ASX information elements

These elements describe the show and its clips and connect them to pages, banners and logging. Placed directly in ASX they apply to the whole show; placed in ENTRY they apply to that clip.

Text elements

Each of these holds a text string and has no attributes and no children. Each parent should hold at most one of each; only the first is used.

Element	Parents	Holds	Where it appears
`TITLE`	`ASX` `ENTRY`	The title	In the display panel and the Properties dialog, as show information under `ASX` and clip information under `ENTRY`. It is the text the user clicks to follow a `MOREINFO` link.
`AUTHOR`	`ASX` `ENTRY`	The author’s name	As show information, or as the clip author.
`COPYRIGHT`	`ASX` `ENTRY`	Copyright text	As show or clip information. Microsoft notes that the copyright and registered symbols may not display properly unless the file is UTF-8, and suggests `(c)` and `(R)` otherwise.
`ABSTRACT`	`ASX` `ENTRY` `BANNER`	A description	As a tooltip over the show title, the clip title or the banner.

MOREINFO

A link for the title or banner. Parents: ASX, ENTRY, BANNER. No children.

Attribute	Required	Value	Meaning
`HREF`	yes	URL	A website, an email address or a script command.
`TARGET`	no	a window name	The named frame or window.
		`_blank`	A new browser window.
		`_self`	The frame holding the Player control.
		`_parent`	The parent of the current frame, or the current frame if it has none.
		`_top`	The full browser window, replacing all frames.

What the user clicks depends on the parent: the show title for ASX, the clip title for ENTRY, the graphic for BANNER. In the stand-alone Player TARGET is ignored and the address opens in an existing browser window, or a new one if none is open. In a control embedded in a web page, no TARGET means the page is replaced and the content stops, so Microsoft recommends always setting it there.

BANNER

A graphic shown in the banner bar below the video, or alone for audio-only media. Parents: ASX, ENTRY. Children: ABSTRACT, MOREINFO.

Attribute	Required	Value	Meaning
`HREF`	yes	URL	The graphic file.

The space is 32 pixels high by 194 wide. A smaller graphic shows at its original size and a larger one is cropped. An ASX banner shows during every clip unless an ENTRY sets its own, which replaces it for that clip. Banners are not supported with DRM files or when the Player is embedded in a web page. BANNERBAR controls how the space is reserved.

BASE

A string put in front of the URL-flip addresses sent to the Player. URL flipping is a script command in the stream that makes the Player open a page in a browser. Parents: ASX, ENTRY. No children.

Attribute	Required	Value	Meaning
`HREF`	yes	URL	The prefix. Default: the empty string. If it does not end in `/` the Player adds one.

BASE affects only those script-command addresses, not the REF addresses of the playlist. An ENTRY’s BASE overrides the ASX one for that entry.

LOGURL

Sends the Player’s log data to another server as well as to the origin server. Parents: ASX, ENTRY. No children.

Attribute	Required	Value	Meaning
`HREF`	yes	URL	A host that can process logging requests, such as a CGI script. Only `http` and `https` are valid.

Log data goes to each LOGURL of the ASX element when the playlist is opened, and to each LOGURL of an ENTRY when that entry is reached. It is sent once to each listed address even if listed twice. A repeated ENTRY sends again. An ASX-level LOGURL applies only to the metafile that contains it. There is no limit to the number of LOGURL elements.

PARAM

A named value for the show or a clip. Parents: ASX, ENTRY. No children. Requires Windows Media Player 6.01 or later; the defined names need Windows Media Player 9 Series or later, and CanPause, CanSeek, CanSkipBack and CanSkipForward need version 10 or later.

Attribute	Value	Meaning
`NAME`	any string, or a defined name below	The name of the parameter.
`VALUE`	number or string	Its value.

Scripts read an entry’s parameters with Media.getItemInfo; older Players used GetMediaParameter with the name and an index from zero.

Defined name	Value	Default	Meaning
`AllowShuffle`	`Yes`, `No`	`No`	Whether the playlist may be shuffled.
`CanPause`	`Yes`, `No`	`Yes`	Whether the user can pause.
`CanSeek`	`Yes`, `No`	`Yes`	Whether the user can seek, fast forward or fast reverse.
`CanSkipBack`	`Yes`, `No`	`Yes`	Whether the user can go back to the previous item with Previous.
`CanSkipForward`	`Yes`, `No`	`Yes`	Whether the user can go on to the next item with Next.
`CPRadioID`	the online store’s RadioID		A radio feed of a type 1 online store; must match a RadioID in the store’s catalogue. Parent: `ASX`.
`Encoding`	`utf-8`		Says the metafile is UTF-8.
`HtmlFlink`	a string from a type 1 online store		Passed to the store plug-in’s `IWMPContentPartner::GetItemInfo` method, which returns the page for the Now Playing pane.
`HTMLView`	URL		A page shown in the Now Playing pane of the full-mode Player, for the playlist or the entry depending on the parent. Not supported for the Player control.
`Log:FieldName[:NameSpace]`	any		Sets the named log field. The `:NameSpace` part is optional.
`Prebuffer`	`true`, `false`		Whether the next entry begins buffering before the current one ends, for a seamless change.
`ShowWhileBuffering`	`true`, `false`		Whether an image continues to show past its duration while the next entry buffers.

Microsoft’s SKIN example also uses the names YourAlbumTitle and link. Those are simply author-chosen names, not defined ones.

SKIN (deprecated)

Names a border, a skin shown in the Now Playing area of the full-mode Player, used mainly in a Windows Media Download Package (.wmd). Parent: ASX. No children.

Attribute	Required	Value	Meaning
`HREF`	yes	URL	A compressed border file with a `.wmz` extension. From Windows Media Player 9 Series on, it must be on the user’s hard disk in the same directory as the metafile.

A package skin must be rectangular; other shapes may give unexpected results.

.ASX File Format – Information elements