[StreamWorks Server]

Stream Specifications

Stream Specifications


Stream Specifications are URL-style text strings that specify the location of streams on your StreamWorks Server. You enable playback of your streams by end-users of the StreamWorks Player through the following procedures:

Defining Stream Specifications

A stream specification resembles a standard URL used by WEB Browsers. URL-style stream specifications are in the form:
XDMA://{MyServer}:{MyPort}/{MyStream}
Where:

Example Stream Specifications

The following stream specification is a full URL to an on-demand file:
XDMA://111.222.333.444:1558/grammy.mpg
The following stream specification excludes the default port (1558) from the URL and specifies the name of a PLAY file:
XDMA://111.222.333.444/live_event.ply
The following stream specification excludes the default port (1558) from the URL and specifies the name of a PLAY file residing in the "samples" subdirectory of StreamRoot:
XDMA://111.222.333.444/samples/narn.ply

Creating XDM Files

XDM Files are text files that inform the StreamWorks Player of the location of streams on your StreamWorks Server. The simplest form of an XDM file contains a URL-style stream specification. By using optional XDM file parameters, you can affect the behavior of a StreamWorks Player that receives the XDM file.

Required Parameters

A basic XDM file contains a URL-style stream specification in the form:
STREAM = {StreamSpec}
Where {StreamSpec} is the URL-style stream specification of a stream; read Defining Stream Specifications for details. For example:
STREAM = XDMA://111.222.333.444:1558/grammy.mpg

Optional Parameters

When creating an XDM file, you can include the following parameters that affect the behavior of the StreamWorks Player:
You can specify start and stop positions in one of two formats:
NOTE: When you use both the STARTPOSITION and STOPPOSITION parameters, the actual playback duration (i.e., the effective "file length" for end-users of the StreamWorks Player) is the difference between the two specified positions, e.g., the following XDM file results in a playback duration of 3 minutes, 40 seconds:
  STREAM = XDMA://111.222.333.444:1558/grammy.mpg
  STARTPOSITION = 00:01:20
  STOPPOSITION = 00:05:00

Distributing Stream Specifications

Although the most common method for distributing Stream Specifications is to create within your WEB pages links to XDM files (read Integrating Streams into Your WEB Pages for details), you might prefer alternative distribution methods, e.g.: