[% pagetitle = 'XML skin' %] [% techinfo = '1' %] [% lefttoright = '1' %] [% PROCESS helpheader.html %]
This document describes the XML skin, that allows the SqueezeCenter to return XML instead of HTML. It is designed to enable the integration of the SqueezeCenter with third party automation tools, such as AMX/Crestron touchpanels, or other "home grown" solutions.
The XML skin only changes what is returned by the Server, and not its interface. Please refer to The SqueezeCenter Web Interface documentation.
Because it is of no interest to human beings, this skin is hidden from the skin list available in the Server preferences. To enable the skin, use URLs with this general form:
http://server:port/xml/page.xml?parameter=value&...
where server
, port
, page
, and
parameter
must be replaced by appropriate values. For example,
to browse the music library (in the following
examples, the SqueezeCenter is running on a computer with the IP address of
10.0.1.201 using the default port 9000):
http://10.0.1.201:9000/xml/browse.xml
The following values are possible for page
:
browsetree.xml
, to browse the music library following its directory structurebrowsedb.xml
, to browse the music library following its tag structure (genre, artist, album)search.xml
, to search for artists, album or songssonginfo.xml
, to get the full information on a songstatus.xml
, to get a player status and its current playlist, if anyhitlist.xml
, to get the statistics maintained by the serverFor example:
http://10.0.1.201:9000/xml/browsedb.xml?hierarchy=genre,title&level=0&start=0&itemsPerPage=2 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" standalone="no"?> <!DOCTYPE browse SYSTEM "html/slimserver_xml.dtd"> <browse xmlns="http://www.slimdevices.com/slimserver/xml"> <song_count>19418 songs</song_count> <artist_count>1678 artists</artist_count> <album_count>1593 albums</album_count> <browseby>BROWSE_BY_GENRE</browseby> <location> <locator> <locator_name>Browse Genres</locator_name> <locator_url><![CDATA[xml/browsedb.xml?hierarchy=genre%2Ctrack&level=0]]></locator_url> </locator> </location> <offsets> <from>0</from> <to>1</to> <last>112</last> </offsets> <browse_entry> <entry_type>genre</entry_type> <entry_name>Acid House</entry_name> <entry_id>90</entry_id> <browse_url><![CDATA[xml/browsedb.xml?hierarchy=genre%2Ctrack&level=1&genre=90]]></browse_url> <replace_url><![CDATA[status.xml?command=playlist&subcommand=loadtracks&genre=90]]></replace_url> <append_url><![CDATA[status.xml?command=playlist&subcommand=addtracks&genre=90]]></append_url> <dir> <dir_name>Acid House</dir_name> <dir_browse_url><![CDATA[xml/browsedb.xml?hierarchy=genre%2Ctrack&level=1&genre=90]]></dir_browse_url> <genre>Acid House</genre> </dir> </browse_entry> <browse_entry> <entry_type>genre</entry_type> <entry_name>Acid Punk</entry_name> <entry_id>89</entry_id> <browse_url><![CDATA[xml/browsedb.xml?hierarchy=genre%2Ctrack&level=1&genre=89]]></browse_url> <replace_url><![CDATA[status.xml?command=playlist&subcommand=loadtracks&genre=89]]></replace_url> <append_url><![CDATA[status.xml?command=playlist&subcommand=addtracks&genre=89]]></append_url> <dir> <dir_name>Acid Punk</dir_name> <dir_browse_url><![CDATA[xml/browsedb.xml?hierarchy=genre%2Ctrack&level=1&genre=89]]></dir_browse_url> <genre>Acid Punk</genre> </dir> </browse_entry> </browse>
The following parameters are applicable to all pages that return many items
(potentially all pages except songinfo.xml
):
itemsPerPage=number
, to indicate how many items to return. This way,
the Server can be set up with a "human acceptable" value for this
setting (say, 100), while a limited automation device can request pages
containing only, say, 10 items. Some pages include the "All Songs" option in the count
and will return 1 less item than specified. See the offsets
section for
an accurate count of the number of items returned.start=number
, to indicate which is the first item in the page,
useful in conjunction with itemsPerPage
. This value is an offset,
i.e. the first item is 0, and the last itemsPerPage-1
. Each page
returns its position in the entire list; see the offsets
tag in the
example above.The following parameter must be added to the page status.xml
:
player=player_id
, to indicate which player we're talking about. If
absent, the Server will randomly choose a player.include.html
fileThe include.html
file provides a location to set parameters for every page.
If desired, [% params.itemsPerPage = number %]
could be added instead of adding
it to every URL.
If a single player is automated, [% params.player = player_id %]
could be another option.
Be aware that this file is within the Server software release. Any changes will be overwritten by any upgrade to the Server software.
An efficient client can be implemented without knowing much about parameters,
as the XML includes special tags (ending in _url
) containing "links".
In our example above, in order to browse the tracks with a genre of "Acid House", one simply
requests the URL indicated by the browse_url
. Similar tags exists
for most operations. The player
parameter should be added to any URL
targetting a specific player, such as replace_url
above.
search.xml
parametersThe following parameters must be provided:
type=artist
or type=album
or type=song
,
to search artists, albums or songs, respectively.query=A_WORD+ANOTHER_WORD+...
, to indicate the string searched. Words
must be correctly escaped as URL rules dictate and separated by +
.hitlist.xml
parametershitlist.xml
takes no parameters. hitlist.xml
does not currently
respect the start
or itemsPerPage
parameters.
Please refer to The SqueezeCenter Web Interface
documentation for parameters to the status.xml
page. Discovering the
parameters of the other pages is left as an exercise to the reader.
PS: Seriously, the only way for a client to discover the value of parameters
to browsetree.xml
, browsedb.xml
and songinfo.xml
is to use the XML interface to browse the library in the first place. Therefore,
the links will have been calculated for you already in the _url
tags!.
The XML skin comes with a heavily commented DTD, indicated in DOCTYPE
and that can be served by the SqueezeCenter. Please refer to it for more information
on the various tags returned.
The skin does not support: