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Using the Wizard

Once you have installed the Custom Visualization Wizard, start up Microsoft Visual C++ , make a few choices, press the button, and you have all the code you need to get started.

Starting a New Project

Start up Visual C++. From the File menu, select New. If you have used Visual C++ before, you will notice that a new type of project is available to you, called "Microsoft Windows Media Player". Click once on "Windows Media Visualization Wizard" to select it. Do not click twice if you have not chosen a project name yet.

Give Your Project a Name

The name for your project will be the default name for the files you create and for the name of your visualization. You can always change the name later, but it will involve a lot of retyping. You cannot leave the name blank.

Press the Button

After you select Microsoft Windows Media Player as the type of project you want to create and give a name to the project, click on OK to get started.

Before your project is created, Visual C++ will show you a dialog box showing you what will be created. You will see that you will be creating a DLL for Win32 and you will be told what kinds of files will be created as source files. You will also see that your project will be placed in:

    \Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\MyProjects\projectname

where projectname is the name you gave to your project.

Click on OK in this dialog box, and the files will be generated.

Do a Test Build

From the Build menu, select Build projectname.dll, where projectname is the project name you chose. Your visualization will be built, and you can watch the progress of the build at the bottom of the screen.

Run Windows Media Player

Start a song in Windows Media Player and click through the visualizations. The presets that are automatically built for you are called projectname Bars and projectname Wave, where projectname is the name of your project.

Files the Wizard Generates

The following files are generated by the wizard. Note that projectname is the name of the project you chose when you ran the wizard.

effects.idl

The IDL (Interface Definition Language) file for all visualizations. This defines the IMWPMEffects interface. You will probably not want to change this file.

project.cpp

The main project file for your code. You will write your own implemention of Render here, as well as any other functions you need. If you add, subtract, or modify presets, you will want to change the code in Render, GetPresetTitle, and any other functions you implement.

projectdll.cpp

The code for setting up the DLL (dynamic-link library). You will probably not want to change this file.

projectdll.def

The definition file for the DLL. You will probably not want to change this file.

projectdll.rc

The resource file for the DLL. You may want to change this file if you add, subtract, or modify preset strings. If you need to add other resources, add them here.

iproject.idl

The IDL file for your project. You will probably not want to change this file.

StdAfx.cpp

The #include files for MFC (Microsoft Foundation Classes). You will probably not want to change this file.

project.h

The header file for your project. Declarations for your project go here. If you add, subtract, or modify presets, you will want to change this file. You can also add your own declarations here.

resource.h

The header file for resources. If you add, subtract, or modify presets, you will want to change this file.

StdAfx.h

The header file for MFC #include details. You will probably not want to change this file.

project.rgs

The registry file for your project. Use this to register your project in the Microsoft Windows Registry.

project.wms

A Windows Media Player skin definition file. You can use this to test your finished visualization.

basetsd.h

Definitions for data types. You probably do not want to modify this file.

effects.h

Header file for all visualizations. You probably do not want to modify this file.

iproject.h

Header file for the project IDL. Generated by the build.

iproject.tlb

Type Library (TLB) file for the project. Generated by the build.

 iproject_i.

MIDL (Microsoft Interface Definition Language) file for your project. Generated by the build.

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