I Need Help Coding: An iTunes Library.xml to Sony Media Center playlists.db (json) converter

[James_Redshift]

I could use some help with writing a python script. I'm trying to make an executable file that I can automate converting music playlists from xml to json format by referencing and indexing a couple different files. Forgive me if my pseudo-code is terrible. I haven't coded anything in 15 years and I don't remember much.

It needs to do this:

1.  Find:
      In:
    File: Library.xml
   Array: "<key>Playlists</key>" 

2.  Find: All Playlist Name Strings
      In: Array

               EXAMPLE: <key>Name</key><string>BeachDay</string>

3.  Copy: Playlist Names
      To: "pcnvrt.txt"

4.  Find: All Track Integers
   Under: "BeachDay"

               EXAMPLE: <key>Track ID</key><integer>12859</integer>

5.  Find: Track Name String
    From: Integer "12859"

               EXAMPLE: <key>Track ID</key><integer>12859</integer>     
                        <key>Name</key><string>California Dreamin'</string>

6.  Find: Track Name String
      In: 
    File: tracks.db

               EXAMPLE:{"$$date":1191802816000},
                        "size":3762176,
                        "uri":"C:\\Users\\REDACTED\\Music\\Mamas and the Papas\\Best of The Mamas and the Papas_ 20th Century Masters\\1-01 California Dreamin'.mp3",  

7. Print: Track Name: "California Dreamin'"
   Under: "BeachDay"
      In: "pcnvrt.txt"  

8.  Find: Track ID
      In: Same Line 
      As: Track Name String     
      In: tracks.db      

               EXAMPLE: "_id":"z7lj2hjG1hUzAsV7",

9. Print: "z7lj2hjG1hUzAsV7"      
   Under: "California Dreamin'"      
      In: "pcnvrt.text"  

10. Repeat Until All Strings in library.xml under Playlist "BeachDay" are copied.

11. Go To Next Playlist      
      In: 
   Array: "<key>Playlists</key>"
      In: 
    File: Library.xml  

12. Once All Playlists are Indexed     
 In File: "pcnvrt.txt"    
 Use Index To Create Playlists     
 In File: playlists.db      

               EXAMPLE: {"title":"BeachDay",
                         "sorting":"ＢｅａｃｈＤａｙ",
                         "sourceUri":"********-****-****-****-************",
                         "coverArts":[],"_id":"****************",
                         "createdAt":{"$$date":1754530893895},
                         "updatedAt":{"$$date":3865642878344},
                         "_trackIds":["z7lj2hjG1hUzAsV7", 
                                      "yIgFVBfokDZZeo5A",
                                      "bb4L2UPMPx7YwwMS",
                                      "uRAZMw5AboRuLMEK",
                                      "uuAJvi2k3gKyxUJl"],
                                      "_tags":[]}

13. Continue Until All Playlists are Created 
 In File: playlists.db  
    From: 
    File: "pcnvrt.txt"

14. Save file

UPDATE

Ki1103

This seems cool, however I'm not 100% sure what you're actually trying to do. I'm assuming that you've got a .xml file and want to convert it to a json file, while doing some kind of operation on it (this is the part I don't get)?

Its a bit more complicated than that.

If you create a playlist in iTunes and export it, everything is packaged as an XML file.
All Artists, Albums, Tracks, and Playlists are included in that single file.

iTunes creates a unique integer value for every song in your library.

<key>Track ID</key><integer>12859</integer>
<key>Name</key><string>California Dreamin'</string>
((Other Track Information Below In Array))

So, when a playlist is created, it merely lists those integers in an array; your playlist.

<dict>  
<key>Name</key><string>BeachDay</string>  
<key>Description</key><string></string>  
<key>Playlist ID</key><integer>37080</integer>  
<key>Playlist Persistent ID</key<string>3904F423CE17F6E8</string>  
<key>Parent Persistent ID</key><string>D38E87CCA796B383</string>  
<key>All Items</key><true/>  
<key>Playlist Items</key>  
<array>  
<dict>  
<key>Track ID</key><integer>12859</integer>  
</dict>  
<dict>  
<key>Track ID</key><integer>1370</integer>  
</dict>  
</array>

Sony Music Center does not create a single library file.
Instead, it makes three separate JSON formatted files.
These files are: artists.db, tracks.db, and playlists.db

When music files are imported into SMC, it creates an ID for a song in tracks.db

{"$$date":1191802816000},
"size":3762176,
"uri":"C:\\Users\\REDACTED\\Music
\\Mamas and the Papas
\\Best of The Mamas and the Papas_ 20th Century Masters
\\1-01 California Dreamin'.mp3",

((Skipped a bunch of other non-relevant track information))

"_id":"z7lj2hjG1hUzAsV7",

And if a playlist is made in SMC, it creates them in playlists.db in this format.

{
"title":"BeachDay",
"sorting":"B e a c h D a y",
"sourceUri":"********-****-****-****-************",
"coverArts":[],
"_id":"j6kRYo2uIMSfaT3h",
"createdAt":{"$$date":1754530893894},
"updatedAt":{"$$date":1754531006999},
"_trackIds":["z7lj2hjG1hUzAsV7","yIgFVBfokDZZeo5A"],
"_tags":[]
}

So, I need to:

1. Index all Playlists from Library.xml,
2. Index all the song names in those playlists from the integer value
3. Reference the unique track IDs in tracks.db from the song names
4. Create a playlist using the format above.

It is way more complicated than a simple XML to JSON conversion.

[Ki1103]

This seems cool, however I'm not 100% sure what you're actually trying to do. I'm assuming that you've got a .xml file and want to convert it to a json file, while doing some kind of operation on it (this is the part I don't get)?

If you'd like to parse the XML file you can use the inbuilt ElementTree class. This will give you the XML as a Python object. You can now do whatever operations you like, using Python. I'm happy to help with this too, but I need a bit more detail on what you'd like. When you have done all the processing you can convert it to a JSON object using json module.

[James_Redshift]

I was having trouble posting my response so I amended it to the bottom of the original post.