[This is preliminary documentation and subject to change.]
Operating-system software components particularly important to software development for Broadcast Architecture include:
Of these, probably the most visible one is the Program Guide control. In clear graphical form, the Program Guide control displays information on all broadcast programming available to the user over various time periods. With this control, the user can search for favorite shows, keep track of episodes, set up reminders to watch or record shows, and watch previews. This control is continuously updated with Program Guide information from various providers.
The primary user interface of the Broadcast Architecture system component, WebTV for Windows, is an ActiveX container that hosts several important types of control. One type of control can play full-motion video over some or all of the screen. In other words, ActiveX controls within the WebTV for Windows container create the television video and audio that viewers see and hear. Another type of control displayed in WebTV for Windows uses Microsoft® Internet Explorer technology to interpret and display Web pages, either in conjunction with video or on their own.
This control, the standard Broadcast Architecture control that parses and displays HTML data, can also process scripts and host any ActiveX controls that a broadcaster chooses to include with a show. Because HTML is the language of the World Wide Web, the presence of this control not only means that a large amount of Internet data can immediately be combined with television programming, but also that there are existing, good tools for quickly designing and creating new HTML content without software development. A broadcaster can use triggers to synchronize the display of HTML material with television and can add, update, or remove HTML material without any intervention on the viewer's part.
Furthermore, through scripts and ActiveX controls included with HTML pages, broadcasters and independent software vendors can take full advantage of the broadcast client's computing capabilities to enhance a show in new ways, to provide complex interactivity with viewers, and to deliver valuable services. To locate more information on doing so, see Further General Information.
Although Broadcast Architecture software is designed to be open to developers, great care has been taken to ensure that system security can be maintained. Broadcast clients can thus provide a secure platform for commercial transactions.