[This is preliminary documentation and subject to change.]
The Microsoft® NetShow™ Authentication API is designed to provide the foundation for creating custom authentication plug-in components known as authenticators. This document first presents a brief introduction of authentication concept, and then explains how the NetShow server and the authenticators cooperate with each other. It also discusses what you need to do to write an authentication plug-in component. A detailed reference of the Authentication API follows at the end of this document.
The following table presents a summary of the subjects.
| Subject | Description |
| About the NetShow Authentication API | General discussion of authentication and authentication types. |
| Using the NetShow Authentication API | Discussions of how to write custom authentication plug-in components and to perform system registration. |
| The NetShow Authentication API Reference | Detailed discussions of the API references, organized by interfaces. |
| NetShow Authentication API Sample | A sample component, written in C++, that illustrates how to develop NetShow authentication plug-in components. |