iTunes Integration

[speck55]

Hi All -

I've searched the forums on this topic, and though it's come up a gazillion times in the form of either a feature request, or a "can Sage currently do this?"-type posts. We know now the former is a dead-end proposition, the latter we know the answers to -- xml export, and re-export.

I read the recent thread in this sub-forum about airplay integration -- which would be cool, but doesn't really give me a 10-ft GUI. There is mention of a utility that acts as an airplay receiver in that thread, and I'd imagine given the mixer nature of Windows' sound subsystem (recent versions anyways), for AirPlay purposes, I could just have that utlility start in the background at logon for music playback (which of course leaves me without video playback, but I don't do much with iTunes as far as video goes, anyhow. Sage and its friends (plugins) kicks iTunes' butt around the block for management.

What I am interested in, is accessing the "Shared Library" or "Home Sharing" functionality, so I could pick songs or playlists via remote control somehow within the SageUI. It almost looks like I'd need an Apple Developer account to snoop around the docs to see if there's a set API for this on the client side. My iTunes library now sits on my MacBook Pro (all 400GB+ of it), but is soon to be copied/synched to my Mini that sits in the master bedroom for the occasional web-surfing/game playing (things like Pogo), or other duties where all the other machines in the place are in use), and running a Mac-Only X10 automation utility.

I'd be willing to take a crack at writing a plugin, but will probably need help. I am familiar with standard .NET, C++, and SOME Java. My questions are these:

1. Are there any libraries/utilities that already exist for this purpose? (Open-source or licensed otherwise?)

2. Relative to #1, are there any other plugins that function similarly that are open sourced that I could use as a "Template" or work to add this functionality to? (I should read up more on what the J. River MC plugin does).

3. 99% of my Itunes library were bought post-Apple-Protected era, or "upgraded" to the unprotected media, or are in MP3 format. The remainder were not available from the iTunes store unprotected (presumably at the behest of the copyright holders). I could probably toss a drive in the direct-connect ESATA port multiplier cage of my sage server to store a synched (one way) copy of my iTunes library, which may not be a bad idea backup-wise anyways. Perhaps this would be easiest way of achieving what I'm looking for?

4. Anyone know if there exists an iTunes plugin for MCE that we could just launch as an external app? (I am looking at another thread that did this for the NetFlix WMC plugin, launching WMC directly into the NetFlix app and contemplating adding that to my system, as it seems much more polished and easier to navigate than the PlayOn NetFlix integration route).

I bought into the "iEcosystem" first via the Magic iPhone, then the Magic iPad, and several iterations of hackintoshes before going through an original MacPro and to the upper end of the new 2011 MacBook Pro's. I still make my living and do my HTPC in the PC world, mostly, though.

So, in closing - any thoughts? I know this has been hashed and re-hashed, but now that we know it isn't coming as a native feature, I wanted to take another look.

[Fonceur]

Can't you just add your iTunes folder(s) as Music folder(s) in SageTV? Or is the intent to just browse through the SageTV UI but still playback through iTunes itself?

[speck55]

Originally Posted by Fonceur

Can't you just add your iTunes folder(s) as Music folder(s) in SageTV? Or is the intent to just browse through the SageTV UI but still playback through iTunes itself?

Ideally, I'd like Sage to be the UI, while accessing the music shared from a mac via iTunes' built in Shared Library feature, rather than SMB, leaving the management of metadata, cover art, etc. to the iTunes app.