Microsoft Windows media player handbook Book

Introduction  Page ix
PART 1: USING WINDOWS MEDIA PLAYER  Page 1
CHAPTER 1: Getting Started  Page 3
    What is Windows Media Player?  Page 3
        Now Playing: plays music and video  Page 4
        Media Library: organizes your files  Page 4
        Media Guide: searches the Internet  Page 4
        CD Audio: copies music from CDs  Page 4
        Skin Chooser: provides custom user interfaces  Page 5
        Visualizations: dance to the music  Page 6
        Portable Device: copies music to your pocket  Page 7
        Radio Tuner: tune in to Internet radio  Page 8
    Installing Windows Media Player  Page 8
        Beginning your installation  Page 8
        Using auto upgrade  Page 17
    Using skins  Page 18
        Choosing Skins  Page 18
        Downloading skins  Page 20
        Changing modes to use the current skin  Page 20
        Borders  Page 21
    Using visualizations  Page 21
        Installing visualizations  Page 22
        Using presets  Page 23
        Using properties  Page 23
        Using full-screen visualizations  Page 23
CHAPTER 2: How Does the Player Work?  Page 25
    Playing a file in only three steps  Page 25
        Step 1: Start with the full mode Player  Page 25
        Step 2: Choose a song  Page 28
        Step 3: Click Play  Page 28
    Using the navigation buttons  Page 29
    Watching visualizations  Page 31
    Changing other settings  Page 32
         SRS WOW Effects settings  Page 32
        Graphic Equalizer settings  Page 33
        Video settings  Page 34
        Windows Media Information  Page 35
        Captions  Page 36
    Using menus  Page 36
        File menu  Page 36
        View menu  Page 37
        Play menu  Page 39
        Tools menu  Page 40
        Options dialog box  Page 41
        Help menu  Page 43
        Compact mode shortcut menu  Page 43
    Changing views in full mode  Page 45
    Finding files on the Internet  Page 46
    Copying music from CDs  Page 46
        Copying tracks  Page 47
        Selecting copy options  Page 48
    Using playlists  Page 49
        Using the Media Library  Page 49
    Using the Radio Tuner  Page 54
        Using Station Finder  Page 55
        Using station presets  Page 56
        Working with radio stations in the Media Library  Page 56
CHAPTER 3: Understanding Media Files  Page 57
    File formats  Page 57
        Determining file types with extensions  Page 58
        Changing file associations  Page 59
        Supported file types  Page 61
    Codecs  Page 66
        Sampling and Bit Rates  Page 67
        Using MP3  Page 68
        Using the Windows Media Audio codec  Page 68
        Where do you get codecs?  Page 69
        Which codecs do you have?  Page 70
    Understanding digital rights  Page 72
        Creating encrypted music files  Page 73
        Copy settings enable personal rights management  Page 75
    Copying music to a CD  Page 76
CHAPTER 4: Receiving Internet Audio and Video  Page 79
        Downloading files  Page 79
        Progressive downloading  Page 82
         Streaming media  Page 84
CHAPTER 5: Using Windows Media Player with Portable Devices  Page 91
    Using portable devices  Page 91
        Music in your pocket  Page 91
        PC in your pocket  Page 92
        Windows Media Player for Pocket PC  Page 94
    Using Windows Media Player on a portable device  Page 95
        Starting the Player  Page 95
        Using the buttons  Page 95
        Using the sliders  Page 96
    Copying music to and from your devices  Page 97
        Deleting songs from the Pocket PC  Page 99
        Files that can be copied  Page 100
        Digital rights management  Page 100
        Optimizing file copying  Page 101
    Creating playlists on a portable device  Page 102
    Using skins on portable devices  Page 103
        Loading skins  Page 103
        Creating your own skins   Page 104
    Using other portable devices  Page 104
PART 2: CREATING SKINS  Page 105
CHAPTER 6: What Are Skins?  Page 107
    Introduction  Page 107
    Architecture of skins  Page 109
        Skins drive the player  Page 110
    XML  Page 112
        What is XML?  Page 112
        How XML is used in skins  Page 112
        The rules of XML  Page 113
        How to author in XML  Page 115
        How to create the Skin Definition File in XML  Page 115
    JScript  Page 121
