How to Play a Sequence of Files in Windows Media Player

This page shows how to use Windows Media Player on a web page to play a sequence of video files, i.e. one after the other.

The files can either play automatically of wait for the user to click the play button. The example on the right uses the latter option — you need to click play to begin the first clip, then click play again to begin the second clip.

To create the sequence you will need to use an ASX file. This file includes information about the "show" which consists of the separate video files. Before you do this, make sure you know how to embed the media player in your web page.

The ASX file is a simple text file. Use the example below to get you started — you can modify it for your own use. This example features two files called clip1.wmv and clip2.wmv. Once you have created your own file, use this as the embedded file in your media player.

<asx version="3.0">
<abstract>A description of the show</abstract>
<title>My Show</title>
<author>My Name</author>
<copyright>(c) 2006 - My Company</copyright>
<entry>
<ref href="clip1.wmv" />
<abstract>This is the first clip</abstract>
<title>Clip 1</title>
<author>My Name</author>
<copyright>(c) 2000 - My Company</copyright>
</entry>
<entry>
<ref href="clip2.wmv" />
<abstract>This is the second clip</abstract>
<title>Clip 2</title>
<author>My Name</author>
<copyright>(c) 2000 - My Company</copyright>
</entry>
</asx>

If you want the files to play automatically, set the autostart parameter to true/1, otherwise set it to false/0. Remember to edit both the object and embed tags.