HowTo change iTunes Music Library.xml location?

[mattengland]

Summary:

How can I change the iTunes Music Library.xml location (ie, file path/directory)? Specifcially, how I can change it to match the same location as the "iTunes Music Folder Location" that is set under 'Edit->Preferences->Advanced' ?

More details:

It's my understanding that the above .xml file is the source data for all things outside of the actual music files, things like playlists and other "meta" data. Further, while there is some ".itl" file that is in the same directory as the above .xml file, the .itl file is simply a derivative of the .xml file and and can be completely recreated from said .xml file.

If this is the case then the .xml file is as much "data"/information as the stuff (the music files) stored in the music-folder location.

If if this is all true, then why does Apple not move the location of the source .xml file to be the same location as "iTunes Music Folder Location" when said location is changed?

It seems to me that this would greatly simplify many things: user understanding, backups, etc. I mean, doesn't it make sense just to "have everything in one spot"?

In any case, if I can not do this (move the .xml file location), then I can repoint my My Documents folder to a place where I do my backups (I do this anyway) so as to backup my iTunes meta data (via the .xml file)...but it sure would be nice to have all my iTunes data in one spot, and it seems to me that it would greatly help Apple, Apple's users, and Apple support people, too.

Does this analysis make sense?

-Matt

[mattengland]

Also- I'd search for a faq on this in the forums...but the forums search functionality seems to be broken. The results view page (in all of Opera, IE, and Firefox) appears to be blank on my system. -Matt

[yinyang]

welcome to the lounge :)

i'm not sure why you cannot just cut & paste the xml and itl files to the new location in conjunction with your library, but you definitely can't do it from the iTunes prefs.

in general though if you do move your music library it is advisable to move all the contents of the 'your music' folder, and not just the music.

apple has this from its KB...

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93732

which isn't that helpful!!

also regarding the search, what terms were you using?

[mattengland]

also regarding the search, what terms were you using?

First to note:

When I say the search result page is blank, I mean *the whole page is blank*. Now html/php formatting whatsoever. http://forums.ilounge.com/search.php (the URL visited up asking for search results...for better or worse) is just completely blank. Nothing in the browser window.

To answer the above question:

I searched for "iTunes Music Library.xml" in the advanced-search window, although doesn't seem to matter whether it's advanced or non-advanced search mode--I still get a blank results page.

-Matt

[jhollington]

Under Windows, the iTunes library database files are hard-coded into the Windows "My Music" folder and cannot be changed as far as iTunes is concerned.

You can however change the location of your "My Music" folder in Windows to point to another drive or path. This can be accomplished either through direct registry editing, or more simply by grabbing the TweakUI tool from Microsoft's PowerToys for Windows XP (http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx).

The best way to do this is to shut down iTunes, and then use TweakUI to change the location of your "My Music" folder. This should also copy the entire contents of this folder to the new location as part of this process, although you will want to confirm this.

Once this has been done, restart iTunes and it should just carry on as it did before.

Note that the XML and ITL files must remain together (and will remain together in your "My Music" folder at any rate). The ITL file is what iTunes actually uses for your metadata. The XML file is created as a backup, as well as to give third-party applications a way of reading the data that is in iTunes. The XML file is not read by iTunes unless your ITL file becomes corrupted.

Further, it has been my experience that although the XML file does contain metadata information such as ratings, playcounts, and so forth, this information does not necessarily come back if the XML file is imported into iTunes. I would always recommend keeping the ITL file backed up as well.

[yinyang]

First to note:

When I say the search result page is blank, I mean *the whole page is blank*. Now html/php formatting whatsoever. http://forums.ilounge.com/search.php (the URL visited up asking for search results...for better or worse) is just completely blank. Nothing in the browser window.



maybe try clearing the cookies on your browser to see if that helps - the link above took me to the search page with lots of options etc....!

[mattengland]

maybe try clearing the cookies on your browser to see if that helps - the link above took me to the search page with lots of options etc....!

...as it does mine. But then try putting "iTunes Music Library.xml" in the search field and hitting enter. I get a blank page on every browser I try.

NOTE: when I put other words in this search field (like "something"), the search works and returns a results page, even if it doesn't provide any results.

-Matt

[mattengland]

You can however change the location of your "My Music" folder in Windows to point to another drive or path. This can be accomplished either through direct registry editing, or more simply by grabbing the TweakUI tool from Microsoft's PowerToys for Windows XP (http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx).
[...]
Further, it has been my experience that although the XML file does contain metadata information such as ratings, playcounts, and so forth, this information does not necessarily come back if the XML file is imported into iTunes. I would always recommend keeping the ITL file backed up as well.

Excellent info, jhollington, and thanks for the KB article above, yingyang. This is just the info that I sought.

-Matt

[yinyang]

...as it does mine. But then try putting "iTunes Music Library.xml" in the search field and hitting enter. I get a blank page on every browser I try.

NOTE: when I put other words in this search field (like "something"), the search works and returns a results page, even if it doesn't provide any results.

-Matt

i think it's because the term 'iTunes' returns too many results - if you take out iTunes and the "." ie music library xml you should get 12 pages of results.

using the term 'iPod' is also a bad idea....!?

[mattengland]

i think it's because the term 'iTunes' returns too many results - if you take out iTunes and the "." ie music library xml you should get 12 pages of results.

using the term 'iPod' is also a bad idea....!?

That makes sense.

It would be nice if the search engine had a "search for all words" or "search for exact phrase" option...or anything to minimize the spaces-in-the-filename problem.

Add to the list another of the thousands of reasons to never put spaces in file names. Underscores, and preferrably dashses, work quite well. Apple, are you listening? ;)

-Matt