XJSON issues with smart playlists and .m3u

[thesystemera]

Hey is any one else experiencing issues with requesting playlists via the XJSON method.

It doesn't happen all the time but it seems to happen primarily on playlists that are not particularly populated.  

Basically I have some playlists that only cater for a number of specific tracks, when requested via the protocal they come up empty.  When I go to view the playlists from within XBMC, they are populated correctly though they don't show up at all when requested.

It doesn't happen all the time, this is the strange thing, and it never seems to happen on well populated tracks.  

Here is the following command and the playlist is included as well.  

Code: [Select]

<action actiontype="XJson.Raw" repeat="1" logic="False"><paramstring>Player.Open&amp;&amp;"item":{"file":"special://profile/playlists/music/local podcast.m3u"}</paramstring></action>

[thesystemera]

I'm quite interested in seeing if using the SmartPL function could solve my issues. 

Is there more documentation readily available explaining how to integrate this functionality.  Thanks..

[jitterjames]

It won't help with this problem since it just generates a playlist which then needs to be opened using the same method.

If you want to try using a smart playlist instead of an m3u you can create it in XBMC and open it the same way.

There is a YouTube video showing how to use the smartpl action it for Eden. The details have changed but the concept is the same  The actions themselves are documented, and you can look at the stock commands for Frodo that come with VC to see examples of how to use it correctly.

&feature=youtube_gdata_player

I think this must be an XBMC bug so you may want to use their bug tracking system to see if it was reported and possibly create a new ticket.

One possible solution you could try, would be to use activate window with the playlist, then start playing it.

[thesystemera]

James I think I have discovered a genuine bug here. 

After days of pulling my hair out I thought what if I removed any spaces and/or other characters apart from basic alphabetic ones and it genuinely seems to have solved the issue. 

I was having the issue for as long as I can remember and as soon as I implimented the name changes I have not been able to reproduce the issue.

Example. "hush.fm - News.xsp" was renamed to simply "news.xsp" and I no longer have the issue. 

You are probably right, this is likely an XBMC issue.  A strange one at that, as stated in my earlier post the issue was random but reproducible none the less.  Now I don't have it, so I'm happy.  Just if any one else has issues, it's good to know.   

[jitterjames]

I just did a few tests with playlists that have spaces in them and it works for me 100% of the time.  I don't know why it doesn't work for you.

What version of XBMC are you using?

Note that for this to work at all with m3u playlists you need the following in your advanced settings in XBMC, but since it works for you with other m3u playlists I assume this is not the issue you are having:

Code: [Select]

   <pictureextensions>
      <remove>.m3u</remove>
   </pictureextensions>

[thesystemera]

How strange, yeah I've all ready patched my advancedsettings.xml.  Stumbled across that while researching my issue. 

Yeah it's spaces, dashes and fullstops.. I really have no idea.  I'll reintroduce the spaces and dashes and fullstops to determine if I can recreate the issue.  Don't loose any sleep over it. 

Will post back in the following days with results. 

[jitterjames]

I tested with this filename and no problems:

freak -me. out !@#$%.m3u

One thing I can suggest, is that you must use the filename, which may not be the same as the name used in XBMC.  I think when you rename a playlist in xbmc, it does not rename the file.

[thesystemera]

Your completely right.. I have no idea I it resolved itself.  I will look into this, having to much fun with everything working right now, touch wood and all.  Thanks James.