HELP. Media players

sebcity · 11-01-2006, 04:30 PM

I need to know how a media player such as windows media player or iTunes points to the music stored on your hard drive. In other words the songs are kept in, say, your my music folder. iTunes can play them without having to move or store them in a seperate folder (i know you can move them to one,but it is not necessary). I'm sure WMP does the same. Do they use a pointer or some sort of searching algorithm to find them?
Basically I need to know how the player knows where the songs are?
Thanks

**magicman** · 11-01-2006, 05:46 PM

I'm not certain about WMP, but with iTunes, the library indexes are stored within the file "iTunes Music Library.xml", stored in the My Music/iTunes folder. The content for each track entry tends to be of the format:

Code:

<string>file://localhost/C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Peter/My%20Documents/My%20Music/iTunes/12%20Stones/12%20Stones/Back%20Up.mp3</string> 
  <key>File Folder Count</key> 
  <integer>4</integer> 
  <key>Library Folder Count</key> 
  <integer>1</integer> 
  </dict>
  <key>2116</key> 
- <dict>
  <key>Track ID</key> 
  <integer>2116</integer> 
  <key>Name</key> 
  <string>Broken</string> 
  <key>Artist</key> 
  <string>12 Stones</string> 
  <key>Album Artist</key> 
  <string>12 Stones</string> 
  <key>Composer</key> 
  <string>12 Stones</string> 
  <key>Album</key> 
  <string>12 Stones</string> 
  <key>Genre</key> 
  <string>Gospel & Religious</string> 
  <key>Kind</key> 
  <string>MPEG audio file</string> 
  <key>Size</key> 
  <integer>4357036</integer> 
  <key>Total Time</key> 
  <integer>181446</integer> 
  <key>Disc Number</key> 
  <integer>1</integer> 
  <key>Disc Count</key> 
  <integer>1</integer> 
  <key>Track Number</key> 
  <integer>2</integer> 
  <key>Year</key> 
  <integer>2002</integer> 
  <key>Date Modified</key> 
  <date>2006-09-20T13:00:25Z</date> 
  <key>Date Added</key> 
  <date>2006-09-20T12:30:48Z</date> 
  <key>Bit Rate</key> 
  <integer>192</integer> 
  <key>Sample Rate</key> 
  <integer>44100</integer> 
  <key>Comments</key> 
  <string>00001EC1 000024A9 000050BA 0000589F 000186B7 0000C37E 00008000 00008000 00002727 0000EA8E</string> 
  <key>Persistent ID</key> 
  <string>A53C38CCAF3AF8B3</string> 
  <key>Track Type</key> 
  <string>File</string> 
  <key>Location</key>

sebcity · 11-02-2006, 11:39 AM

Ok thats very helpful thanks.

11-01-2006, 04:30 PM	#1 (permalink)
sebcity New Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Dublin,Ireland Age: 25 Posts: 4	HELP. Media players I need to know how a media player such as windows media player or iTunes points to the music stored on your hard drive. In other words the songs are kept in, say, your my music folder. iTunes can play them without having to move or store them in a seperate folder (i know you can move them to one,but it is not necessary). I'm sure WMP does the same. Do they use a pointer or some sort of searching algorithm to find them? Basically I need to know how the player knows where the songs are? Thanks

11-02-2006, 11:39 AM	#3 (permalink)
sebcity New Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Dublin,Ireland Age: 25 Posts: 4	Ok thats very helpful thanks. __________________ Precious Few Are Born With It.... Even Fewer Know What To Do With It....

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Help. Media players	sebcity	General Software	1	11-01-2006 04:36 PM
Media players	Nevakonaza	General Software	6	04-16-2006 01:11 PM
key mapping for media players	Dsk954	Computer Accessories	1	01-25-2005 06:42 AM
Media Players	Imaruki	General Software	1	11-24-2004 05:53 PM