macOS Applescript, iTunes and control

Yes it's possible. There are plenty of apps that already offer remote control of iTunes.

Edit to add Some basic AppleScript/iTunes examples

Sdashiki said:

those are scripts to run inside of iTunes.

What I want is a script that can control iTunes from another app.

Click to expand...

No they are not. These scripts can be saved as stand alone "apps" from Script Editor. To control iTunes from another app you will have to send these commands to it via AppleScript/Apple Events.

The whole Tell application "iTunes" is a bit of a giveaway that they run from outside iTunes.

You could use the scripts as the basis for a simple AppleScript Studio app to control iTunes.

If you are using Cocoa then look at the NSAppleScript class to send the Applescript commands.

Sdashiki said:

thanks.

what about getting iTunes information to disply?

Like track times, playlists, etc etc.

I am looking to make a touchscreen interface for iTunes.

Click to expand...

You can query this via AppleScript, but, speeking from experience, it's really slow. I'd use AppleScript for the control and to get the details of the current track (i.e. how long it's been playing) and parse the xml library file for the rest. Apple only creates this file for this purpose, it's not used for anything else. It takes some code I have lying around about 30 minutes to get all the track details from my 7000 song library via AppleScript! You could parse the xml in seconds...

You might want to take a look at what Quicksilver is doing with triggers - and playlists etc through its normal interface.

You can set up triggers to control iTunes from anywhere so Command, Ctrl Space can be Play/Pause regardless of where you are.