Windows Media Player 11 SDK About Conversion Plug-ins 

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About Conversion Plug-ins

You can create a Windows Media Player plug-in to convert digital media files that are created using technologies not provided by Microsoft, into Advanced Systems Format (ASF).

Conversion plug-ins are Component Object Model (COM) objects that are packaged and distributed as executable (.exe) files. Windows Media Player instantiates conversion plug-ins to convert third-party digital media formats in the following scenarios:

  • Digital media content is copied to the computer from a portable device.
  • Digital media content is added to the library by using IWMPMediaCollection::add.
  • Digital media content is added to the library by using the search feature of Windows Media Player.
  • Digital media content is added to the library by the folder monitoring feature of Windows Media Player.
  • Digital media content is added to the sync list when the user drags and drops a file.

After Windows Media Player creates an instance of a conversion plug-in, the plug-in must convert the supplied file to ASF or WMA and add relevant metadata. (Do not use the conversion plug-in to transcode the file.) The plug-in must then copy the converted file to the specified folder and return the path to the new file to Windows Media Player.

Conversion plug-ins must implement the IWMPConvert interface. See Conversion Plug-ins Programming Reference.

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