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Old 08-17-2005, 10:19 AM   #1
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How to display 'now playing' info in a screen saver?

I'd like to be able to display now-playing info from iTunes or other apps in a screen saver. Any advice on how to do this?
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Old 08-17-2005, 11:07 AM   #2
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Do you mean in your own screensaver or an existing one? In your own screensaver (if written in Cocoa), you can use following code to get info from iTunes (result is a dictionary with current time and names of the track and playlist).


Code:
NSMutableDictionary *moduleSetup = [NSMutableDictionary dictionary]; NSAppleScript *asExecutor; NSAppleEventDescriptor *asResult; asExecutor = [[[NSAppleScript alloc] initWithSource:@"tell app \"iTunes\" to get {player position, index of current track, index of current playlist}"] autorelease]; asResult = [asExecutor executeAndReturnError:nil]; [moduleSetup setObject: [NSNumber numberWithInt:[[asResult descriptorAtIndex:1]int32Value]] forKey:@"CURR_TIME"]; [moduleSetup setObject: [NSNumber numberWithInt:[[asResult descriptorAtIndex:2]int32Value]] forKey:@"CURR_TRACK"]; [moduleSetup setObject: [NSNumber numberWithInt:[[asResult descriptorAtIndex:3]int32Value]] forKey:@"CURR_PLIST"];

If you want to display some info over an existing screensaver, check the NSWindow documentation in Cocoa reference. I have not tried it, but it appears that a window in NSScreenSaverWindowLeven might allow you to display something above the screensaver...
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Old 08-17-2005, 11:21 AM   #3
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Hopefully in an existing one. Thanks for the code, though. If I have to roll my own it'll come in handy.
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Old 08-18-2005, 05:30 PM   #4
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Have you tried using Quartz Composer? I'm not sure how it could interface with apps like iTunes, but it's really easy to make cool-looking screensavers regardless

Last edited by Mahalis; 08-18-2005 at 05:34 PM.
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Old 08-18-2005, 10:08 PM   #5
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Quartz Composer

Quote: Originally Posted by Mahalis
Have you tried using Quartz Composer? I'm not sure how it could interface with apps like iTunes, but it's really easy to make cool-looking screensavers regardless

Fa'a Mahalo, bra! That's a great tip. I found Engadget's article about making a screensaver via Google, based on your suggestion. HOW-TO: Make a customized RSS screensaver in Tiger

For those as clueless as me, Quartz Composer is a part of Tiger (Mac OS X 10.4).
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