Pipeline is a Swift framework for working with FCPXML files easily.

About

Pipeline extends the XMLDocument and XMLElement classes in the Foundation framework. It adds properties and methods that simplify the creation and management of FCPXML document structure.

Pipeline also includes supplemental classes and a CMTime extension to help in the processing of FCPXML data. For example, you can easily convert a timing value that looks like "59983924/30000s" in the XML to "00:33:19,464" for display in an app.

Pipeline currently works with FCPXML v1.6 through v1.8 files.

Key Features

• Access an FCPXML document's resources, events, clips, and projects through simple object properties.
• Create and modify resources, events, clips, and projects with included properties and methods.
• Easily manipulate timing values.
• Output FCPXML files with proper text formatting.
• Validate FCPXML documents with the DTD.

Documentation

The latest framework documentation is viewable at reuelk.github.io/pipeline and is also included in the project's docs folder as HTML files.

Adding the Framework to a Project

To add the framework to your Xcode project:

1. Clone or download the repository.
2. Open the Pipeline.xcodeproj file in Xcode.
3. Build the project by pressing Command-B.
4. Right-click on the Pipeline.framework framework in the "Products" folder in the Navigator pane. Select "Show in Finder".
5. Drag the selected folder into your Xcode project's Navigator pane.
6. Xcode will prompt you to set some options for adding the folder. Generally, "Copy items if needed", "Create groups" and your application target should be selected.
7. Select your project in the Navigator pane and go to "Build Phases". Above "Target Dependencies", click the + icon and select "New Copy Files Phase"
8. Under "Copy Files", select "Frameworks" as the destination.
9. Click on the plus sign below and add the Pipeline framework.
10. Add import Pipeline to the top of all Swift files that need to use the framework.

Usage Examples

Open an FCPXML File

Subsequent examples use the fcpxmlDoc object declared here.

// Change the path below to your FCPXML file's path
let fileURL = URL(fileURLWithPath: "/Users/[username]/Documents/sample.fcpxml")  // Create a new URL object that points to the FCPXML file's path.

do {
	try fileURL.checkResourceIsReachable()
} catch {
	print("The file cannot be found at the given path.")
	return
}

let fcpxmlDoc: XMLDocument  // Declare the fcpxmlDoc constant as an XMLDocument object

do {
	fcpxmlDoc = try XMLDocument(contentsOfFCPXML: fileURL)  // Load the FCPXML file using the fileURL object
} catch {
	print("Error loading FCPXML file.")
	return
}

List the Names of All Events

let eventNames = fcpxmlDoc.fcpxEventNames  // Get the event names in the FCPXML document
dump(eventNames)  // Neatly display all of the event names

Create and Add a New Event

let newEvent = XMLElement().fcpxEvent(name: "My New Event")  // Create a new empty event
fcpxmlDoc.add(event: newEvent)  // Add the new event to the FCPXML document
dump(fcpxmlDoc.fcpxEventNames) // Neatly display all of the event names

Get Clips That Match a Resource ID and Delete Them

let firstEvent = fcpxmlDoc.fcpxEvents[0]  // Get the first event in the FCPXML document
let matchingClips = try! firstEvent.eventClips(forResourceID: "r1")  // Get any clips that match resource ID "r1".

// The eventClips(forResourceID:) method throws an error if the XMLElement that calls it is not an event. Since we know that firstEvent is an event, it is safe to use "try!" to override the error handling.

try! firstEvent.removeFromEvent(items: matchingClips)  // Remove the clips that reference resource "r1".

guard let resource = fcpxmlDoc.resource(matchingID: "r1") else {  // Get the "r1" resource
	return
}
fcpxmlDoc.remove(resourceAtIndex: resource.index)  // Remove the "r1" resource from the FCPXML document

Display the Duration of a Clip

let firstEvent = fcpxmlDoc.fcpxEvents[0]  // Get the first event in the FCPXML document

guard let eventClips = firstEvent.eventClips else {  // Get the event clips while guarding against a potential nil value
	return
}

if eventClips.count > 0 {  // Make sure there's at least one clip in the event
	let firstClip = eventClips[0]  // Get the first clip in the event
	let duration = firstClip.fcpxDuration  // Get the duration of the clip
	let timeDisplay = duration?.timeAsCounter().counterString  // Convert the duration, which is a CMTime value, to a String formatted as HH:MM:SS,MMM
	print(timeDisplay) 
}

Save the FCPXML File

do {
	// Change the path below to your new FCPXML file's path
	try fcpxmlDoc.fcpxmlString.write(toFile: "/Users/[username]/Documents/sample-output.fcpxml", atomically: false, encoding: String.Encoding.utf8)
	print("Wrote FCPXML file.")
} catch {
	print("Error writing to file.")
}

Authors

Reuel Kim