Stream Player control

逃离我推掉我的手 2022-03-30 06:46 202阅读 0赞

In this article you will find an implementation of a stream player control.

*  [Download WPF demo - 11 MB][]
 *  [Download WinForms demo - 11 MB][]
 *  [Download WPF sources - 11 MB][]
 *  [Download WinForms sources - 11 MB][]
 *  [Download FFmpeg facade sources - 16.8 KB][]

![screenshoot.jpg][]

## Introduction ##

This article is a sort of continuation of my [previous][] article, which shows an implementation of a web camera control. Recently I created another control and would like to share my experience with community. It is a [FFmpeg][]\-based stream player control, which can do the following:

1.  Play a [RTSP][]/[RTMP][] video stream or local video file
2.  Retrieve the current frame being displayed by the control

The control has no additional dependencies and a minimalistic interface.

## Requirements ##

1.  The WinForms version of the control is implemented using .NET Framework 2.0
2.  The WPF version of the control is implemented using .NET Framework 4 Client Profile

The control supports both x86 and x64 platform targets.

## Background ##

Streaming audio, video and data over the Internet is a very usual thing these days. However, when I tried to find a .NET control to play a video stream sent over the network, I found almost nothing. This project tries to fill up that gap.

## Implementation details ##

If you are not interested in implementation details, then you can [skip][] this section.

The implementation is divided into three layers.

1.  The bottom layer is implemented as a native DLL module, which forwards our calls to the FFmpeg framework.
2.  For distribution convenience, the native DLL module is embedded into the control’s assembly as a resource. On the runtime stage, the DLL module will be extracted to a temporary file on disk and used via late binding technique. Once the control is disposed, the temporary file will be deleted. In other words, the control is distributed as a single file. All those operations are implemented by the middle layer.
3.  The top layer implements the control class itself.

The following diagram shows a logical structure of the implementation.

![struct.png][]

Only the top layer is supposed to be used by clients.

### The Bottom Layer ###

The bottom layer uses the [facade][] pattern to provide a simplified interface to the FFmpeg framework. The facade consists of three classes: the StreamPlayer class, which implements a stream playback functionality

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/// <summary>
    /// The StreamPlayer class implements a stream playback functionality. /// </summary> class StreamPlayer : private boost::noncopyable { public: /// <summary> /// Initializes a new instance of the StreamPlayer class. /// </summary> StreamPlayer(); /// <summary> /// Initializes the player. /// </summary> /// <param name="playerParams">The StreamPlayerParams object that contains the information that is used to initialize the player.</param> void Initialize(StreamPlayerParams playerParams); /// <summary> /// Asynchronously plays a stream. /// </summary> /// <param name="streamUrl">The url of a stream to play.</param> void StartPlay(std::string const& streamUrl); /// <summary> /// Retrieves the current frame being displayed by the player. /// </summary> /// <param name="bmpPtr">Address of a pointer to a byte that will receive the DIB.</param> void GetCurrentFrame(uint8_t **bmpPtr); /// <summary> /// Retrieves the unstretched frame size, in pixels. /// </summary> /// <param name="widthPtr">A pointer to an int that will receive the width.</param> /// <param name="heightPtr">A pointer to an int that will receive the height.</param> void GetFrameSize(uint32_t *widthPtr, uint32_t *heightPtr); /// <summary> /// Uninitializes the player. /// </summary> void Uninitialize(); };

the Stream class, which converts a video stream into series of frames

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/// <summary>
    /// A Stream class converts a stream into series of frames. /// </summary> class Stream : private boost::noncopyable { public: /// <summary> /// Initializes a new instance of the Stream class. /// </summary> /// <param name="streamUrl">The url of a stream to decode.</param> Stream(std::string const& streamUrl); /// <summary> /// Gets the next frame in the stream. /// </summary> /// <returns>The next frame in the stream.</returns> std::unique_ptr<Frame> GetNextFrame(); /// <summary> /// Gets an interframe delay, in milliseconds. /// </summary> int32_t InterframeDelayInMilliseconds() const; /// <summary> /// Releases all resources used by the stream. /// </summary> ~Stream(); };

and the Frame class, which is a set of frame related utilities.

