iTunes library xml file

[Hopper]

Hey, whoever replies to this question, thanks in advance.

I'm trying to write an app that will open and parse the iPhone's iTunes library xml file to get tags like artist, album, etc. Problem is, I don't know where the library xml file should be located. I don't have access to an iPhone, and even if I did, I get the feeling that end users can't really navigate through the filesystem to find things.

Does anyone know where the library xml file should be on the iPhone?

Another question: Can anyone comment if DOM or SAX would be better for parsing the iTunes library? Has anyone used Objective-XML?

Also, the app will be using the artist and album tags to eventually play the associated media files. I've seen a disturbing thread that makes me think that this feature may be impossible because of an "iTunes monopoly" on the media files themselves. Any comments?

Finally, I'm not sure that I really care enough about all of these questions to do it all myself. I'm really new to iPhone development, and I want to see this app done very quickly. Meanwhile, I'm concentrating on another portion of the app that would work well as a licensable package. Can anyone recommend an independent iPhone development shop that would be flexible enough to take a TBD% of the sales of the product for a TBD time, and not ask for money up front? My partner and I don't have any cash to spend right now.

[funkytaco]

I don't think you'll be able to parse the library via an iPhone application. It is what they call "sandboxed" to its own folder and can only access data external to that directory via the API's. I believe iPhone OS 3.0 may allow more access to the music library, but I'm not sure to what extent.

Try the Jobs forum for devs-for-hire.

[Hopper]

Hmm - about the "sandbox" - very useful info. I had suspected that I might need to make some portion of the app work on the desktop computer in order to parse the iTunes library file (parse at sync time to avoid doing this on the iPhone itself = improved performance), or maybe simply copy the whole library file over to my app's working directory on the iPhone. But even if there is such a desktop app, its output file would have to be part of my iPhone app package (NSBundle), which means that it would have to be compiled on the fly(?) ... no way. This process was going to be clumsy even if it worked, which I now know it probably won't.

Do you think that sandbox issue also applies to the media files themselves? If so, it would eliminate all doubt about the feasibility of my project.

Thanks for the suggestion about the jobs forum. Although I wonder if I'll need to anymore!

Funkytaco - I owe you one. If you're ever in northern VA, let me know.