About the Windows Media Player SDK

The Microsoft Windows Media Player Software Development Kit (SDK) provides information and tools to customize Windows Media Player and Windows Media Player Mobile and to use the Windows Media Player ActiveX control and the Windows Media Player Mobile ActiveX control. This documentation also provides information about using Windows Media metafiles.

Support for customizing Windows Media Player is provided by:

• Windows Media Player skins. Skins allow you both to customize the Player user interface and to enhance its functionality by using XML.
• Windows Media Player plug-ins. Windows Media Player includes support for plug-ins that create visualization effects, that perform digital signal processing (DSP) tasks, that add custom user interface elements to the full mode Player, and that render custom data streams in digital media files created using the ASF file format.
• Windows Media Player online stores. Online stores are commercial businesses that integrate their services into the Windows Media Player user interface to offer digital media content for rent or for sale.

Embedding the Windows Media Player control is supported for a variety of technologies, including:

• HTML in Web browsers. Microsoft Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Netscape Navigator version 7.1 browsers are supported.
• Programs created with the Microsoft Visual C++В® development system.
• Programs created with Microsoft Visual BasicВ® 6.0.
• Programs created using the .NET Framework, including programs written in the Visual Basic and C# programming languages.
• Microsoft Office.

The Windows Media Player Mobile control is supported in the following technologies:

• HTML in Microsoft Pocket Internet Explorer.
• Programs created with the Microsoft eMbedded Visual C++ 4.0 development system.
• Programs based on Active Template Library (ATL) 3.0 or higher.

This overview contains the following sections:

Windows Media Player SDK

This documentation describes the Microsoft Windows Media Player Software Development Kit (SDK). The Windows Media Player SDK is one of the components of the Microsoft Windows SDK. Other media components include the Microsoft Media Foundation SDK, the Microsoft Windows Media Format SDK, and the Microsoft Windows Media Services SDK.

The Windows Media Player SDK documents programming technologies that can be used to extend the capabilities of Windows Media Player and Windows Media Player Mobile. These technologies are documented in the following sections:

Section	Description
About the Windows Media Player SDK	This section provides details about how to find specific information in the SDK. It includes a section about new features and information about how to use the samples included with the SDK.
Windows Media Player Object Model	The Microsoft Windows Media Player control is a Microsoft ActiveX control used for adding digital media playback capabilities to webpages. It provides a programming interface for rendering digital media files and streams.
Windows Media Player Skins	Skins are an XML-based technology used to customize the user interface of Windows Media Player. You can also use Windows Media Player Mobile skins to customize the user interface of Windows Media Player Mobile.
Windows Media Player Plug-ins	Plug-ins are objects that extend Windows Media Player functionality in a variety of ways. Plug-in types include custom visualizations, user interface plug-ins, DSP plug-ins, and rendering plug-ins. Windows Media Player Mobile plug-in support is also described in this section.
Windows Media Metafiles	Windows Media Metafiles are XML documents that provide information about a media item and its presentation. Metafiles can be used to organize media items into playlists that can include functionality for seamless stream switching, ad insertion, and other features.
Windows Media Playlists	Playlists are files that use XML elements to define either a dynamic «smart» playlist of media items or a static set of media items.
Windows Media Player Online Stores	Windows Media Player provides functionality that enables digital media content providers to integrate their services with Windows Media Player. Integration between the Player and an online digital media store enables the user to locate content, download and manage files, play content, and copy content to CDs or devices.
Windows Media Player	Some features of the SDK apply to Windows Media Player, the Windows Media Player ActiveX control, and Windows Media Player Mobile. This section provides information about these features.
Glossary	This section contains definitions of terms used throughout the SDK.

Installing the Windows SDK does not install Windows Media Player or Windows Media Player Mobile. You must have Windows Media Player installed to use the material in this SDK. Windows Media Player Mobile is a part of Windows Mobile, which is available only on a Pocket PC or Smartphone supplied by a device manufacturer or mobile operator.

