A bash script using gdbus to call vlc dbus interface methods and get / set properties.

vlc_dbus.sh

#!/bin/bash

# bash script using gdbus to call vlc dbus interface methods and get / set properties

iface='org.mpris.MediaPlayer2'
dest="$iface.vlc"

obj='/org/mpris/MediaPlayer2'

i_prop='org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties'
get_prop="$i_prop.Get"
set_prop="$i_prop.Set"

i_introspect='org.freedesktop.DBus.Introspectable.Introspect'

common="--session --dest $dest --object-path $obj"


# check command
if [[ ! $1 ]]
then
	options=(urischemes mimetypes status add volume quit pause play id instances list_services)

	echo 'please choose from the following options:'
	for o in ${options[@]}
	do
		echo -n -e $o'\t'
	done
	echo
	exit 0
fi


# functions
parse_list() {
	read list
	echo $list | grep -Po "'\w.*?'" |  tr -d "'" | sort
}	

list_services() {
	gdbus call --session --dest org.freedesktop.DBus --object-path /org/freedesktop/DBus --method org.freedesktop.DBus.ListNames | parse_list
}

check_arg() {
	if [[ ! $1 ]]
	then 
		echo $2
		exit 1
	fi
}

parse_num() {
	read val
 	echo $val | grep -Po "(\d+.)?\d+"
}

parse_str() {
	read val
	echo $val | grep -Po "'.*'" | tr -d "'"
}

round() {
	read val
	printf "%.2f\n" $(echo "scale=2;$val" | bc)
}


# handle command
case $1 in
	urischemes)		# get supported uri schemes
		gdbus call $common --method $get_prop "$iface" "SupportedUriSchemes" | parse_list
		;;
	mimetypes)			# get supported mime types
		gdbus call $common --method $get_prop "$iface" "SupportedMimeTypes" | parse_list
		;;
	status)				# get player status
		gdbus call $common --method $get_prop "$iface.Player" "PlaybackStatus" | parse_str
		;;
	add)				# add track to playlist
		check_arg "$2" 'please provide file/dir path'
		no_track="$obj/TrackList/NoTrack"
		gdbus call $common --method $iface.TrackList.AddTrack "file://$2" $no_track true
		;;
	volume)				# set / get volume
		if [[ $2 ]]
		then
			gdbus call $common --method $set_prop "$iface.Player" "Volume"  "<double $2>"
		else
			gdbus call $common --method $get_prop "$iface.Player" "Volume" | parse_num | round
		fi
		;;
	quit)				# quit vlc
		gdbus call $common --method $iface.Quit
		;;
	pause)				# pause playback
		gdbus call $common --method $iface.Player.Pause
		;;
	play)				# start playback
		gdbus call $common --method $iface.Player.Play
		;;
	id)					# property: Identity
		gdbus call $common --method $get_prop "$iface" "Identity" | parse_str
		;;
	instances)			# list dbus names of all running vlc instances
		list_services | grep vlc.instance
		;;
	list_services)		# get a list of all dbus services
		list_services		
		;;
esac

exit 0