I like to run multiple instances of VLC, each with its own playlist, and be able to control them using the web interface and telnet. I then have some python scripts to simplify sending commands.

Powershell

# create a shortcut
function CreateVlcShortcut {
    param (
        [String]$shortcutName = "VLC Media Player",
        [Int]$portOffset = 0
    )
    $HPORT = 8000 + $portOffset
    $TPORT = 7000 + $portOffset
    $shortcutPath = "C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC\vlc.exe"
    $shortcutArguments = "--http-port $HPORT --telnet-port $TPORT --telnet-password tree --http-password tree"

    $WshShell = New-Object -COMObject WScript.Shell
    $Shortcut = $WshShell.CreateShortcut("VLC $portOffset.lnk")
    $Shortcut.TargetPath = $shortcutPath
    $Shortcut.Arguments = $shortcutArguments
    $Shortcut.Save()
}

# Example usage
#CreateVlcShortcut -portOffset 0
#CreateVlcShortcut -portOffset 20

# Create Multiple
# iterate over a range of numbers
function IterateOverRange {
    param (
        [Int]$start = 0,
        [Int]$end = 30
    )
    for ($i = $start; $i -lt $end; $i++) {
        CreateVlcShortcut -portOffset $i
    }
}
IterateOverRange -start 0 -end 5
IterateOverRange -start 10 -end 15
IterateOverRange -start 20 -end 25
IterateOverRange -start 30 -end 35

CLI tools

At present I have no idea how to replace these on Windows without using cygwin and expect. I can, of course, run the Linux versions in WSL.

tvlc

This is a wrapper around expect.

#!/bin/bash
H="$1"
P="$2"
if [ -z "$H" -o -z "$P" ]; then
  echo "tvlc host port cmd ..."
  exit 1
fi
[ "$H" = "s" ] && H="snarf" # use this to create shortcuts
tvlc_expect "$H" "$P"

and tvlc_expect is

#!/usr/bin/expect
set timeout 5

set host "[lindex $argv 0]"
set tport "[lindex $argv 1]"
puts "tport '$tport'"
if { $tport == "" } {
  set tport 0
}
set port "[expr 7000 + $tport]"
set password "tree"

spawn telnet $host $port
expect "Password:"
send "$password\r"

expect "Welcome, Master"

interact

tvlcmd

This uses python's socket module rather than using expect.

#!/usr/bin/env python3
import socket
from time import sleep
import sys
from threading import Thread

# shorthands
d = {
  "s": "snarf"
}

def get_ports(ps):
  xs = [ int(x) for x in ps.split(",") ]
  for x in xs:
    if x < 0 or x > 200:
      raise ValueError(f"Port {x} out of range")
  return set(xs)

def get_hosts(hs):
  ys = [ (d[x] if x in d else x) for x in hs.split(",") ]
  return set(ys)

args = sys.argv[1:]
try:
  host, port, *cmds = args
  ports = get_ports(port)
  hosts = get_hosts(host)
except ValueError as e:
  print(f"ValueError {e}")
  print(f"{sys.argv[0]} <host> <tport> [<cmd>...]",file=sys.stderr)
  exit(1)

cs = []
cmdi = iter(cmds)
for cmd in cmdi:
  if cmd == "-f":
    try:
      fn = next(cmdi)
    except StopIteration:
      print(f"Missing filename for -f",file=sys.stderr)
      exit(1)
    with open(fn) as f:
      lines = f.read().rstrip().splitlines()
      cs.extend(lines)
  else:
    cs.append(cmd)
cmds = cs

def doit(s,host,port,cmds):
  try:
    s.connect((host,port))
  except Exception:
    print(f"# fail doit connect {host}:{port}",file=sys.stderr)
    return
  n = 0
  while True:
    n += 1
    if n > 100:
      print("doom",file=sys.stderr)
      exit(1)
    a = s.recv(1024)
    if b"Password:" in a:
      s.sendall(b"tree\n")
      sleep(0.1)
      b = s.recv(1024)
      if b"aster" in b:
        while not b">" in b:
          b = s.recv(1024)
        return docmds(s,cmds)
    sleep(0.1)

def docmds(s,cmds):
  for cmd in cmds:
    cmd = cmd.replace("_"," ")
    cmd += "\n"
    s.sendall(cmd.encode())
    oldtimeout = s.gettimeout()
    s.settimeout(0.5)
    sleep(0.1)
    n = 0
    while True:
      try:
        a = s.recv(1024)
      except TimeoutError:
        break
      if a == b"":
        break
      try:
        b = a.decode()
      except Exception:
        b = "".join( x for x in a if ord(x) < 128 and ord(x) >= 32 )
      sys.stdout.write(b)
      if "\n>" in b or b.startswith(">"):
        break
    print()
    s.settimeout(oldtimeout)
    sleep(0.1)

def doit1(host,port,cmds):
  try:
    with socket.socket(socket.AF_INET, socket.SOCK_STREAM) as s:
      doit(s,host,port,cmds)
  except Exception as e:
    print(f"Exception {e} sending to {host}:{port}")

def main():
  for host in hosts:
    for port in ports:
      port += 7000
      print(f"{host}:{port}")
      Thread(target=doit1,args=(host,port,cmds)).start()

if __name__ == "__main__":
  main()