The VideoLAN Forums

I feel like this is a very basic question but I can't seem to figure it out. I'm wanting to use an applescript for VLC to open a specific video from an external drive and then to play. I've gotten VLC to recognize that I'm trying to do something but an error message pops up that says "VLC is unable to open the MRL file...". I've also tried adding the video into the VLC playlist and it play it from there but no such luck with that either. So, I'm stuck. Anybody know how to resolve this issue? Thanks a lot!

Well, based on the error message and since you can't manually add the file to the playlist and play it... it sounds like VLC doesn't recognize and/or can not play that type of file. I'm not familiar with the file type so I can't say for sure, but that probably means that it is not a very common media file type.

It sounds to me like this is not really an Applescript usage question/issue, but more of a codec/container compatibility issue.

If you're convinced that my assessment is inaccurate, then perhaps you should consider re-wording your question/problem and including the code for the Applescript that you're using which isn't working as intended. Because the only reason I can think of that would invalidate my conclusion would be that I misunderstood you, which means that there is a more precise, complete and less ambiguous way of expressing yourself. Plus, if you're having trouble with Applescript it only seems logical to include the troublesome script (although you would probably have better success getting assistance with Applescript on a forum dedicated to Applescript even if it's about scripting VLC since the Applescript dictionary for VLC provides all the information needed to script VLC to anyone familiar with Applescript even if they're not familliar with VLC).