DocErr: Media Player Command-Line Switches

 Last reviewed: March 25, 1997
Article ID: Q126869

The information in this article applies to:
  • Microsoft Windows operating system versions 3.1, 3.11
  • Microsoft Windows for Workgroups versions 3.1, 3.11
  • Microsoft Windows NT versions 3.5, 3.51
  • Microsoft Windows Software Development Kit (SDK), version 3.1
  • Microsoft Win32 SDK, versions 3.5 and 3.51

Media Player (both the 16-bit MPLAYER.EXE and the 32-bit MPLAY32.EXE) supports the following command-line syntax: 

   MPLAYER /play /close /embedding file
All of the command-line switches and the file name are optional. Their meanings are as follows: 

   /play       Play file right away.
   /close      Close after playing (only valid with /play).
   /embedding  Run as an OLE server.
   file        The file or device to open.
This information was inadvertently omitted from the Windows documentation.

In Windows 95 and Windows NT 3.5 and higher, the Media Player also supports the following switch: 

   /open       Open the file if specified; otherwise, show the File Open
               dialog.
In addition, the following switches can be used to ensure that the specified file is of a particular type: 

   /AVI        The file must be a Video for Windows (.AVI) file.
   /MID        The file must be a MIDI (.MID) file.
   /WAV        The file must be a Wave Audio (.WAV) file.

Additional query words: 3.10 3.50 4.00 undocumented win31 wfw wfwg
Keywords : docerr kbmm MMMisc nt
Version : 3.1 3.11 3.5 3.51 4.0
Platform : WinNT
Issue type : kbdocerr

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Last reviewed: March 25, 1997
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