Format of .pla playlists created by WMP11?

Hi,

I am using a Sony NWZ-A818 [1] portable audio player. I want to manually
create playlists for this walkman (i.e. without using (and having to
install) Windows Media Player 11 which is a recommendation by Sony) so I
am trying to figure out how its playlist format is build up.

For testing purposes, I have created a playlist on the walkman using
WMP11. Looking at the Playlist folder of the A818, a empty(???) file has
been created: myplaylist.pla.

Can someone give me a hint or a pointer on how .pla files are build up?

Thanks in advance

Mahmud

[1] www.sony.com/walkman

Has no one an idea on how these playlists are built-up?

Abd-Al-Latif Mahmud schrieb:
> Hi,
>
> I am using a Sony NWZ-A818 [1] portable audio player. I want to manually
> create playlists for this walkman (i.e. without using (and having to
> install) Windows Media Player 11 which is a recommendation by Sony) so I
> am trying to figure out how its playlist format is build up.
>
> For testing purposes, I have created a playlist on the walkman using
> WMP11. Looking at the Playlist folder of the A818, a empty(???) file has
> been created: myplaylist.pla.
>
> Can someone give me a hint or a pointer on how .pla files are build up?
>
> Thanks in advance
>
> Mahmud
>
> [1] www.sony.com/walkman

You're referring to the playlists on the device? I haven't seen .pla files
on the PC before, so I'm assuming this a device artifact...

--
Speaking for myself only.
See http://zachd.com/pss/pss.html for some helpful WMP info.
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
--
"Abd-Al-Latif Mahmud" <abdalma1@yahoo.de> wrote in message
news:1197730272.767962@alpaka.in-berlin.de...
> Hi,
>
> I am using a Sony NWZ-A818 [1] portable audio player. I want to manually
> create playlists for this walkman (i.e. without using (and having to
> install) Windows Media Player 11 which is a recommendation by Sony) so I
> am trying to figure out how its playlist format is build up.
>
> For testing purposes, I have created a playlist on the walkman using
> WMP11. Looking at the Playlist folder of the A818, a empty(???) file has
> been created: myplaylist.pla.
>
> Can someone give me a hint or a pointer on how .pla files are build up?
>
> Thanks in advance
>
> Mahmud
>
> [1] www.sony.com/walkman

zachd [MSFT] schrieb:
> You're referring to the playlists on the device? I haven't seen .pla files
> on the PC before, so I'm assuming this a device artifact...

Well, I am quite new to playlists, so I might be wrong. The Sony
NWZ-A818 is not able to create playlists itself, it needs WMP11 for that
task (statement of the Sony manual).

So I tried to create one in WMP11 and synced it to the Sony. After that,
I realized that a .pla file has been created in the Sony's "playlist"
folder. I did not realize if there were other changes on the Sony though.

Is there some specific playlist format WMP11 is using/creating? And if
so: How is that built up? I do know that the Sony is a MTP-device under
Windows (if that helps) and a UMS-device under MacOS and Linux.

All I want is to be able to create playlists without having to use WMP11
(preferrably not even Windows) as I am running mainly MacOS and Linux.
So I am searching for informations on how the playlist format of WMP11
is built up.

Thanks

Sorry, I haven't touched the device-side of this equation in years and don't
know a thing about the ".pla" side. Capture a file and have a look. =)

--
Speaking for myself only.
See http://zachd.com/pss/pss.html for some helpful WMP info.
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
--

"Abd-Al-Latif Mahmud" <abdalma1@yahoo.de> wrote in message
news:1198063014.414497@alpaka.in-berlin.de...
> zachd [MSFT] schrieb:
>> You're referring to the playlists on the device? I haven't seen .pla
>> files
>> on the PC before, so I'm assuming this a device artifact...
>
> Well, I am quite new to playlists, so I might be wrong. The Sony
> NWZ-A818 is not able to create playlists itself, it needs WMP11 for that
> task (statement of the Sony manual).
>
> So I tried to create one in WMP11 and synced it to the Sony. After that,
> I realized that a .pla file has been created in the Sony's "playlist"
> folder. I did not realize if there were other changes on the Sony though.
>
> Is there some specific playlist format WMP11 is using/creating? And if
> so: How is that built up? I do know that the Sony is a MTP-device under
> Windows (if that helps) and a UMS-device under MacOS and Linux.
>
> All I want is to be able to create playlists without having to use WMP11
> (preferrably not even Windows) as I am running mainly MacOS and Linux.
> So I am searching for informations on how the playlist format of WMP11
> is built up.
>
> Thanks

I would give you some informaton about ".pla".

This is the empty file for playlists.

It means the DB of your player has the all information. However, ".pla" file
is the key point to access playlists.

So, your player knows the all elements in the playlists through Music
DB(maybe MTP DB).

I hope it is helpful to you.

"zachd [MSFT]" wrote:

>
> Sorry, I haven't touched the device-side of this equation in years and don't
> know a thing about the ".pla" side. Capture a file and have a look. =)
>
> --
> Speaking for myself only.
> See http://zachd.com/pss/pss.html for some helpful WMP info.
> This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
> --
>
> "Abd-Al-Latif Mahmud" <abdalma1@yahoo.de> wrote in message
> news:1198063014.414497@alpaka.in-berlin.de...
> > zachd [MSFT] schrieb:
> >> You're referring to the playlists on the device? I haven't seen .pla
> >> files
> >> on the PC before, so I'm assuming this a device artifact...
> >
> > Well, I am quite new to playlists, so I might be wrong. The Sony
> > NWZ-A818 is not able to create playlists itself, it needs WMP11 for that
> > task (statement of the Sony manual).
> >
> > So I tried to create one in WMP11 and synced it to the Sony. After that,
> > I realized that a .pla file has been created in the Sony's "playlist"
> > folder. I did not realize if there were other changes on the Sony though.
> >
> > Is there some specific playlist format WMP11 is using/creating? And if
> > so: How is that built up? I do know that the Sony is a MTP-device under
> > Windows (if that helps) and a UMS-device under MacOS and Linux.
> >
> > All I want is to be able to create playlists without having to use WMP11
> > (preferrably not even Windows) as I am running mainly MacOS and Linux.
> > So I am searching for informations on how the playlist format of WMP11
> > is built up.
> >
> > Thanks
>
>
>

[skicavs]

Did you make any progress on this? I am in the same situation, and would really like to be able to use playlists without switching to windows and wmp. The files are also empty on my device, so I cant even begin to figure out how to start.