1 Using the client library
2 =========================
4 The client library can be used as follows::
6 client = musicpd.MPDClient() # create client object
7 client.connect() # use MPD_HOST/MPD_PORT if set else
8 # test ${XDG_RUNTIME_DIR}/mpd/socket for existence
9 # fallback to localhost:6600
10 # connect support host/port argument as well
11 print client.mpd_version # print the mpd version
12 print client.cmd('one', 2) # print result of the command "cmd one 2"
13 client.close() # send the close command
14 client.disconnect() # disconnect from the server
16 A list of supported commands, their arguments (as MPD currently understands
17 them), and the functions used to parse their responses can be found in
18 `doc/commands.txt`. See the `MPD protocol documentation`_ for more
21 Command lists are also supported using `command_list_ok_begin()` and
22 `command_list_end()` ::
24 client.command_list_ok_begin() # start a command list
25 client.update() # insert the update command into the list
26 client.status() # insert the status command into the list
27 results = client.command_list_end() # results will be a list with the results
29 Provide a 2-tuple as argument for command supporting ranges (cf. `MPD protocol documentation`_ for more details).
30 Possible ranges are: "START:END", "START:" and ":" ::
32 # An intelligent clear
33 # clears played track in the queue, currentsong included
34 pos = client.currentsong().get('pos', 0)
35 # the 2-tuple range object accepts str, no need to convert to int
36 client.delete((0, pos))
37 # missing end interpreted as highest value possible, pay attention still need a tuple.
38 client.delete((pos,)) # purge queue from current to the end
40 A notable case is the `rangeid` command allowing an empty range specified
41 as a single colon as argument (i.e. sending just ":")::
43 # sending "rangeid :" to clear the range, play everything
44 client.rangeid(()) # send an empty tuple
46 Empty start in range (i.e. ":END") are not possible and will raise a CommandError.
49 Commands may also return iterators instead of lists if `iterate` is set to
53 for song in client.playlistinfo():
56 Each command have a *send\_<CMD>* and a *fetch\_<CMD>* variant, which allows to
57 send a MPD command and then fetch the result later.
58 This is useful for the idle command::
60 >>> client.send_idle()
61 # do something else or use function like select()
62 # http://docs.python.org/howto/sockets.html#non-blocking-sockets
63 # ex. select([client], [], [])
64 >>> events = client.fetch_idle()
66 # more complex use for example, with glib/gobject:
67 >>> def callback(source, condition):
68 >>> changes = client.fetch_idle()
70 >>> return False # removes the IO watcher
72 >>> client.send_idle()
73 >>> gobject.io_add_watch(client, gobject.IO_IN, callback)
74 >>> gobject.MainLoop().run()
77 .. _MPD protocol documentation: http://www.musicpd.org/doc/protocol/