Windows Media Format 11 SDK

This documentation describes the Microsoft Windows Media Format Software Development Kit (SDK) and applies to the 32-bit and x64-based versions of the SDK.

The Windows Media Format SDK is a component of the Microsoft Windows Media Software Development Kit (SDK). Other components include the Windows Media Services SDK, Windows Media Encoder SDK, Windows Media Rights Manager SDK, Windows Media Device Manager SDK, and Windows Media Player SDK.

The Windows Media Format SDK provides application developers with access to the components of the Windows Media Format. These components include the Advanced Systems Format (ASF) file container, the Windows Media Audio and Video codecs, basic network streaming capability, and digital rights management. The objects of the Windows Media Format SDK manipulate the components of Windows Media at a low level; the other components of the Windows Media SDK include objects that work on a higher level.

The primary purpose of the Windows Media Format SDK is to enable developers to create applications that play, write, edit, encrypt, and deliver Advanced Systems Format (ASF) files and network streams. These files and streams commonly contain audio and video content encoded using the Windows Media Audio and Video codecs. However, ASF can contain any type of data. For more information about the Advanced Systems Format container structure, see Overview of the ASF Format.

The key features of the Windows Media Format SDK are:

• Support for industry-leading codecs. The Windows Media Format 11 SDK includes the Microsoft Windows Media Video 9 codec and the Microsoft Windows Media Audio 9.1 codec. Both of these codecs provide exceptional encoding of digital media content. New for this release is the Windows Media Video 9 Advanced Profile codec, which provides optimizations for broadcast video. This SDK also includes the Microsoft Windows Media Video 9 Screen codec for compressing computer-screen activity during sessions of user applications, and the Windows Media Audio 9.1 Voice codec, which encodes low-complexity audio such as speech and intelligently adapts to more complex audio such as music, for superior representation of combined voice-music scenarios.
• Support for writing ASF files. Files are created based on customizable profiles, enabling easy configuration and standardization of files. This SDK can be used to write files in excess of 2 gigabytes, enabling longer, better-quality, continuous files.
• Support for reading ASF files. This SDK provides support for reading local ASF files as well as reading ASF data being streamed over a network. Support is also provided for many advanced reading features, such as native support for multiple bit rate (MBR) files, which contain multiple streams with the same content encoded at different bit rates. The reader automatically selects which MBR stream to use, depending upon available bandwidth at the time of playback.
• Support for delivering ASF streams over a network. This SDK provides support for delivering ASF data through HTTP to remote computers on a network, and also for delivering data directly to a remote Windows Media server.
• Support for editing metadata in ASF files. Information about a file and its content is easily manipulated with this SDK. Developers can use the robust system of metadata attributes included in the SDK, or create custom attributes to suit their needs.
• Support for content editing applications. This SDK enables applications to seek to points within a file by presentation time and by video frame. In addition, files created by using the Windows Media Format SDK can maintain timestamps in formats used in film and television production.
• Support for reading and editing metadata in MP3 files. This SDK provides integrated support for reading MP3 files with the same methods used to read ASF files. Applications built with the Windows Media Format SDK can also edit metadata attributes in MP3 files using built-in support for the most common ID3 tags used by content creators.
• Support for Digital Rights Management protection. This SDK provides methods for reading and writing ASF files and network streams that are protected by Digital Rights Management to prevent unauthorized playback or copying of the content.

To download the Windows Media Format SDK, see the Windows Media Downloads page at the Microsoft Web site.

This document describes how you can develop digital media applications using the Windows Media Format SDK. It is divided into the following sections.

Although this document contains information about the latest version of the Windows Media Format SDK, most of the features it describes are supported by older versions of the SDK. Reference pages for the methods, functions, structures, and enumerations of the Windows Media Format SDK include version requirements.

