Windows Media - Metafiles/Playlists
Metafiles are typically text files that contain instructions for a media player application. Metafiles typically tell the browser which media player application to launch. They can also point to the clip(s) to be played. For this reason, reference movies and playlists are considered types of metafiles.
The most common metafiles for Windows Media are .asx files. The simplest .asx file is a reference movie file. This file contains just a URL of the clip to be played. For example:
<!-- This is a basic .asx file -->
<asx version="3.0">
<entry>
<ref href=mms://real.cc.uga.edu/username/clip.wma" />
</entry>
</asx>
The <!-- and --> symbols are used to designate a comment. These lines are ignored by Windows Media Player.
Additional commands and information can be included in the .asx file. For example, the following file includes a title, starttime and duration for the clip.
<!-- This is an .asx file with a title, starttime, and duration -->
<asx version="3.0">
<title>Video Title</title>
<entry>
<ref href=mms://real.cc.uga.edu/username/clip.wmv" />
<starttime value="00:02:00" />
<duration value="00:05:00" />
</entry>
</asx>
Playlists can also be created by using .asx files. To create a playlist, add a series of entries that point to different clips. For example:
<!-- This is a basic .asx playlist file -->
<asx version="3.0">
<entry>
<ref href=mms://real.cc.uga.edu/username/clip1.wma" />
</entry>
<entry>
<ref href=mms://real.cc.uga.edu/username/clip2.wma" />
</entry>
<entry>
<ref href=mms://real.cc.uga.edu/username/clip3.wma" />
</entry>
</asx>
To find out more about Windows Media metafiles/playlists, see Microsoft's page on Windows Media Metafiles.
