Accessing the media library on OS X with Swift code - swift

Question

I am an experienced coder, however a novice writing code for Apple devices. I am attempting to access the media library on my OS X device using Swift. I can find dozens of examples accomplishing this task for iOS devices, and successfully implemented some code to do this for iOS. However I am having a difficult time trying to do the same for OS X.
Can anyone please point me to, or offer any suggestions that would help me access the media library (itunes) on an OS X device using Swift?
edit: To clarify, if I am writing for iOS I can make a call such as MPMediaQuery to query the media library. I am looking for something similar that can be used in Swift code written for OS X.
Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

It appears you're referring specifically to the iTunes library. It is created, maintained, and accessed through the Apple supplied iTunes application. Fortunately, iTunes is highly scriptable, either directly through AppleScript, or by incorporating AppleScript calls within your own application.
To get an idea of what's possible, start by opening the Script Editor app, located in /Applications/Utilities, and select File -> Open Dictionary...
The list includes all applications that support scripting. Choose iTunes to display a browser detailing its interface. For example, selecting iTunes Suite -> track displays the properties you can access:
How to write AppleScript code and/or how to incorporate it into your own application is far beyond the scope of a single question here. However, there are many resources on the Apple developer site that can help you get going. A logical place to begin is: AppleScript Overview.

Answer 2

I've been working on this myself for the last month off and on. This is what I was able to come up with.
You have to do the same thing with the media objects once you've loaded them. The calls are non-blocking.
I used the MediaLibrary reference in the OS X library to figure this out. It's a good place to get the rest of the details.
import Cocoa
import MediaLibrary
class ViewController: NSViewController {
var library : MLMediaLibrary!
var iTunes : MLMediaSource!
var rootGroup : MLMediaGroup!
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
let options : [String : AnyObject] = [MLMediaLoadIncludeSourcesKey: [MLMediaSourceiTunesIdentifier]]
library = MLMediaLibrary(options: options)
library.addObserver(self, forKeyPath: "mediaSources", options: NSKeyValueObservingOptions.New, context: nil)
library.mediaSources
}
override func observeValueForKeyPath(keyPath: String?, ofObject object: AnyObject?, change: [String : AnyObject]?, context: UnsafeMutablePointer<Void>) {
guard let path = keyPath else { return }
switch path {
case "mediaSources":
loadSources()
case "rootMediaGroup":
loadRootGroup()
default:
print("Nothing to do for \(path)")
}
}
func loadSources(){
if let mediaSources = library.mediaSources {
for (ident, source) in mediaSources {
print("Ident: \(ident)")
print("Source Ident: \(source.mediaSourceIdentifier)")
iTunes = source
iTunes.addObserver(self, forKeyPath: "rootMediaGroup", options: NSKeyValueObservingOptions.New, context: nil)
iTunes.rootMediaGroup
}
}
}
func loadRootGroup(){
if let rootGroup = iTunes.rootMediaGroup {
print("Root Group Identifier: \(rootGroup.identifier)")
print("Root Group Type Ident: \(rootGroup.typeIdentifier)")
}
}
}
I cut out my specific code as I'm writing an Uploader that takes a subset of my library for streaming for others at my office. But this should get you started.