The WPL format

Windows Media Player has a feature called auto playlists. An auto playlist is essentially a database query: when you look at the playlist, the query is performed against your media library (or some other database?). The query is expressed in XML and has the following format.

<?wpl version="1.0"?>
<smil>
<head>
<title>Title</title>
</head>
<body>
<seq>
<smartPlaylist version="1.0.0.0">

<querySet>
<sourceFilter id="{4202947A-A563-4B05-A754-A1B4B5989849}" name="MyMediaLibrary">
Various <fragment>s, ANDed together
</sourceFilter>
</querySet>

more <querySet>s if wanted

<filter id="{BC5E21B0-504C-46F6-82BF-FB975C911AD6}" name="LimitPlaylist">
A <fragment>
</filter>

</smartPlaylist>
</seq>
</body>
</smil>

Each <fragment> looks like

<fragment name="name">
<argument name="argument name">argument value</argument>
none or more <argument>s
</fragment>

The valid fragment names, and argument names and values, depend on the filter they are for. They seem to be case-insensitive. Here are some fragments for the source query. A fragment with an invalid name is ignored.

Music from my Media Library:

<sourceFilter id="{4202947A-A563-4B05-A754-A1B4B5989849}">



fragment name
arguments

condition
value


Invalid: ignored



Effective Rating,
User Rating
Is At Least,
Is,
Invalid: error
4 stars,
1 star,
Unrated,
Invalid: ignored

Last play date,
Acquisition Date
Is Before,
Is Later Than
Last week

Digital Rights Management
Is


Playcount: Total,
Playcount: Evening play totals,
Playcount: Weekend play totals,
Playcount: Weekday play totals
Is Less Than,
Is Greater Than
0,
1

Bitrate
Is At Least,
Is No More Than
160,
64

Sort by
Descending,
Ascending,
Invalid: error
Playcount: Evening play totals,
Playcount: Weekend play totals,
Playcount: Weekday play totals,
Effective Rating,
file name,

title, artist, bitrate,
Invalid: error

fragment name	arguments
Invalid: ignored
Effective Rating, User Rating	Is At Least, Is, Invalid: error	4 stars, 1 star, Unrated, Invalid: ignored
Last play date, Acquisition Date	Is Before, Is Later Than	Last week
Digital Rights Management	Is
Playcount: Total, Playcount: Evening play totals, Playcount: Weekend play totals, Playcount: Weekday play totals	Is Less Than, Is Greater Than	0, 1
Bitrate	Is At Least, Is No More Than	160, 64
Sort by	Descending, Ascending, Invalid: error	Playcount: Evening play totals, Playcount: Weekend play totals, Playcount: Weekday play totals, Effective Rating, file name, title, artist, bitrate, Invalid: error

Other likely categories are the columns that Windows Media Player presents.

Play Count, Play Count Morning, Play Count Afternoon, Play Count Evening, Play Count Night, Play Count Weekday, Play Count Weekend

Last Played Time, Acquisition Time, Creation Date, Release Date, Recording Date

File Name, Title, Artist, Album, Album Artist, Track, Label, Writer, Conductor, Composer

Length, Bit Rate, Size, Media, Type

Rating, Genre, Mood, Style, Provider Rating, Parental Rating, Category, Period

Group Description, Subtitle

Media Info, Protected, Copyright, Data Provider, Content Provider,
Language, Key, Custom 1, Custom 2

Mystery source:

<sourceFilter id="{B2D9BDDC-8E49-444B-9BA4-193ABF9C7870}">

fragment name
arguments

Here are some fragments to limit the size of the playlist.

Microsoft Auto Playlist Filter -- Limits auto playlists by count, size or duration

<filter id="{BC5E21B0-504C-46F6-82BF-FB975C911AD6}">


fragment name
arguments

Number
Format


LimitByDuration
1,
2,
15
hours,
minutes

LimitBySize
640
Megabytes

fragment name	arguments
fragment name	condition	value
Invalid: ignored
Effective Rating, User Rating	Is At Least, Is, Invalid: error	4 stars, 1 star, Unrated, Invalid: ignored
Last play date, Acquisition Date	Is Before, Is Later Than	Last week
Digital Rights Management	Is
Playcount: Total, Playcount: Evening play totals, Playcount: Weekend play totals, Playcount: Weekday play totals	Is Less Than, Is Greater Than	0, 1
Bitrate	Is At Least, Is No More Than	160, 64
Sort by	Descending, Ascending, Invalid: error	Playcount: Evening play totals, Playcount: Weekend play totals, Playcount: Weekday play totals, Effective Rating, file name, title, artist, bitrate, Invalid: error

fragment name	arguments
fragment name	Number	Format
LimitByDuration	1, 2, 15	hours, minutes
LimitBySize	640	Megabytes