window

The window command controls the display window. You can use this command to change the display characteristics of the window or provide a destination window for the driver to use in place of the default display window. Digital-video, and video-overlay devices recognize this command.

To send this command, call the mciSendString function with the lpszCommand parameter set as follows.

_stprintf_s(
  lpszCommand, 
  TEXT("window %s %s %s"), 
  lpszDeviceID, 
  lpszWindowFlags, 
  lpszFlags
); 

Parameters

lpszDeviceID

Identifier of an MCI device. This identifier or alias is assigned when the device is opened.

lpszWindowFlags

Flag for controlling the display window. The following table lists device types that recognize the window command and the flags used by each type.

Value Meaning Meaning
digitalvideo handle hwnd
state hide
state minimize
state restore
state show
show maximized
show minimized
show min noactive
show na
show noactivate
show normal
text caption
overlay fixed
handle default
handle hwnd
state hide
state iconic
state maximized
state minimize
state minimized
state no action
state noactivate
state normal
state restore
state show
show maximized
show minimized
show min noactive
show na
show noactivate
show normal
stretch
text caption

The following table lists the flags that can be specified in the lpszWindowFlags parameter and their meanings.

Value Meaning
fixed Disables stretching of the image.
handle default Specifies that the device should set the display window back to the default window created during the open operation. For  video-overlay devices, specifies that the device should create and manage its own destination window.
handle hwnd Specifies the handle of the destination window to use instead of the default window. The hwnd parameter contains the ASCII numeric equivalent of the window handle returned by the CreateWindow function. Two device instances can use the same window handle provided that each instance updates the video and image pixels in the window as if the other instance did not exist. When video output is disabled with setvideo "off", an update command will make the destination rectangle a solid color.
show maximized Maximizes the destination window.
show min noactive Displays the destination window as an icon.
show minimized Minimizes the destination window.
show na Displays the destination window in its current state; the window that is currently active remains active.
show noactivate Displays the destination window in its most recent size and position; the window that is currently active remains active.
show normal Activates and displays the destination window in its original size and position. (This is the same as the "state restore" flag.)
state hide Hides the destination window.
state iconic Displays the destination window as an icon.
state maximized Maximizes the destination window.
state minimize Minimizes the destination window and activates the top-level window in the window-manager's list.
state minimized Minimizes the destination window.
state no action Displays the destination window in its current state. The window that is currently active remains active.
state noactivate Displays the destination window in its most recent size and state. The currently active window remains active.
state normal Activates and displays the destination window in its original size and position.
state restore Activates and displays the destination window in its original size and position.
state show Shows the destination window.
stretch Enables stretching of the image.
text caption Specifies the caption for the destination window. If this text contains embedded blanks, the entire caption must be enclosed in quotation marks. The default caption for the default window is blank.

lpszFlags

Can be "wait", "notify", or both. For digital-video devices, "test" can also be specified. For more information about these flags, see The Wait, Notify, and Test Flags.

Return Values

Returns zero if successful or an error otherwise.

Remarks

Video-overlay devices typically create and display a window when opened. If your application provides a window to the driver, your application is responsible for managing the messages sent to the window.

Since you can use the status command to retrieve the handle to the driver display window, you can also use the standard window manager functions (such as ShowWindow) to manipulate the window.

The following command displays and sets the caption for the "movie" playback window:

window movie text "Welcome to the Movies" state show

Requirements

**  Windows NT/2000/XP:** Included in Windows NT 3.1 and later.
**  Windows 95/98/Me:** Included in Windows 95 and later.

See Also

MCI, MCI Command Strings, CreateWindow, open, play, setvideo, ShowWindow, status, update