Advanced Techniques: Extending Playback and Streaming with Windows Media Player 9 Series SDK

Getting Started with the Windows Media Player 9 Series SDK: A Developer’s Guide

Overview

The Windows Media Player 9 Series SDK provides APIs, tools, and samples to build, extend, and integrate digital-media playback and streaming into Windows applications. This guide walks through installing the SDK, key components, a simple sample project, common tasks (playback, playlists, events), and debugging tips so you can start building media-enabled apps quickly.

Prerequisites

• Platform: Windows 2000/XP era environments (the SDK targets legacy Windows platforms).
• Development tools: Microsoft Visual C++ 6.0 or Visual Studio .NET (⁄₂₀₀₃) recommended for compatibility.
• Runtime: Windows Media Player 9 Series installed.
• Permissions: Administrator access for SDK installation and registering COM components.

Installing the SDK

1. Download the Windows Media Player 9 Series SDK from Microsoft’s archive or a trusted mirror (legacy SDKs may be hosted in Microsoft download center or archived repositories).
2. Run the installer and follow prompts; the SDK installs headers, libraries, sample code, and documentation.
3. Verify installation by checking for the WMPSDK directory (commonly under Program Files) and sample projects.

Key SDK Components

• Headers & Libraries: wmp.h, wmp.dll import libraries, and COM interfaces for player control.
• Samples: C++ and COM samples demonstrating playback, rendering, streaming, and plugin interfaces.
• Documentation: API references, architecture docs, and step-by-step sample explanations.
• Tools: Utility tools for debugging, registering filters, and testing streaming scenarios.

Core Concepts & APIs

• COM-based model: Windows Media Player exposes functionality via COM interfaces (IWMPPlayer, IWMPMedia, IWMPPlaylist, IWMPEvents). Initialize COM in your app (CoInitialize/CoInitializeEx).
• Playback control: Use IWMPPlayer to open media, play, pause, stop, and seek.
• Media objects: IWMPMedia represents a media item and exposes metadata (duration, name, attributes).
• Playlists: IWMPPlaylist manages collections of IWMPMedia. Create, add, remove, and iterate items.
• Events: Implement IWMPEvents to receive callbacks for playback state changes, errors, and metadata updates.
• Embedding the ActiveX control: The WMP ActiveX control (Windows Media Player) can be embedded in dialogs or forms to provide UI and playback.

Quick Sample: Embed and Play a File (C++ / MFC-style approach)

1. Initialize COM:

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CoInitialize(NULL); 

2. Create the WMP ActiveX control instance (CoCreateInstance with CLSID of Windows Media Player) or add the control to an MFC dialog resource.
3. Obtain IWMPPlayer interface and call:

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pPlayer->putURL(L”C:\path\to\file.wmv”); pPlayer->play(); 

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pPlayer->Release(); CoUninitialize();