Commit 9f857cd6 authored by JP Dinger's avatar JP Dinger

Reformatting, spelling and style fixes.

parent 0680c6ed
== ACTIVEX Control for VLC ==
The VLC ActiveX Control has been primary designed to work with Internet Explorer.
however it may also work with Visual Basic and/or .NET
Please note, that this code does not rely upon Microsoft MFC/ATL code,
hence good compatibility is not guaranteed.
The VLC ActiveX Control has been primary designed to work with Internet
Explorer. However it may also work with Visual Basic and/or .NET. Please
note, that this code does not rely upon Microsoft MFC/ATL code, hence
good compatibility is not guaranteed.
I. Compiling
The ActiveX Control should compile without any glitches as long as you have the latest
version of mingw gcc and headers. However, In order to script the ActiveX Control
on Internet Explorer, a type library is required.
The ActiveX Control should compile without any glitches as long as you
have the latest version of mingw gcc and headers.
This type library is usually generated from an IDL file using Microsoft MIDL compiler.
Therefore, for convenience I have checked in the output of the MIDL compiler in the
repository so that you will only need the MIDL compiler if you change axvlc.idl.
the generated files are as follow:
In order to script the ActiveX Control on Internet Explorer, a type
library is required. This type library is usually generated from an IDL
file using Microsoft MIDL compiler. Therefore, for convenience I have
checked in the output of the MIDL compiler in the repository so that you
will only need the MIDL compiler if you change axvlc.idl. the generated
files are as follow:
axvlc_idl.c
axvlc_idl.h
axvlc.tlb
To use the MIDL compiler on cygwin, you will need to set some environment variables
before configuring vlc. If you have a copy of 'Microsoft Visual C++ 6.0' installed,
the following settings are correct:
To use the MIDL compiler on cygwin, you will need to set some
environment variables before configuring vlc. If you have a copy of
'Microsoft Visual C++ 6.0' installed, the following settings are
correct:
export PATH=$PATH:"/cygdrive/c/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/COMMON/MSDev98/Bin":"/cygdrive/c/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/VC98/Bin"
export INCLUDE='C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\VC98\Include'
......@@ -35,73 +37,83 @@ the comand line to compile IDL should looks like the following :
widl -I/usr/include/wine/windows/ \
-h -H axvlc_idl.h -t -T axvlc.tlb -u -U axvlc_idl.c \
axvlc.idl
NOTE: widl breaks compatibility with Visual Basic. If that is important to you then use midl.
NOTE: widl breaks compatibility with Visual Basic. If that is important
to you then you must use midl.
II. Debugging
the ActiveX control is compiled with verbose output by default. However you will
need to launch Internet Explorer from a Cygwin shell to see the output.
Alternatively, the plugin will also use the VLC preferences, hence if you enable
the file logging interface through the player and save the preferences, the
control will automatically log its verbose output into the designated file.
Debugging the ActiveX control DLL with GNU GDB can be difficult. Fortunately,
the ActiveX control can also be compiled as an executable rather than a DLL.
In ActiveX terms, this is called a local server.
The advantage of a local server is that it will never crash its client,
i.e Internet Explorer, if itself is crashing.
The build system does not currently allow to create an executable version of
the ActiveX control, you will need to manually define the BUILD_LOCALSERVER
pre-processor variable and modify the Makefile to exclude the '-shared' option
at the linking stage. Once this is done, you just need to launch axvlc.exe to
have a working Activex control. Please note, that executable version of the
ActiveX control will override any settings required for the DLL version, which
will no longer work until you (re)register it as shown in the following section
The ActiveX control is compiled with verbose output by default, but you
will need to launch Internet Explorer from a Cygwin shell to see the
output. Alternatively, the plugin will also use the VLC preferences, so
if you enable the file logging interface through the player and save the
preferences, the control will automatically log its verbose output into
the designated file.
Debugging the ActiveX control DLL with GNU GDB can be difficult.
Fortunately the ActiveX control can also be compiled as an executable
rather than a DLL. In ActiveX terms, this is called a local server. The
advantage of a local server is that it will never crash its client,
i.e. Internet Explorer, even if the local server crashes. The build
system does not currently allow to create an executable version of the
ActiveX control, you will need to manually define the BUILD_LOCALSERVER
pre-processor variable and modify the Makefile to exclude the '-shared'
option at the linking stage. Once this is done, launch axvlc.exe to have
a working Activex control. Please note, that executable version of the
ActiveX control will override any settings required for the DLL version,
which will no longer work until you (re)register it as shown in the
following section
III. Local Install
The VLC NSIS installer will install the ActiveX Control without requiring any
further manual intervention, but for people who like to live on the edge, here
are the steps you need to perform once you have built the ActiveX Control.
The VLC NSIS installer will install the ActiveX Control without
requiring any further manual intervention, but for people who like to
live on the edge, here are the steps you need to perform once you have
built the ActiveX Control.
