Media Control Interface
Encyclopedia
The Media Control Interface — MCI for short — is a high-level API developed by Microsoft
and IBM
for controlling multimedia
peripheral
s connected to a Microsoft Windows
or OS/2
computer, such as CD-ROM
players and audio controllers.
MCI makes it very simple to write a program which can play a wide variety of media files and even to record sound by just passing commands as string
s. It uses relations described in Windows registries or in the [MCI] section of the file system.ini. One advantage of this API is that MCI commands can be transmitted both from the programming language and from the scripting language (open script, lingo aso). Example of such commands are mciSendCommand or mciSendString.
, the MCI interface has been phased out in favor of the DirectX
APIs first released in 1995.
Each of these so-called MCI devices (e.g. CD-ROM
or VCD player) can play a certain type of files, e.g. AVIVideo plays .avi files, CDAudio plays CD-DA tracks among others. Other MCI devices have also been made available over time.
A full list of MCI commands can be found at Microsoft's MSDN Library.
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
and IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
for controlling multimedia
Multimedia
Multimedia is media and content that uses a combination of different content forms. The term can be used as a noun or as an adjective describing a medium as having multiple content forms. The term is used in contrast to media which use only rudimentary computer display such as text-only, or...
peripheral
Peripheral
A peripheral is a device attached to a host computer, but not part of it, and is more or less dependent on the host. It expands the host's capabilities, but does not form part of the core computer architecture....
s connected to a Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
or OS/2
OS/2
OS/2 is a computer operating system, initially created by Microsoft and IBM, then later developed by IBM exclusively. The name stands for "Operating System/2," because it was introduced as part of the same generation change release as IBM's "Personal System/2 " line of second-generation personal...
computer, such as CD-ROM
CD-ROM
A CD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback. The 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data....
players and audio controllers.
MCI makes it very simple to write a program which can play a wide variety of media files and even to record sound by just passing commands as string
String (computer science)
In formal languages, which are used in mathematical logic and theoretical computer science, a string is a finite sequence of symbols that are chosen from a set or alphabet....
s. It uses relations described in Windows registries or in the [MCI] section of the file system.ini. One advantage of this API is that MCI commands can be transmitted both from the programming language and from the scripting language (open script, lingo aso). Example of such commands are mciSendCommand or mciSendString.
, the MCI interface has been phased out in favor of the DirectX
DirectX
Microsoft DirectX is a collection of application programming interfaces for handling tasks related to multimedia, especially game programming and video, on Microsoft platforms. Originally, the names of these APIs all began with Direct, such as Direct3D, DirectDraw, DirectMusic, DirectPlay,...
APIs first released in 1995.
MCI Devices
The Media Control Interface consists of 4 parts:- cdaudio
- digitalvideo
- overlay
- sequencer
- vcr
- videodisc
- waveaudio
Each of these so-called MCI devices (e.g. CD-ROM
CD-ROM
A CD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback. The 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data....
or VCD player) can play a certain type of files, e.g. AVIVideo plays .avi files, CDAudio plays CD-DA tracks among others. Other MCI devices have also been made available over time.
Playing media through the MCI interface
To play a type of media, it needs to be initialized correctly using MCI commands. These commands are subdivided into categories:- System Commands
- Required Commands
- Basic Commands
- Extended Commands
A full list of MCI commands can be found at Microsoft's MSDN Library.
External links
- Microsoft MCI Reference - MSDN Library