Сведения о пакете SDK проигрывателя Windows Media

Пакет средств разработки программного обеспечения (SDK) проигрывателя Microsoft Windows Media предоставляет сведения и средства для настройки проигрывателя Windows Media и проигрывателя Windows Media Mobile, а также для использования элемента управления ActiveX проигрывателя Windows Media и мобильных элементов управления ActiveX проигрывателя Windows Media. Эта документация также содержит сведения об использовании метафайлов Windows Media.

Поддержка настройки проигрывателя Windows Media обеспечивается:

• Обложки проигрывателя Windows Media. Обложки позволяют настраивать пользовательский интерфейс проигрывателя и улучшать его функциональность с помощью XML.
• Подключаемые модули проигрывателя Windows Media. Проигрыватель Windows Media поддерживает подключаемые модули, которые создают эффекты визуализации, выполняющие задачи по обработке цифровых сигналов (DSP), которые добавляют настраиваемые элементы пользовательского интерфейса в проигрыватель с полным режимом и отображают пользовательские потоки данных в файлах мультимедиа, созданных с помощью формата файлов ASF.
• Интернет-магазины проигрывателя Windows Media. Интернет-магазины — это коммерческие компании, которые интегрируют свои службы в пользовательский интерфейс проигрывателя Windows Media для предоставления цифрового мультимедийного содержимого для аренды или продажи.

Внедрение элемента управления проигрывателя Windows Media поддерживается для различных технологий, в том числе:

• HTML в веб-браузерах. Поддерживаются браузеры Microsoft Internet Explorer, Firefox и Netscape Navigator версии 7,1.
• Программы, созданные с помощью системы разработки Microsoft Visual C++®.
• Программы, созданные с помощью Microsoft Visual Basic® 6,0.
• Программы, созданные с помощью платформа .NET Framework, включая программы, написанные на языках программирования Visual Basic и C#.
• Microsoft Office.

Мобильный элемент управления проигрывателя Windows Media поддерживается следующими технологиями:

• HTML в Microsoft Pocket Internet Explorer.
• Программы, созданные с помощью системы разработки Microsoft eMbedded Visual C++ 4,0.
• Программы на основе библиотеки активных шаблонов (ATL) 3,0 или более поздней версии.

Using the Windows Media Player 7 or Later Object Model

Most of the tasks you may have been performing using the Windows Media Player 6.4 ActiveX control object model will require a new approach. In many cases, the names of the properties, methods, and events have changed in the Windows Media Player 7 or later object model. For instance, to specify the file path in the version 6.4 object model, you set the Player6.FileName property:

When using the Windows Media Player 7 or later object model, you must set the Player.URL property:

Alternatively, using the 10 object model, you can obtain a Media object from the library, and then set the Player.currentMedia property:

Much of the functionality in the Windows Media Player 7 or later object model is accessed through the object hierarchy. As the previous example showed, you can obtain a Playlist object by using the getAll method of the mediaCollection object, which is accessed through the root Player object. You can then obtain a particular Media object from the Playlist object by using the item method of the Playlist object. There are five additional methods accessible through the mediaCollection object that return a Playlist object; each method allows you to retrieve the object based on specific criteria, like genre or album.

The hierarchical structure of the Windows Media Player 7 or later ActiveX control object model provides a more logical approach to organizing the properties, methods, and events available for your use. All the functionality for the Player controls is contained in the Controls object, all the functionality for the Player network connection is contained in the Network object, and so forth. For example, to start content playing using the version 6.4 object model, you use the Player6.Play method:

When using the Windows Media Player 7 or later object model, you must access the Play method by using the Controls object:

The depth of the object model, however, can lead to very long script statements:

Statements like the preceding one can be made much simpler and more readable by working with individual named objects. The following example replaces the preceding code statement with syntax using separate object variables:

This coding style requires more lines of script, but is much easier to follow, especially with the added comments. There is another advantage: the currentPlaylist object is easy to reuse because it is stored in the variable pl.