Playlist reference

Windows Media server-side playlist files are Extensible Markup Language (XML) documents that are based on the Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language (SMIL 2.0) language specification. They are used to enable the server to collect and stream data to clients.

You can create playlist files by using the Windows Media Playlist Editor or by using a text editor such as Notepad. Playlists are then interpreted by the corresponding playlist parser plug-in. Server-side playlist files that use the WMS SMIL Playlist Parser have .wsx file name extensions. Third-parties can build playlist parser plug-ins using the Windows Media Services SDK that have different extensions.

Windows Media playlists are comprised of several different types of playlist elements. The most common playlist elements are media elements, which reference the digital media files and other content sources to be streamed. Other playlist elements define the behavior of elements, the order in which elements play, and text attributes, such as title and author.

This section contains the following topics:

• Using the Windows Media Playlist Editor
• Understanding playlist syntax
• Constructing a playlist
• Playlist elements
• Playlist attributes
• Time formats

Notes

• Examples in this section are given in the same XML syntax you would see if you opened a playlist in a text editor. The examples are presented this way in order to depict the entire playlist and enable you to see the interrelation of the various playlist elements and attributes. For more information about the XML syntax used with Windows Media server-side playlists, see Understanding playlist syntax.
• For more information about the SMIL 2.0 Specification, W3C Recommendation, see the W3C Web site.
• For additional information about creating server-side playlists, see the Windows Media Services Software Development Kit (SDK), which can be downloaded from the Windows Media home page at the Microsoft Web site.

Related topics

• Windows Media Services