SlimServerNowPlaying

==== Slimserver Now Playing ====

player.pl - Get "now playing" information from Slimserver by command line
Written by/(C) Ralph Bolton, October 2005, licensed how ever you like ;-)

This script uses the Slimserver command line interface to query the server for "now playing" information. It then either outputs that information or can save it to a file.

Broadly speaking, this serves the same purpose as the various XML based scripts available on http://www.slimdevices.com/dev_plugins.html. I would assert that this offers a lower load to the system it runs on, although of course requires access to the command line port, as opposed to simply using the web interface.

All server versions (at least up to 6.2) cannot give 100% accurate "now playing" information to the command line (or status.xml). Instead, one has to derive the current track playing by asking for the first thing in the playlist. This is fine for the most part, but doesn't get the current track from Internet radio stations (instead, it shows the station).

If you have more than one Squeezebox playing at once, this script will pick one and use that for it's information. If you're listening to a file (as opposed to radio) then track, album and artist are shown. Optionally, the artist can be wrapped in HTML to link to the site of your choice.

Caveats

* This script works with all slimserver versions from 5.2 to at least 6.2. However, on versions 6.x before 6.2 the server crashes if any of the playlists are empty. So long as all players have something in their playlists, it's absolutely fine though. Version 6.2 and 5.x are fine too.

  • It's not currently possible to get the track name from Internet radio stations from slimserver (at least up to v6.2). Instead, only the station name is shown.
  • Server version 6.2.0 does not show the album or artist names when playing tracks. Fixed in server version 6.2.1-1 though.
AttachmentSize
player.pl.txt7.28 KB
Submitted by coofercat on Mon, 2005-11-21 12:58