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/// <summary>
    /// The Frame class implements a set of frame-related utilities. /// </summary> class Frame : private boost::noncopyable { public: /// <summary> /// Initializes a new instance of the Frame class. /// </summary> Frame(uint32_t width, uint32_t height, AVPicture &avPicture); /// <summary> /// Gets the width, in pixels, of the frame. /// </summary> uint32_t Width() const { return width_; } /// <summary> /// Gets the height, in pixels, of the frame. /// </summary> uint32_t Height() const { return height_; } /// <summary> /// Draws the frame. /// </summary> /// <param name="window">A container window that frame should be drawn on.</param> void Draw(HWND window); /// <summary> /// Converts the frame to a bitmap. /// </summary> /// <param name="bmpPtr">Address of a pointer to a byte that will receive the DIB.</param> void ToBmp(uint8_t **bmpPtr); /// <summary> /// Releases all resources used by the frame. /// </summary> ~Frame(); };

These tree classes form a heart of the FFmpeg Facade DLL module.

### The Middle Layer ###

The middle layer is implemented by the StreamPlayerProxy class, which serves as a proxy to the FFmpeg Facade DLL module.

First, what we should do is extract the FFmpeg Facade DLL module from the resources and save it to a temporary file.

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_dllFile = Path.GetTempFileName();
    using (FileStream stream = new FileStream(_dllFile, FileMode.Create, FileAccess.Write))
    {
        using (BinaryWriter writer = new BinaryWriter(stream))
        {
            writer.Write(Resources.StreamPlayer);
        }
    }

Then we load our DLL module into the address space of the calling process.

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_hDll = LoadLibrary(_dllFile);
    if (_hDll == IntPtr.Zero)
    {
        throw new Win32Exception(Marshal.GetLastWin32Error());
    }

And bind the DLL module functions to the class instance methods.

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private delegate Int32 StopDelegate();
    private StopDelegate _stop;
    
    // ... IntPtr procPtr = GetProcAddress(_hDll, "Stop"); _stop = (StopDelegate)Marshal.GetDelegateForFunctionPointer(procPtr, typeof(StopDelegate));

When the control is being disposed, we unload the DLL module and delete it.

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private void Dispose()
    {    
        if (_hDll != IntPtr.Zero)
        {
            FreeLibrary(_hDll);
            _hDll = IntPtr.Zero;
        }
    
        if (File.Exists(_dllFile)) { File.Delete(_dllFile); } }

### The Top Layer ###

The top layer is implemented by the StreamPlayerControl class with the following interface.

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/// <summary>
    /// Asynchronously plays a stream. /// </summary> /// <param name="uri">The url of a stream to play.</param> /// <exception cref="ArgumentException">An invalid string is passed as an argument.</exception> /// <exception cref="Win32Exception">Failed to load the FFmpeg facade dll.</exception> /// <exception cref="StreamPlayerException">Failed to play the stream.</exception> public void StartPlay(Uri uri) /// <summary> /// Retrieves the image being played. /// </summary> /// <returns>The current image.</returns> /// <exception cref="InvalidOperationException">The control is not playing a video stream.</exception> /// <exception cref="StreamPlayerException">Failed to get the current image.</exception> public Bitmap GetCurrentFrame(); /// <summary> /// Stops a stream. /// </summary> /// <exception cref="InvalidOperationException">The control is not playing a stream.</exception> /// <exception cref="StreamPlayerException">Failed to stop a stream.</exception> public void Stop(); /// <summary> /// Gets a value indicating whether the control is playing a video stream. /// </summary> public Boolean IsPlaying { get; } /// <summary> /// Gets the unstretched frame size, in pixels. /// </summary> public Size VideoSize { get; } /// <summary> /// Occurs when the first frame is read from a stream. /// </summary> public event EventHandler StreamStarted; /// <summary> /// Occurs when there are no more frames to read from a stream. /// </summary> public event EventHandler StreamStopped; /// <summary> /// Occurs when the player fails to play a stream. /// </summary> public event EventHandler StreamFailed;

## Usage ##

First, we need to add the control to the Visual Studio Designer Toolbox, using a right-click and then the "Choose Items..." menu item. Then we place the control on a form at the desired location and with the desired size. The default name of the control instance variable will be `streamPlayerControl1`.

