Playing Audio CDs, part 4 - MCI Playback.

re: Playing Audio CDs, part 4 - MCI Playback.

gunroom — Tue, 26 Apr 2005 21:07:31 GMT

Larry, thanks for the info. It is fascinating to me to understand why things are the way they are.

re: Playing Audio CDs, part 4 - MCI Playback.

Larry Osterman [MSFT] — Tue, 26 Apr 2005 15:55:02 GMT

Gunroom,

After you asked, I asked around to the guys who wrote most of MCI (they're still at Microsoft, although not on the audio team).

The MCI command set was created for REXX apps (and basic apps) in a joint development effort with IBM. The actual command syntax was chosen by the developer who did the work.

Links for 2005-4-26

Media Hash Research — Tue, 26 Apr 2005 07:40:26 GMT

re: Playing Audio CDs, part 4 - MCI Playback.

Larry Osterman [MSFT] — Mon, 25 Apr 2005 22:33:08 GMT

Gunroom, I haven't the faintest idea where it came from (and nobody on the team does either :()

I just know that it is :)

re: Playing Audio CDs, part 4 - MCI Playback.

gunroom — Mon, 25 Apr 2005 22:25:14 GMT

Larry, where did the syntax of those commands come from? Was it some late 80s media standard or something?

re: Playing Audio CDs, part 4 - MCI Playback.

Larry Osterman [MSFT] — Mon, 25 Apr 2005 19:46:52 GMT

Actually, I intentionally used Sleep() to indicate that MCI doesn't require a message pump to work.

On a non console app it would make sense, but MCI's command set doesn't require the pump.

re: Playing Audio CDs, part 4 - MCI Playback.

anon — Mon, 25 Apr 2005 19:39:56 GMT

Is the Sleep() call after starting CD playback really recommended? Would it be better to call one of the MsgWait type functions?

re: Playing Audio CDs, part 4 - MCI Playback.

Josh Koppang — Mon, 25 Apr 2005 18:58:43 GMT

// Set the MCI time format to track/minute/second/frame.
mciError = mciSendString("close cdaudio", mciReturnBuffer, sizeof(mciReturnBuffer), NULL);

I'm guessing that the comment is just left over from cutting and pasting the code, or am I missing something? This command just closes it, correct?