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Configuration Common to All Streams

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[The feature associated with this page, Windows Media Format 11 SDK, is a legacy feature. It has been superseded by Source Reader and Sink Writer. Source Reader and Sink Writer have been optimized for Windows 10 and Windows 11. Microsoft strongly recommends that new code use Source Reader and Sink Writer instead of Windows Media Format 11 SDK, when possible. Microsoft suggests that existing code that uses the legacy APIs be rewritten to use the new APIs if possible.]

All streams, regardless of type, should be assigned a stream name, a connection name, and a stream number.

The stream name is simply a descriptive name you assign to the stream. A stream does not need to have a stream name, but it helps you to identify the stream when editing the profile at a later time. You can set a name for the stream by calling IWMStreamConfig::SetStreamName.

Every stream should have a connection name, also called an input name. When you set the profile in the writer object to write a file, the writer will associate each connection name with an input. To identify the inputs, you must call IWMInputMediaProps::GetConnectionName to retrieve the connection name. Typical connection names are simple descriptions of the content, such as "audio". If your profile contains streams that are mutually exclusive by bit rate, each of the mutually exclusive streams must have the same connection name. If they do not, the profile is invalid and will be rejected by the writer. You can set a connection name by calling IWMStreamConfig::SetConnectionName.

The stream number identifies the stream within the file. Unlike input numbers and output numbers, stream numbers start at 1, not 0. A stream number is different than a stream index, which you use when getting streams in a profile by using IWMProfile::GetStream. The stream index is a number assigned to the stream by the profile object. Stream indexes range between 0 and one less than the number of streams retrieved by IWMProfile::GetStreamCount. Stream numbers need not be sequential, though they usually are, and can range from 1 to 63. You can set a stream number by calling IWMStreamConfig::SetStreamNumber.

Configuring Streams

Inputs, Streams and Outputs