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https://github.com/jorenvo/simple-mpc

A GNU Emacs frontend to mpc.
https://github.com/jorenvo/simple-mpc

emacs emacs-lisp mpc mpd

Last synced: 3 months ago
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A GNU Emacs frontend to mpc.

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README 

        
* simple-mpc [[http://melpa.org/#/simple-mpc][file:http://melpa.org/packages/simple-mpc-badge.svg]]

A GNU Emacs major mode that acts as a front end to [[http://www.musicpd.org/clients/mpc/][mpc]].

[[./screenshot.png]]

** Requirements

- [[https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/][GNU Emacs >=24]]

- [[http://www.musicpd.org/][Music Player Daemon]] or [[https://www.mopidy.com/][Mopidy]]

- [[http://www.musicpd.org/clients/mpc/][mpc]]

** Installation

*** MELPA

The easiest way to install is through [[http://melpa.org/][MELPA]].



To do this add MELPA to your =package-archives= list if you have not

yet done so:



#+BEGIN_SRC lisp

(require 'package) ;; You might already have this line

(add-to-list 'package-archives

             '("melpa" . "http://melpa.org/packages/"))

(package-initialize) ;; You might already have this line

#+END_SRC



Then install the package through either =M-x list-packages= or by just

running =M-x package-install simple-mpc=.

*** Manual

- Clone the repository

- Add it to your emacs init:

#+BEGIN_SRC lisp

(add-to-list 'load-path "path/to/simple-mpc")

(require 'simple-mpc)

#+END_SRC

** Usage

*** Quickstart

Start with =M-x simple-mpc=. The rest of the keybindings now appear in

a buffer. Configuration can be done with =M-x customize-group 

simple-mpc=. Viewing the current playlist and querying the database is

done with =c= and =s= respectively. Most commands (like

=simple-mpc-query-add= and =simple-mpc-delete=) respect the region.

*** Structure

Simple-mpc consists of three 'views', two of which have their own

minor mode that implements specific extra functionality:



|------------------+-----------------+----------------------------------|

| view             | major mode      | minor mode                       |

|------------------+-----------------+----------------------------------|

| main             | simple-mpc-mode | /                                |

| query            | simple-mpc-mode | simple-mpc-query-mode            |

| current playlist | simple-mpc-mode | simple-mpc-current-playlist-mode |

|------------------+-----------------+----------------------------------|



simple-mpc-mode is always active and contains the most common

bindings. Additional functionality is added with minor modes. Someone

who does not like the interface can use =simple-mpc-query-mode= and

=simple-mpc-current-playlist-mode= directly.

*** Bindings

Bindings can be viewed with =describe-mode= (=C-h m=) but are listed

below for completeness:

**** simple-mpc-mode

|-----+-------------------------------------|

| key | function                            |

|-----+-------------------------------------|

| =t= | simple-mpc-toggle                   |

| =n= | simple-mpc-next                     |

| =p= | simple-mpc-prev                     |

| =f= | simple-mpc-seek-forward             |

| =b= | simple-mpc-seek-backward            |

| =c= | simple-mpc-view-current-playlist    |

| =C= | simple-mpc-clear-current-playlist   |

| =S= | simple-mpc-shuffle-current-playlist |

| =l= | simple-mpc-load-playlist            |

| =s= | simple-mpc-query                    |

| =q= | simple-mpc-quit                     |

|-----+-------------------------------------|

**** simple-mpc-query-mode

|--------------+-------------------------------|

| key          | function                      |

|--------------+-------------------------------|

| =q=          | simple-mpc-query-quit         |

| =S=          | simple-mpc-query-sort         |

| ==   | simple-mpc-query-add          |

| == | simple-mpc-query-add-and-play |

|--------------+-------------------------------|

**** simple-mpc-current-playlist-mode

|------------+----------------------------------|

| key        | function                         |

|------------+----------------------------------|

| =d=        | simple-mpc-delete                |

| =q=        | simple-mpc-current-playlist-quit |

| == | simple-mpc-play-current-line     |

|------------+----------------------------------|

*** Hook

You can use a hook like this to ensure that mpd is running when you

open simple-mpc:



  #+begin_src emacs-lisp

    (add-hook 'simple-mpc-mode-hook (lambda () (my/mpd-start)))



    (defun my/mpd-start ()

      "Start MPD if it's not already running and check, then update the MPD database."

      (interactive)

      (if (= 0 (call-process "sh" nil nil nil "-c" "pgrep mpd"))

          (message "MPD was already running.")

        (shell-command "mpd")

        (my/mpd-update)

        (message "MPD started.")))



    (defun my/mpd-kill ()

      "Kill MPD."

      (interactive)

      (call-process "killall" nil nil nil "mpd")

      (message "MPD killed."))



    (defun my/mpd-update ()

      "Updates the MPD database synchronously."

      (interactive)

      (call-process "mpc" nil nil nil "update")

      (message "MPD database updated."))

  #+end_src

** Configuration

Configuring simple-mpc can be done entirely through the =simple-mpc=

customization group (=M-x customize-group simple-mpc=).



When using Mopidy as a server setting =simple-mpc-playlist-format= is

recommended, the default output from =mpc search= won't be very

descriptive otherwise. The following configuration works well mopidy

(note that the whitespace between the metadata delimiters and the

separator itself are TAB characters (=C-q =), *not spaces*):



#+BEGIN_SRC lisp

(custom-set-variables

...

 '(simple-mpc-playlist-format "%artist%	%album%	%title%	%file%")

 '(simple-mpc-table-separator "	")

...)

#+END_SRC

** History

This mode was inspired by [[https://github.com/pft/mingus][mingus]] written by Niels Giesen and parts of

the interface were inspired by [[http://www.djcbsoftware.nl/code/mu/mu4e.html][mu4e]] written by Dirk-Jan C. Binnema. I

used mingus for > 4 years and was mostly happy with it, but

occasionally there were bugs and interface choices that I disagreed

with. After looking through the source code in an attempt to fix these

issues I came to the conclusion that it would be better to implement

my own mode. A big reason for this decision was the fact that mingus

uses its own MPD library implementation called [[https://github.com/pft/mingus/blob/master/libmpdee.el][libmpdee.el]], which I

expect contain some obscure bugs. I think it is a better choice to

instead take advantage of mpc, a small program that is maintained by

MPD developers and implements more than libmpdee.el. On top of that it

makes the major mode much smaller and easier to maintain. Currently

simple-mpc consists of ~300 LOC versus ~5000 LOC for mingus (mingus

does have more features though).



GNU Emacs also contains [[http://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/emacs.git/tree/lisp/mpc.el][mpc.el]] written by Stefan Monnier. It's

interesting but wasn't really what I was looking for, partly because

of its interface (inspired by [[https://wiki.gnome.org/Apps/Rhythmbox][Rhythmbox]]), and partly because it's not

particularly well documented.

** Todo

- add a way to combine multiple search terms e.g. mpc search artist a album b