Enclosure Transfer v1.0.0 (Awasu Channel Hook)

About

Enclosure Transfer is a channel hook for Awasu that turns Awasu into a podcast client for iTunes. The program automatically transfers MP3 enclosures downloaded by Awasu to iTunes, synchronizing a connected iPod. It also maintains the iTunes library of files, removing orphaned file links. The benefit of using Awasu in this fashion is that the user gains immediate access to show notes and blog entries associated with podcasts.

Author

Mathew W. Gower
mgower@yahoo.com

License

This version of the program is free for personal use. For commercial use, or custom modifications of the software, please contact the author at mgower@yahoo.com.

Installation

• Use of this program requires the installation of the Microsoft .NET Framework. If the framework is not installed, it can be installed via Windows Update. There is also a downloadable installation of the framework available here.
  
• Unzip the contents of the 'EnclosureTransfer.zip' into a new directory under the Awasu ChannelHooks directory. Ex.: C:\Program Files\Awasu\ChannelHooks\EnclosureTransfer. You will need to restart Awasu before the new hook can be used.

Usage

On the properties of a channel within Awasu, select the Hooks section. Click the Add button, and open the EnclosureTransfer.hook file. You will be presented with a dialog containing default values for all properties of the hook. Leave the default values, or modify them to customize the operation of the hook for the channel. Once the hook and channel properties are saved, the hook will begin working immediately, and at any time that the channel's contents are updated by Awasu.

Properties

• Global
  
  • LogActions (bool): Log all actions performed by the hook for all channels. Log entries are made to the file 'ETWorker.log", located in the same folder as the hook. Default = True.
    
  • LogFiles (bool): Log all control 'ini' files sent from Awasu to the hook. Log entries are made to the file 'ETWorker.log", located in the same folder as the hook. Default = False.
    
  • iTunesDatabase (file): The full path and file name to the XML file used by iTunes as a database of contents. This property is optional, and NO guarantee is made that using it won't have an adverse effect on iTunes. Knowing the location of the file, the hook can perform much faster lookups of files when more than one file is to be added to iTunes for a channel. This file is typically located at C:\Documents and Settings\YOUR_USER_NAME\My Documents\My Music\iTunes\iTunes Music Library.xml. Default = (empty).
    
• Channel
  
  • PlaylistName (string): Name of the playlist in which the MP3 files for the channel will be added. If the playlist doesn't exist, it will be created. If this property is left empty, the MP3 files will be added directly to the iTunes library. Default = EnclosureTransfer.
    
  • GenreName (string): Change the Genre tag of MP3 files added to iTunes to the specified value. If this property is left empty, the original Genre tag in the MP3 file will be used. Default = Podcast.

Commands

The following commands are available via the Enclosure Transfer menu when the user right-clicks on a channel in which the Enclosure Trasfer hook has been added:

• Delete Orphaned Files From Playlist: Manually initiates the removal of orphaned files from the playlist specified in the hook properties for the channel.
  
• Delete Orphaned Files From Library: Manually initiates the removale of orphaned files from the entire iTunes library.
  
• Synchronize MP3 Player: Manually initiates a synchronization of files between iTunes and the connected iPod.

Operation

When a channel is created in Awasu to subscribe to a podcast, Awasu will retrieve the RSS feed text/xml immediately, and at the channel's defined interval. The enclosures specified in the RSS feed (typically MP3 files) are then downloaded later in the background. Awasu doesn't currently support an event to indicate when one of these files has been downloaded, though a new event for this information may be added in an upcoming release. As a result of this delayed operation, there will be a delay of time between when a channel has been updated, and when the the hook adds downloaded files to iTunes. The hook executes every time the channel is updated, and any time the channel configuration changes, looking for new files that Awasu has downloaded for the channel. At that time, the files are added to iTunes. Even though many podcasts are updated but once a day at most, it works best if the podcast channel is set to update every 4 to 6 hours. In a typical scenario, Awasu will get the updated RSS feed for a podcast, which contains a new item with an enclosure for an MP3 file. Awasu will then download the MP3 file at some point after the new feed is retrieved. The next time Awasu updates the channel, the hook will find the new MP3 file, and add it to iTunes.