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An announcement is a Windows Media metafile with an .asx file name extension that provides a player with the information it needs to connect to a Windows Media server to receive content. Announcement files are based on Extensible Markup Language (XML) and use different tags to control player behavior. The .asx extension is registered to Windows Media Player, so the Player will automatically start when users click the announcement file.
The following code sample is an example of the most basic type of announcement file which only directs the Player to the location of the content:
<asx version = "3.0">
<entry>
<ref href = "mms://servername/publishingpointname/filename.wmv"/>
</entry>
</asx>
To create an announcement for your content, you can copy this code into a text document, replace servername with the name of your server, publishingpointname with the name of your publishing point, and filename.wmv with the name of your content, and then save that file with an .asx file name extension. An announcement created by the Unicast Announcement Wizard uses the same formatting and syntax, so you can create announcements by using the wizard and then modify them in a text editor, if you wish.
Announcement files have a variety of other features you can customize through the use of XML tags to provide additional features or information to players. For more information on common uses of announcement files, see Customizing announcement files.