        Calling JScript functions  Page 121
        Controlling the Player  Page 122
    Art files  Page 127
        Art file formats  Page 128
        Simple art example  Page 129
CHAPTER 7: How to Design Skins  Page 135
    User interface guidelines  Page 135
        Windows interface  Page 135
         Windows Media Player interface  Page 136
    A process for designing skins  Page 144
        Step 1: Analyzing what to do  Page 145
        Step 2: Designing the user interface  Page 146
        Step 3: Creating the art  Page 147
        Step 4: Writing the code  Page 149
CHAPTER 8: Creating a Sample Skin  Page 153
    Step 1: Analyze what to do  Page 154
        Basic functionality of the sample skin  Page 154
    Step 2: Design the user interface  Page 155
        What user interface elements are available?  Page 155
        What will the sample user interface do?  Page 156
    Step 3: Create the art  Page 158
        Types of art  Page 159
        Creating the primary image file  Page 160
    Step 4: Write the code  Page 168
        Creating the skin definition file  Page 168
CHAPTER 9: Adding More to Skins  Page 177
    Adding a progress bar  Page 177
        Progress bar art files  Page 178
        Progress bar code  Page 179
    Adding a slider  Page 180
    Adding a custom slider  Page 181
        Custom slider art files  Page 182
        Custom slider code  Page 183
    Adding a video window  Page 185
        Video art files  Page 185
        Video window code  Page 185
    Adding a visualization  Page 186
        Visualization art files  Page 186
        Visualization code  Page 187
    Adding a sliding drawer  Page 188
        Drawer art files  Page 189
        Drawer code  Page 190
    Adding a dialog box for opening files  Page 194
    Adding a playlist  Page 195
        Playlist code  Page 195
    Adding text   Page 196
        Text code  Page 196
    Going further  Page 198
CHAPTER 10: Testing and Distributing Skins  Page 199
    Testing skins  Page 199
         Analyzing what is going on inside your skin  Page 199
        Using Microsoft Visual InterDev  Page 210
        Being sure your skin is complete  Page 211
    Distributing skins  Page 211
        Zipping it up  Page 211
        Testing it again  Page 212
        Sending it out  Page 212
PART 3: ADVANCED TOPICS  Page 213
CHAPTER 11: Using Windows Media Player in a Web Page  Page 215
    Getting started  Page 215
    Setting up your Web page  Page 221
        Using ActiveX  Page 221
        Using the OBJECT element of HTML  Page 222
        Defining the user interface with HTML  Page 223
    Implementing event handlers  Page 227
    Understanding Player control limitations  Page 228
    Previous versions of the control  Page 228
    Ensuring that the Player is installed  Page 229
    Going further  Page 230
CHAPTER 12: Creating Custom Media Content  Page 231
    Using markers  Page 232
        Inserting markers  Page 232
        Using markers in scripts  Page 235
    Using URLs  Page 236
        Inserting URLs  Page 236
        Using URLs in scripts  Page 239
    Using script commands  Page 241
        Inserting script commands  Page 242
        Custom script commands  Page 243
    Using captioning  Page 245
CHAPTER 13: Creating Multimedia Applications  Page 249
    Using borders  Page 249
        How to create borders  Page 252
        Creating a sample border  Page 256
CHAPTER 14: Creating Custom Visualizations  Page 259
    Software tools  Page 259
        Installing Visual C++  Page 260
        Installing the Windows Media Player 7 SDK  Page 260
        Installing the Visualization Wizard  Page 260
        Installing Windows Media Player 7  Page 262
     Creating your project templates  Page 262
        Project files  Page 262
        Creating the files  Page 264
        Building a test visualization  Page 266
        Seeing the test visualization  Page 267
    Implementing the Render interface  Page 269
        Control flow between Player and visualization  Page 269
        Parameters of the Render method  Page 270
    Implementing presets  Page 271
        Render method  Page 271
        GetPresetTitle  Page 271
        Preset Enumeration  Page 272
        Resource Header  Page 272
        Resource Strings  Page 272
    Sample code  Page 273
    Going further  Page 275
GLOSSARY  Page 277
INDEX  Page 289
ABOUT THE AUTHOR  Page 299