How can I view iTunes export playlist xml file in a readable format?

When iTunes imports a playlist file it checks for the presence of each file listed. If it cannot find the media file at the specified path that entry from the playlist is ignored. Even if iTunes were able to import those entries from the list it would then show them in the library with exclamation marks and the tracks could not be played, because they don't exist. If you have the files, but have moved them to a different location, then it may be possible to edit the XML to take this into account. iTunes can export in .m3u and .m3u8 formats which have a simpler structure, generally a comment line followed by a path. The XML includes more information about each track, including a track ID and a path. Later in the XML one or more playlists can be defined as a list of track IDs. It would be possible to thin out the XML so that all you see is the track IDs and their paths, or potentially a script could take the XML and spit out one or more M3U files that represent the playlists.

Do these playlists still exist on your iPhone? If so I have a script that can extract and recreate them in iTunes, even if the media paths have been changed, however you do need all of the media files stored somewhere? They can be extracted from your device if necessary. Do you have a backup of the ITL file that the XML file was exported from? iTunes sometimes makes backups in the Previous iTunes Libraries folder during iTunes updates. I have techniques for fixing problems with missing media in the ITL if you do.

tt2

I've written several scripts for working with iTunes here: http://samsoft.org.uk/iTunes/scripts.asp

This is the M3U output for a one track playlist.

#EXTM3U

#EXTINF:215,Boogie Oogie Oogie - A Taste Of Honey

D:\iTunes\iTunes Media\Albums & Tracks\A\A Taste Of Honey\Beauty & The Boogie\01 Boogie Oogie Oogie.mp3

The lines that start with a # are ignored on input.

This is the XML output for a one track playlist. The important lines are highlighted in bold navy (bold wasn't distinct).

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple Computer//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">

<plist version="1.0">

<dict>

<key>Major Version</key><integer>1</integer>

<key>Minor Version</key><integer>1</integer>

<key>Date</key><date>2015-11-25T16:49:10Z</date>

<key>Application Version</key><string>12.3.1.23</string>

<key>Features</key><integer>5</integer>

<key>Show Content Ratings</key><true/>

<key>Music Folder</key><string>file://localhost/D:/iTunes/iTunes%20Media/</string>

<key>Library Persistent ID</key><string>CCF046191585EA85</string>

<key>Tracks</key>

<dict>

<key>156289</key>

<dict>

<key>Track ID</key><integer>156289</integer>

<key>Name</key><string>Boogie Oogie Oogie</string>

<key>Artist</key><string>A Taste Of Honey</string>

<key>Album Artist</key><string>A Taste Of Honey</string>

<key>Composer</key><string>Janice Marie Johnson/Perry L. Kibble</string>

<key>Album</key><string>Beauty &#38; The Boogie</string>

<key>Genre</key><string>R&#38;B</string>

<key>Kind</key><string>MPEG audio file</string>

<key>Size</key><integer>2559268</integer>

<key>Total Time</key><integer>215928</integer>

<key>Track Number</key><integer>1</integer>

<key>Track Count</key><integer>1</integer>

<key>Year</key><integer>1997</integer>

<key>Date Modified</key><date>2015-10-28T16:04:45Z</date>

<key>Date Added</key><date>2013-01-26T16:08:09Z</date>

<key>Bit Rate</key><integer>94</integer>

<key>Sample Rate</key><integer>22050</integer>

<key>Comments</key><string>Test Comment 3

Multi

Line</string>

<key>Play Count</key><integer>11</integer>

<key>Play Date</key><integer>3513787411</integer>

<key>Play Date UTC</key><date>2015-05-06T19:03:31Z</date>

<key>Skip Count</key><integer>4</integer>

<key>Skip Date</key><date>2015-06-09T23:36:17Z</date>

<key>Rating</key><integer>40</integer>

<key>Album Rating</key><integer>40</integer>

<key>Album Rating Computed</key><true/>

<key>Normalization</key><integer>1216</integer>

<key>Artwork Count</key><integer>1</integer>

<key>Sort Album Artist</key><string>A Taste Of Honey</string>

<key>Sort Artist</key><string>A Taste Of Honey</string>

<key>Persistent ID</key><string>673E33095C0F1341</string>

<key>Track Type</key><string>File</string>

<key>Location</key><string>file://localhost/D:/iTunes/iTunes%20Media/Albums%20&# 38;%20Tracks/A/A%20Taste%20Of%20Honey/Beauty%20&#38;%20The%20Boogie/01%20Boogie% 20Oogie%20Oogie.mp3</string>