The ActiveX control DLL file may be copied anywhere on the target machine,
but before you can use the control, you will need to register it with Windows
by using the REGSVR32 command, as per following example:
The ActiveX control DLL file may be copied anywhere on the target
machine, but before you can use the control, you will need to register
it with Windows by using the REGSVR32 command, as per following example:
REGSVR32 C:\WINDOWS\AXVLC.DLL
If the control needs to use external VLC plugins (i.e other than built-in ones),
make sure that the plugin path is set in the registry as per following example:
If the control needs to use external VLC plugins (i.e other than the
built-in ones), make sure that the plugin path is set in the registry as
per following example:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\VideoLAN\VLC]
InstallDir="C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC"
The InstallDir must be the parent directory of the 'plugins' directory.
WARNING: Both control and plugins must come from the same build source tree.
Otherwise, at best, the control will not play any content, at worse
it may crash Internet Explorer while attempting to load incompatible plugins.
WARNING: Both control and plugins must come from the same source build
tree. Otherwise, at best, the control will not play any content,
at worse it may crash Internet Explorer while attempting to load
incompatible plugins.
IV. Internet Install
The activex control may be installed from a remote through Internet Installer if
it is packaged up in a CAB file. The following link explains how to achieve this
The activex control may be installed from a remote through Internet
Installer if it is packaged up in a CAB file. The following link
explains how to achieve this
http://msdn.microsoft.com/workshop/components/activex/packaging.asp
For convenience, I have provided a sample axvlc.INF file, which assumes that the VLC
NSIS Installer has been packaged up a CAB file called AXVLC.CAB.
For convenience, I have provided a sample axvlc.INF file, which assumes
that the VLC NSIS Installer has been packaged up a CAB file called
AXVLC.CAB.
The ActiveX Control DLL file can also be distributed by itself if it has been
compiled with built-in VLC plugins; check developer information for more
information on built-in plugins.
The ActiveX Control DLL file can also be distributed by itself if it has
been compiled with built-in VLC plugins; check developer information for
more information on built-in plugins.
V. Controlling the plugin
1) Properties
the following public properties can be used to control the plugin from HTML,
the property panel of Visual Basic and most ActiveX aware applications.
The following public properties can be used to control the plugin
from HTML, the property panel of Visual Basic and most ActiveX aware
applications.
+==========+=========+===================================+===============+
| Name: | Type: | Description: | Alias: |
......@@ -121,16 +133,16 @@ the property panel of Visual Basic and most ActiveX aware applications.
| toolbar | boolean | set/get visibility of the toolbar | |
+----------+---------+-----------------------------------+---------------+
the alias column allows to specify an alternative <PARAM name> for the
property in internet explorer, which is useful to maintain compatibility
with HTML pages already leveraging Windows Media Player
The alias column shows an alternative <PARAM name> for the property in
internet explorer, which is useful to maintain compatibility with HTML
pages already leveraging Windows Media Player
2) Programming APIs
the MRL, Autoplay and Autoloop properties are only used to configure the initial
state of the ActiveX control,i.e before its activation; they are ignored afterward.
Therefore, if some runtime control is required, the following APIs should be used
within your programming environment:
The MRL, Autoplay and Autoloop properties are only used to configure the
initial state of the ActiveX control,i.e before its activation; they are
ignored afterward. Therefore, if some runtime control is required, the
following APIs should be used within your programming environment:
Variables:
......@@ -161,8 +173,8 @@ Methods:
UUID : 9BE31822-FDAD-461B-AD51-BE1D1C159921
defined in axvlc.idl as "coclass VLCPlugin2", "interface IVLCControl2"
This interface organize API with several object (like .audio.mute)
It is currently documented on videolan wiki (may change) at
This interface organizes an API with several objects (like .audio.mute).
It is currently documented on videolan wiki (the url may change) at
http://wiki.videolan.org/Documentation:Play_HowTo/Advanced_Use_of_VLC
......@@ -196,10 +208,13 @@ playSlower()
toggleMute()
mute/unmute sound output
addTarget(MRL As String, Options as array of strings, Mode as enumeration, Position as integer)
Add MRL into the default playlist, you can also specify a list of playlist Options to attach
to this MRL or Null for no options. mode indicates the action taken by the playlist on MRL
which is one the following:
addTarget(MRL As String, Options as array of strings,
Mode as enumeration, Position as integer)
Add an MRL into the default playlist, you can also specify a list
of playlist options to attach to this MRL or Null for no options.
Mode indicates the action taken by the playlist on MRL and is one
the following:
VLCPlayListInsert = 1 (Insert MRL into playlist at Position)
VLCPlayListInsertAndGo = 9 (Insert MRL into playlist at Position and play it immediately)
VLCPlayListReplace = 2 (Replace MRL in playlist at Position)
......@@ -207,13 +222,15 @@ addTarget(MRL As String, Options as array of strings, Mode as enumeration, Posit
VLCPlayListAppend = 4 (Append MRL in playlist after Position)
VLCPlayListAppendAndGo = 12 (Append MRL in playlist after Position and play it immediately)
VLCPlayListCheckInsert = 16 (Verify if MRL is in playlist)
Position can take the value of -666 as wildcard for the last element in playlist
Position can take the value of -666 as wildcard for the last element
in the playlist.
setVariable(Name as string, Value as object);
Set a value into a VLC variables
getVariable( Name as string) as object
getVariable(Name as string) as object
Retrieve the value of a VLC variable.
Regards,
......
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