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[Bill Kearney]

How does one import into an existing playlist?  That is, pull in a number of tracks directly into an existing playlist?

What I'm after, at the moment, is an easy way to import a number of web URLs into a playlist.  I have nothing but the .wma or .ram URLs in a text file.

I don't see a logical or easy way to pull tracks such as this directly into a given playlist.  I seems I can File-Open Media File... but that dumps the tracks into the "Playing Now" list, not into a playlist.  I can, of course, select them and use the Right-click->Send To menu to copy them into a playlist, but how about avoiding Playing Now?

Am I missing something simple here?

[Alex B]

You can drag files or folders including subfolders from Windows Explorer into a playlist. It may work with streamed files too.

[Bill Kearney]

Sure, but what if I just want a simple, direct way to import a given set of tracks directly into a playlist?  Is there NO simple way to do this?

[Alex B]

Define simple. How would you like to do it?

Isn't dragging simple?

[Bill Kearney]

Consider that dragging on a touchscreen is next to impossible.  Thus being able to single-click my way into importing from a known source directly into a know destination is what I'm after.  That and dragging and dropping when viewing from an 800x600 screen is likewise rather difficult.

[Alex B]

I see. You didn't tell everything.

800x600 touchscreen? No mouse? Perhaps no keyboard? Terrible...

I know nothing about your setup. I guess you have good reasons for using a small touchscreen.

I have a 17" LCD screen on a coffee table and a cordless mouse/keyboard combo. That is my remote for my HTPC. Anything less is not good enough for me. I tried to use the TV-out a little while. It didn't work for me.

In answer to your question, I think MC has no other interface for adding external tracks to a certain playlist. I may be wrong though.

[JimH]

The DevZone here has some useful things.  I'm not sure you'll find what you're after, but take a look:
http://www.jrmediacenter.com/devzone.html

The commandline parameters allow you to import:
http://www.jrmediacenter.com/DevZone/CommandLine.html

Note that mjextman.exe has been replaced by MC11.exe in MC11.

[Alex B]

I didn't find find anything useful in the commandline parameters, but it seems to be possible with the plug-in interface:

http://www.jrmediacenter.com/DevZone/MJAutomation.html#CMJPlaylistAutomation

MJPlaylistAutomation - interface for working with a single playlist

Functions

MJFilesAutomation * GetFiles()

Description: gets the collection of files in the playlist
Return Value: MJFilesAutomation interface

boolean AddFile(string strFilename, number nLocation)

Description: adds new file to the playlist
Parameters:

strFilename: the filename of the file to add
nLocation: position of the file in the playlist. If position -1, the file will be added to the end of the playlist.

Return Value: 0 on failure, non-zero on success

boolean RemoveFile(string strFilename)

Description: removes existing file from the playlist
Parameters:

strFilename: the filename of the file to delete

Return Value: 0 on failure, non-zero on success

Properties

string Name() (read / write)

Description: the name of the playlist (i.e. "My Playlist")

string Path() (read / write)

Description: the path of the playlist, delimited by backslashes (note: does not contain the name) (i.e. "Mixes\\New Playlist Group")

I guess you just need to make a plugin. Simple? It depends...   

[Bill Kearney]

I see. You didn't tell everything. 800x600 touchscreen? No mouse? Perhaps no keyboard? Terrible... I know nothing about your setup. I guess you have good reasons for using a small touchscreen. In answer to your question, I think MC has no other interface for adding external tracks to a certain playlist. I may be wrong though.

Does "if you don't know, don't bother replying" ring any bells here?  Ok, so that's rude but forgive me. 

My setup is mounted in a rack along with a CAV6.6 distribution system.  I likewise use 800x600 touchscreens in various places around the house.  Those run NetRemote so screen size isn't at issue.  That also because there's no MC11 "client" program.  The smaller screen resolution works very well for the few occasions I ever need to use the console, which is pretty rare since MC11 doesn't have an easy way to switch zones either.   There's a slide-out keypad with touchpad as well. 

But when using touchscreens things that require dragging are generally a bad idea. 

It seems like a pretty fundamental situation where someone might have a series of tracks created or managed outside of MC11 that they'd want to *easily* import.  With all the amazing features of MC11 (and they're MANY) I was rather surprised to see no simple way to do this.

Anyway, when I get back from our honeymoon at the end of the month I suppose I'm finally going to have to delve into MC11's SDK.

[jgreen]

Alex B--
Please continue to bother replying.  I'm learning a lot from your posts, FWIW.

Quoting Bill Kearney:
"I suppose I'm finally going to have to delve into MC11's SDK."

I for one look forward to that with glee.

[Alex B]

I have a few plug-ins in my mind too. Maybe someday I'll take that leap...