The following code asynchronously plays a stream using the supplied address.

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streamPlayerControl1.StartPlay(new Uri("rtsp://184.72.239.149/vod/mp4:BigBuckBunny_115k.mov"));

To get a frame being played just call the GetCurrentFrame() method. The resolution and quality of the frame depend on the stream quality.

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using (Bitmap image = streamPlayerControl1.GetCurrentFrame())
    {
        // image processing...
    }

To stop the stream the Stop() method is used.

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streamPlayerControl1.Stop();

You can always check the playing state using the following code.

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if (streamPlayerControl1.IsPlaying)
    {
        streamPlayerControl1.Stop();
    }

Also, the `StreamStarted`, `StreamStopped` and `StreamFailed` events can be used to monitor the playback state.

To report errors, exceptions are used, so do not forget to wrap your code in a try/catch block. That is all about using it. To see a complete example please check the demo application sources.

## WPF version ##

The FFmpeg facade expects a WinAPI window handle (`HWND`) in order to use it as a render target. The issue is that in the WPF world windows do not have handles anymore. The VideoWindow class workarounds this issue.

Hide Copy Code

## GitHub ##

The project has a GitHub repository available on the following page.

[https://github.com/jacobbo/WebEye/tree/master/StreamPlayerControl][https_github.com_jacobbo_WebEye_tree_master_StreamPlayerControl]

Any questions, remarks, and comments are welcome.

## Licensing ##

1.  The FFmpeg facade sources, the same as the [FFmpeg ][FFmpeg]framework, are licensed under [The LGPL license][].
2.  The .NET controls' sources and demos' sources are licensed under [The Code Project Open License (CPOL)][The Code Project Open License _CPOL].

You can use the control in your commercial product, the only thing is that you should mention that your product uses the FFmpeg library, [here are the details][].

## History ##

*  March 19th, 2015 - The initial version.
 *  August 22nd, 2015 - Added the x64 platform support.
 *  October 25th, 2015 - Added asyncronous stream start and stream status events.
 *  November 8th, 2015 - Added support for local files playback.
 *  November 30th, 2015 - Added stream connection timeout.

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## License ##

This article, along with any associated source code and files, is licensed under [The Code Project Open License (CPOL)][The Code Project Open License _CPOL 1]

[Download WPF demo - 11 MB]: http://www.codeproject.com/KB/audio-video/885869/WpfDemo.zip
[Download WinForms demo - 11 MB]: http://www.codeproject.com/KB/audio-video/885869/WinFormsDemo.zip
[Download WPF sources - 11 MB]: http://www.codeproject.com/KB/audio-video/885869/WpfSources.zip
[Download WinForms sources - 11 MB]: http://www.codeproject.com/KB/audio-video/885869/WinFormsSources.zip
[Download FFmpeg facade sources - 16.8 KB]: http://www.codeproject.com/KB/audio-video/885869/StreamPlayerSources.zip
[screenshoot.jpg]: /images/20220330/90ad6e8d143f44a786d61b6c75a85528.png
[previous]: http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/330177/Yet-another-Web-Camera-control
[FFmpeg]: http://www.ffmpeg.org/
[RTSP]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_Time_Streaming_Protocol
[RTMP]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_Time_Messaging_Protocol
[skip]: http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/885869/Stream-Player-control#Usage
[struct.png]: /images/20220330/bdc337c9b05c410da7016338423802c9.png
[facade]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facade_pattern
[arrow-up-16.png]: /images/20220330/34c738690bb745898b5fbeec684ad619.png
[https_github.com_jacobbo_WebEye_tree_master_StreamPlayerControl]: https://github.com/jacobbo/WebEye/tree/master/StreamPlayerControl
[The LGPL license]: http://www.gnu.org/licenses/lgpl-3.0.html
[The Code Project Open License _CPOL]: http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/885869/www.codeproject.com/info/cpol10.aspx
[here are the details]: https://www.ffmpeg.org/legal.html
[The Code Project Open License _CPOL 1]: http://www.codeproject.com/info/cpol10.aspx