Inspired by the Controlling iTunes from the Terminal article explaining a bash shell command line script to (as the title says) control iTunes from the terminal. I liked this, but I felt I needed a bit more flexibility (meaning I want it coded in something i know better), and I really like Python (especially when i decide to classify this script), so I decided to port it over to Python.

I found this useful to have installed on the Mac Mini sitting on a desk while i was across the room on my Powerbook. Very handy since I didn’t want to have to get up every time I wanted to change the song, or pause it when the phone rang, etc.

So far its a pretty clean traslation over with a few modified functions, and a few functions I’ve thrown in from other posts I had seen, or functions I feel would be cool to be added.

I’ve only tested this on OSX 10.4.11 – iTunes 7.6, so even though I believe it should work on other versions of iTunes/OSX, don’t take my word for it, but please let me know if you do run into any problems with it.

Right now i’ll upload the file along with this blog, but i’ll be sure to use a versioning tool as i make updates.

Download myPyTunes here – Right click the link and choose “Save As..”

Here is the basic help menu when you type in “itunes -h”:

———————————————————-
iTunes Command Line Interface
———————————————————-
Usage: /usr/bin/itunes <option>
Options:
status = Shows iTunes’ status, current artist, and track.
play = Start playing iTunes.
stop = Stop iTunes
pause = Pause iTunes.
playpause = Play/Pause iTunes.
next = Go to the next track.
prev = Go to the previous track.
mute = Mute iTunes’ volume.
unmute = Unmute iTunes’ volume.
vol up = Increase iTunes’ volume by 10%
vol down = Increase iTunes’ volume by 10%
vol # = Set iTunes’ volume to # [0-100]
quit = Quit iTunes
launch = Launch iTunes
playlist @ = Play iTunes’ playlist named @”
list = list playlists.
shuf = turn on shuffle playlist
noshuf = turn off shuffle playlist
ostream = open stream
help = what’s showing now
———————————————————-