<key>File Folder Count</key><integer>6</integer>

<key>Library Folder Count</key><integer>1</integer>

</dict>

</dict>

<key>Playlists</key>

<array>

<dict>

<key>Name</key><string>Short List (XML Test)</string>

<key>Description</key><string></string>

<key>Playlist ID</key><integer>2026728</integer>

<key>Playlist Persistent ID</key><string>C49DA89513E61CBD</string>

<key>All Items</key><true/>

<key>Playlist Items</key>

<array>

<dict>

<key>Track ID</key><integer>156289</integer>

</dict>

</array>

</dict>

</array>

</dict>

</plist>

A script could read through the XML reading one line at a time and export something like this:

156289=file://localhost/D:/iTunes/iTunes%20Media/Albums%20&#38;%20Tracks/A/A%20Taste%20 Of%20Honey/Beauty%20&#38;%20The%20Boogie/01%20Boogie%20Oogie%20Oogie.mp3

<NextID>=<NextPath>

or better yet

156289=D:\iTunes\iTunes Media\Albums & Tracks\A\A Taste Of Honey\Beauty & The Boogie\01 Boogie Oogie Oogie.mp3

<NextID>=<NextPath>

etc.

from the initial list of tracks. and then spit out

Short List (XML Test)

156289

<NextID>

etc.

for each embedded playlist. You could then import these sections into sheets in Excel and lookup the IDs to create a list of paths. In fact with a dictionary object I could do the lookups in the script.

Would that be the sort of thing that you want?

tt2

The key piece of data that makes an imported playlist useful to the application is the file path, and the file needs to exist. With a well formed library you can pick out the artist, album, and track name from the path. Nevertheless it should be easy enough to pick up the data that matters to you. Details are easy to fix once the general process is in place. I will try to get something worked out later today.

tt2

OK, I've got to the point where I can drag an XML file onto a script and have it list out selected data. Currently it is just going on screen but writing to a file, or perhaps many is easy enough. So far it scans through the tracks storing up the IDs and their associated locations, then it spits out the names of each playlist followed by the path to each track in that list for as many playlists as are in the XML. I could output the data to a single plain text file, or create a number of valid .m3u files for each non-empty playlist if you're happy to work from the location data. The question I have now is what exactly do you want to export? If you'd rather have something other than the path, or in addition to it, then I can work that in.

tt2

Do you want artist, with album artist if artist is blank, or the other way around?

If I do something like this:

Playlist | <Playlist name>

<Name> | <Album> | <Artist> | <Location>

<Name> | <Album> | <Artist> | <Location>

<Name> | <Album> | <Artist> | <Location>

Playlist | <Playlist name>

<Name> | <Album> | <Artist> | <Location>

<Name> | <Album> | <Artist> | <Location>

<Name> | <Album> | <Artist> | <Location>

where the | character is replaced by a tab then you could import in to Excel and the data would fall into columns.

tt2

OK, I should have this wrapped up later tonight or tomorrow depending on how busy the rest of my day gets. And can I assume artist is always filled in and you want artist rather than album artist?

tt2

How big was the library? How many large playlists do you think you have? I ask because although the output is fine on a test library, with my own admittedly large library it has exceed the capacity of programs to read it as a single file. Neither Notepad, Notepad++ or Word can read it as a text file (over 512Mb!), and I'd need to split it into at least thirty Excel spreadsheets. Actually thinking about it the main library playlist is too big for a single Excel sheet.

Of course I could output each playlist as a separate file, but where am I going to store 393 of them? Well I don't really need them, but I need to consider how best to organize the output for you if a single file is going to be too big. I can also suppress output of the Library and Music playlists. Empty playlists and playlist folders are already ignored.

Here is the text output from a test library.

And as CSV imported into Excel.

Are you sure you wouldn't prefer the latter format?

It is somewhat unfortunate that you didn't inspect the files that you had saved before discarding your media files. I'm not at all surprised that iTunes deletes all of the references to a track if you delete it from the library. Why would you delete it if you were going to bring it back later? Had you removed the physical files leaving the database alone then it would have kept the broken entries even though it wouldn't have been able to locate a track to play.

tt2

Let's see how you get on with a single file. If it is too big then once I know how many track records are exported I can think of the best way to break up the output. The script is called TransformXML.vbs. Right-click on the link and use Download or Save As, save it in the same place as the XML file, then drag & drop the XML onto it. I've swapped the order of artist and album around in the output, and suppressed the listing of the whole library and the default music playlist.

tt2

External hard drives really aren't that expensive. You should have two, each large enough for your entire library with room for growth. See Make a split library portable and Backup your iTunes for Windows library with SyncToy.

tt2