Operation > Generating a playlist > Command Line Interface

Playlist Generator Pro command line parameters

You can use the command line interface to automatically generate playlists and save them to a specified location. When multiple playlists are generated in one run, they share the same no-repeat buffer, which means it's possible to create several playlists for extended periods of time with no repeated tracks.

Usage: PlaylistGeneratorPro.exe -preset=PRESET -out=PLAYLIST [-n=N]

Options

-preset= specifies the preset name (multiple presets can be specified, separated by "|").

-out= specifies the file name for saving the generated playlist (use a full path with the extension .m3u8). Multiple file names, matching the preset number, can be specified, separated by "|".

-n= how many playlists to generate (default = 1). If used, the -out option must include one of the modifiers: %n, %nn or %nnn (see below for more information). If a single number is specified, it will create that many playlists for each preset specified by the -preset parameter. You can set a specific number of playlists to create using the "|" separator; e.g., -n=2|6|3 will create 2 playlists using the first preset, 6 using the second, and 3 using the third.

-s= when using -n, the -s option sets the starting number for playlist naming. Example: -s=5

-starttime= specifies the expected playlist start time in hh:mm or hh:mm:ss (24-hour) format, or the now keyword to indicate the current time. Example: -starttime=12:00:00 or -starttime=now

-starttimeshift= specifies the start time shift in minutes. This option is useful when the now option is used with -starttime. Example: -starttimeshift=20 combined with -starttime=now means the playlist is expected to start 20 minutes from now.

-startday= specifies the expected playlist start day of the week (0 = Sunday, 1 = Monday, etc.), or the now keyword to indicate today. Example: -startday=1 or -startday=now

Start time and start day are used for dayparting. When multiple playlists are created, the start time of each subsequent playlist is increased by the duration of the previous one.

Examples

Example: generate a playlist using the MyPreset preset and save it to C:\playlist.m3u8

PlaylistGeneratorPro.exe -preset=MyPreset -out=C:\playlist.m3u8

If the name of a present contains a space, parameters must be enclosed in quote marks:

PlaylistGeneratorPro.exe "-preset=My Preset" "-out=C:\Folder name\playlist.m3u8"

You can use the run command in the scheduler, together with the command-line interface, to generate playlists and save them to a specific folder (for example, on a production machine). Unlike automatic playlist generation, doing that will only save a playlist, but will not play it.

Example of such a scheduler event (note: there's no need to specify a full path to PlaylistGeneratorPro.exe program):

run PlaylistGeneratorPro.exe -preset=MyPreset -out=C:\playlist.m3u8

Generating multiple playlists in one run

File name modifiers when multiple playlists using the same preset are created:

%n – a number with no leading zeros (1, 2, ... 10, ... 100).

%nn – a number padded with one leading zero (01, 02, ..., 10, 100).

%nnn – a number padded with two leading zeroes (001, 002, ..., 010, 100)

Example:

PlaylistGeneratorPro.exe -preset=MyPreset -out=C:\playlist_%nn.m3u8 -n=11

Warning: If a command is executed in a .bat file, the percent sign must be written twice:

PlaylistGeneratorPro.exe -preset=MyPreset -out=C:\playlist_%%nn.m3u8 -n=11

This command will generate 11 playlists and save them under the names:

C:\playlist_00.m3u8

C:\playlist_01.m3u8

C:\playlist_02.m3u8

...

C:\playlist_10.m3u8

Example: create a different number of playlists using different presets

PlaylistGeneratorPro.exe "-preset=Weekday|Weekend" -n=5|2 "-out=D:\Playlists\Weekday%n.m3u8|Weekend%n.m3u8"

This command creates 5 playlists using the Weekday preset and 2 playlists using the Weekend preset.

Generating multiple playlists using multiple presets in one run

The following example creates 3 playlists using the Morning, Day, and Evening presets and saves them to D:\Playlists\Morning.m3u8, D:\Playlists\Day.m3u8, and D:\Playlists\Evening.m3u8 respectively. This allows to prepare playlists in advance and then start them when needed.

Note: when playlists are generated in batch, they share the same no-repeat buffer, which means it's possible to create several playlists for extended periods of time with no repeated tracks.

Example:

PlaylistGeneratorPro.exe "-preset=Morning|Day|Evening" "-out=D:\Playlists\Morning.m3u8|Day.m3u8|Evening.m3u8"

You can specify the full path for the first playlist only; in this case, all playlists will be saved to the same folder. You can specify the full path for all playlists.