Playlist is a Perl/Tk program which provides a tree view of a directory structure, and allows you to select MP3 files found there for playing. Currently it is only likely to work under Linux. You will need Perl/Tk and mpg123 already installed - this is not an MP3 player itself, just a pretty front end.
The latest version is available at this URL:
ftp://ftp.chiark.greenend.org.uk/users/richardk/software/playlist
Place this file in an appropriate directory on your path and make it executable.
To set it up, create a file in your home directory called ".playlist.conf". List the root of your MP3 collection(s) there, one to a line using the "directory" directive. For example, here is what I have:
directory /opt/mp3 directory /davenant/export/mp3/data
Playlist assumes that your MP3 files have the extension ".mp3". Also, when displaying filenames, it throws away any initial sequence consisting of digits followed by a colon and (optionally) spaces.
The reason for this is the filename convention I use; each track has a two-digit sequence number followed by a colon at the start of the filename, to impose an ordering on the tracks in a directory. You don't have to follow this convention to use playlist, however.
The display is divided into three areas. The leftmost is a tree view of a portion of the file system; above it is a drop-down menu allowing you to select between the different configured collections. Directories are displayed with a "+" or "-" box; when a "+" is displayed, the directory's contents are hidden, and when a "-" is displayed they are visible. Click on the box to toggle between these states.
The middle is the "playlist", and lists tracks to be played; the topmost track is played first, and "falls off the top" when it finished. The rightmost area is a volume control.
The following buttons are available:
| Edit | This brings up a new window to edit the list of directories to search for MP3s. To its right is a drop-down menu from which you can select between the available directories. |
| Add | This adds any tracks selected in file system browser window to the playlist. If a directory is selected, then all files below it are added. This means that if explicitly you select a directory and its contents, then you will get all the tracks added twice. Arguably this is a bug. |
| Rescan | This causes the directory tree to be rescanned, for example after adding new files. |
| Delete | This removes the selected track(s) from the playlist. If the currently playing track is removed, then it will stop playing and the new top track will start. |
| Pause | This pauses the currently playing track. |
| Go | This cancels the effect of the Pause button. |
| Quit | This terminates the program. |
The "Tied" checkbox below the volume control determines whether the left and right channels may be modified independently (if it is clear) or are forced to have the same level (if it is checked).
Please report any bugs to:
rjk+playlist-bugs@sfere.greenend.org.uk
Please check this page for any updates or known bugs first. The canonical URL for this page is:
http://www.greenend.org.uk/rjk/2000/07/26/playlist.html
Playlist is copyright © 2000 Richard Kettlewell. You may redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.
You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA