applescript to delete already-heard podcasts from iTunes

merlyn on 2005-09-16T20:16:34

So, I'm amazed this isn't easier to do. I want to delete the podcasts I've heard. So I created a smart playlist that says "is podcast" and "played count > 0". Hey, looky, there they are. But I can't delete from that window! I have to go back to the podcasts window finding each one over again.

With great trepidation, I fire up the AppleScript Editor. And after staring at the docs far too long again (because every time I look at AS, I go crazy), I came up with this:

-- do this here to get standardaddition value
set trashloc to path to trash

tell application "iTunes"
	repeat with pp in (every playlist whose special kind is Podcasts)
		repeat with p in (every file track of pp whose played count > 0)
			set loc to location of p
			tell application "Finder" to move loc to trashloc
			delete p
		end repeat
	end repeat
end tell

which I'm sharing with y'all to save the pain I experienced.

---

Option-Delete

wka on 2005-09-17T16:44:55

Option-deleting a song from a Smart Playlist will delete it from your iTunes Library. Also, option-deleting a whole playlist will delete the playlist and all of the songs it contains (which is probably not what you want to do with your "Played Podcasts" Smart Playlist).

Re:Option-Delete

merlyn on 2005-09-17T21:36:40

Too many secrets.

Too much of this is undocumented. {sigh}

Re:Option-Delete

pudge on 2005-09-22T00:01:59

Neat. I didn't know about opt-delete.

Also, because I can ... not that it is any longer necessary, but still:

use Mac::Glue ':all';
 
my $itunes = new Mac::Glue 'iTunes';
 
my $podcasts = $itunes->obj(
    playlist  => 1,
    playlists => whose(special_kind => equals => enum('podcasts'))
);
 
my $tracks = $podcasts->obj(
    file_track => whose(played_count => g_t => 0)
);
 
for my $track ($tracks->get) {
    my $location = $track->prop('location')->get;
    unlink $location if $location && $location ne 'msng';
    $track->delete;
}

iTunes v5.0

bpphillips on 2005-09-20T13:25:41

On my windows version 5.0 of iTunes, you can specify in the Podcasts preferences window which podcasts you want to keep (one option being "All unplayed episodes"). I haven't used this option but presumably it would automatically delete your played podcasts. (I'm also making an assumption that the Mac version has this same option and functionality)

Re:iTunes v5.0

merlyn on 2005-09-21T16:26:21

"played a few seconds" is not "played all the way through". If you just start listening to a podcast, it's considered "played" by that option. I want to delete only the ones I've heard all the way to the end.