MULTIMEDIA WINDOWS

MEDIA CONTROL INTERFACE (MCI)

written by

Barry Wood

These notes are collected from various places. They are given here in the hope that they are useful. I have not used all the commands, in particular the video overlay and MIDI sequencer commands as I do not have access to this hardware. The usual disclaimers of all knowledge and responsibility apply. If you do find any errors or have any additions you can add please let me know at: email to Barry Wood - University of Nottingham CAL Group Co-ordinator

LIST OF MCI COMMAND STRINGS
These commands are in alphabetical order. See the Microsoft Multimedia Devlopment Kit Programmers Reference Manual for full details. If the command does not apply to a device it is sent to MCI should return the message "Action not available for this device" but doesn't always do this!
REMEMBER!
The format of the command is: 
MCICommand(" command   device   arguments ")
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Contents

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

A
No command strings known starting with A
B
COMMAND
break
ARGUMENT
on
off
DEVICE
All devices
DESCRIPTION
Sets the key to abort the wait command. Example shows using break with on option. The off option disables the current break key. E.G. 
MCICommand("break cdaudio off")
C

COMMAND
close
ARGUMENT
DEVICE
All
DESCRIPTION
closes a simple device or closes the element of a compound device. e.g. 
MCICommand("close cdaudio")

COMMAND
cue
Prepares a waveform for playing. It is not essential before playing or recording but may reduce delay.
ARGUMENT
input
DEVICE
waveaudio
DESCRIPTION
prepares for recording e.g. 
 MCICommand("cue waveform input")

COMMAND
cue
ARGUMENT
output
DEVICE
waveaudio
DESCRIPTION
prepares a waveform for playing. This is the default. e.g. 
 MCICommand("cue 
  waveform outputput")
D
COMMAND
delete
deletes a data segment from the MCI waveform element.
ARGUMENT
from <start position>
DEVICE
waveaudio
DESCRIPTION
if from is omitted starts at current position.

COMMAND
delete
ARGUMENT
to <end position>
DEVICE
waveaudio
DESCRIPTION
if to is omitted deletion stops at end of file or waveform.
E
COMMAND
escape
ARGUMENT
DEVICE
videodisc
DESCRIPTION
Sends custom information to a video device. A string follows this option.
F
COMMAND
freeze
ARGUMENT
at <left>,<right>,<width>,<height>
DEVICE
video overlay
DESCRIPTION
Disables video acquisition to the frame buffer. Modified by at which specifies the rectangle to freeze relative to the video buffer origin.
G
No command strings known starting with G
H
No command strings known starting with H
I
COMMAND
info
Not in MMB
J
No command strings known starting with J
K
No command strings known starting with K
L
COMMAND
load
ARGUMENT
DEVICE
video overlay
DESCRIPTION
loads a device element (file) from disc for a compound device.
M
No command strings known starting with M
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