScript's text item delimiters to tid
return newPath
end stringByDeletingLastPathComponent
Thanks for the response. I thought of this too. I was thinking to create an application support folder and placing them in there. The problem becomes am I maintaining duplicates? If the preference is checked then the file is copied into itunes’s music folder too. So it gets messy. I really need a way to force it to copy or at least read that preference so I know ahead of time what it’s going to do then adjust accordingly.
As a last resort I just won’t worry about duplicates, but I’m hoping to avoid it if I can.
With a little bit of FileMerge magic, I got to know what data to look for in the com.apple.iTunes.plist-preference file. And surprisedly enough, it worked!!!
property ITUNES_COPYING_WORD : 624
property ITUNES_COPYING_DISABLED : "00000100"
property ITUNES_COPYING_ENABLED : "00010100"
do shell script "/usr/bin/defaults read com.apple.iTunes pref:130:Preferences"
get word ITUNES_COPYING_WORD of result
if result is ITUNES_COPYING_DISABLED then
display dialog "Copying disabled"
else if result is ITUNES_COPYING_ENABLED then
display dialog "Copying enabled"
else
display dialog "This scrip does not work properly"
end if
Tested with version 9.2.1 (5) of iTunes
Hope it helps,
ief2
EDIT: Remember that iTunes should have started up at least once for this file to be there.
the best way is to do an action depending on the preference value,
but the preference information is encapsulated in an NSData object in com.apple.iTunes.plist.
What’s about this pseudo code
[add file to iTunes]
[search file in iTunes Music Folder]
if [file exists] then
[delete original file]
else
[move file to appropriate location]
[set location of added file to appropriate location]
end if
That’s pretty good ief2. Thanks. It worked for me too. That was a great thought about figuring it out. I looked at that preference too and figured the detail was in that data somewhere but didn’t know how to find which one.
I’m worried that word 624 might change or b different in other versions though so I’m not sure what to do about that yet. This will be used in a shipping cocoa application of mine so I probably won’t feel good about using that. I have to think about it more. See that data is probably a dictionary of values that gets archived, and dictionaries don’t have an order to them. As such that order might change as other stuff is added or removed from the dictionary.
But it’s a great feat just to figure that out so thanks. Any other ideas??? Anyone??? Hopefully there’s something more solid to rely upon.
Yep StefanK. That was my next thought. I’ll have to add the file, then search the database to find the file, then get the location of that found itunes file, and finally compare it to my location. I was hoping there was a more direct way but as you and ief2 saw, the value is encapsulated in a data variable that we don’t know how to deconstruct reliably.
OK, I figured it out and it’s pretty simple. I’ll create the file in an application support folder instead of a temporary folder. When I add the file to itunes, I get a reference back to the added file. So I just then need to get the location of that reference and compare it to my original location. This works…
set thePath to "/Users/hmcshane/Desktop/kMDItemContentTypes.pdf"
set macPath to POSIX file thePath
tell application "iTunes"
set thePDF to add macPath
set theLoc to location of thePDF
end tell
set posixThePDF to POSIX path of theLoc
if thePath is posixThePDF then
return "leave original alone"
else
return "delete original"
end if
