MidWavi Pro Play Lists

Please note that whilst all versions of MidWavi Pro 2.57 and on will build and save Play Lists, only the Registered versions will actually play them.

Also note that one of the few limitations of the un-registered version is that you cannot conduct a disk search "Search Drive" option for MPEG (*.mp2, *.mp3 or *.mpg) files. See "Non Registered version restrictions" in ReadMe.Txt.

What are Play Lists?

Play Lists enable you to preserve the contents of your file list box to a data file which, at a later stage, can be loaded back in.

In short, if its in your file list and its selected (ticked), it can be saved for later use.

Probably the best way to describe the concept is by example.

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To build a Play List.
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Go to the "Sound And Video Player" module.

Use MidWavi Pros powerful "Search Drive" option on (say) drive C: to find "ALL" files.

Assuming that you have a variety of sound and video files (.avi, .mpg, .mp3, .mp2, .mid and .wav) on drive C, your list box will now be populated with filenames.

(Un-registered versions will not of course "find" any MPEG files during the "Search Drive" option).

Take the "File" menu option and then select "Save Play List".

Once the "Save" dialog box appears, pilot yourself to a suitable directory where you will store your play lists (suggest you create a directory called "MidWavi Pro Play Lists"). 

In the "File Name" box, enter a suitable filename (because you are about to store all the sound and video clips that are on your C: drive, suggest you call it "All Sound & Video On C"). If you wish to use a period (".") as part of the name, see "Use of Filenames within MidWavi Pro" below.

Do not add a file extension because MidWavi Pro will add its own for you (.MPL).

Click the "Save" button, and you will be advised if the data was successfully saved.

You now have a Play List called "All Sound & Video On C.MPL" that contains details of all sound and video clips on your C: drive.

Now, assuming that you have some, lets say that you want to create a Play List that will only play all the AVI video files on your C: drive.

Take the "Sub Select" option.

Tick the "No Files Selected Box" then tick the "AVI" box and click "OK"

Again, take the "File" menu option and then select "Save Play List".

This time in the "File Name" box, enter a suitable filename for all the AVI video clips that are on your C: drive, suggest you call it "All AVI Video On C").

Click the "Save" button, and you will be advised if the data was successfully saved.

You now have two Play Lists called:

"All Sound & Video On C.MPL" and "All AVI Video On C.MPL".

Repeat the process as necessary.

You are of course free to "roll your own" Play Lists by selecting (ticking/un-ticking) only those files that you wish to preserve in the list box and saving that selection to your chosen Play List filename.

It will be apparent that only filenames that are selected (ticked) will be saved in a Play List.

Once a Play List is created, you can over-write it by double clicking on it (a suitable warning will be issued).

You can also edit (using NotePad or WordPad etc.) the Play List files to manually add or delete file details but remember the file MUST be saved as a plain text (ASCII) file.

If you wish to create a Play List from scratch (using a text editor rather than let MidWavi Pro do it for you), the only four provisions are:

a)	It must be a plain text (ASCII) file

b)	The FIRST LINE MUST READ "MidWavi Pro Play List" (without the speech marks)

c)	It should have a filename extension of ".MPL".

d)	The full path and filename must be included on each line for each file you wish to play 

You can easily display a "MidWavi Pro" created "Play List" file using any standard ASCII editor (e.g. WordPad or NotePad in "text" mode) to see the desired format.


Any files saved outside MidWavi Pro that do not have the file extension ".MPL" but conform to the above criteria will be "playable", but you will have to type in the full name when selecting a Play List (MidWavi Pro only "looks" for *.mpl type filenames).


Use of Filenames within MidWavi Pro:

When choosing a Play List name to save from within MidWavi Pro, please observe the following:

Any file extension other than '.MPL' will be forced to 'MPL'.

The last dot in any filename will be regarded as the start of the filename extension.

Some examples:

Filename: "Test" will be saved as "Test.MPL"

Filename: "Test.DAT" will be saved as "Test.MPL"

Filename: "Test Data Version 2.56" will be saved as "Test Data Version 2.MPL"

Filename: "Test Data Version 2.56 Latest" will be saves as "Test Data Version 2.56 Latest.MPL"

etc. etc.
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How to load and play a Play List.
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To play back your Play Lists, either go to the "Tools" menu option and click "Play List OFF" to turn "Play List ON" (this toggles ON/OFF each time you click it), or single right mouse click the "Select Sound & Video" button.

Either way, the "Select Sound & Video" button becomes "Select Play List" (again, this toggles in step with the above instruction).

Click the "Select Play List" button and a file load selection box will appear.

Pilot yourself to your Play List directory, and, if you have followed the above example, you should now see the two Play Lists ("All Sound & Video On C.MPL" and "All AVI Video On C.MPL").

You can only select one Play List at a time so double click either one (or single click to highlight then click the "Open" button).

Your file list box will now be populated with your selected Play List and you can now use this as normal.

An additional feature now means that when you single right mouse click in the file list box to get file details (see on-line help), if a Play List is in use, its name is now also displayed along with the rest of the file detail.

Obviously, to get back to the standard "Select Sound & Video" option, toggle the button as per the above instructions.

Again, in a statement of the obvious, if you create a Play List based on removable media (CD ROM etc), ensure that you have the correct media installed to match the Play List.

The worst that will happen if not is that MidWavi Pro will report that it cannot play the file(s).

Please note that whilst all versions of MidWavi Pro 2.57 and on will build and save Play Lists, only the Registered versions will actually play them.

Also note that one of the few limitations of the un-registered version is that you cannot conduct a disk search "Search Drive" option for MPEG (*.mp2, *.mp3 or *.mpg) files. See "Non Registered version restrictions" in ReadMe.Txt.

See also on-line help under "MidWavi Pro Play Lists".