4 <title>Vorbisfile - function - ov_open</title>
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11 <td><p class=tiny>Vorbisfile documentation</p></td>
12 <td align=right><p class=tiny>vorbisfile version 1.2.0 - 20070723</p></td>
18 <p><i>declared in "vorbis/vorbisfile.h";</i></p>
20 <p>ov_open is one of three initialization functions used to initialize
21 an OggVorbis_File structure and prepare a bitstream for playback.
23 <p><em><b> WARNING for Windows developers: </b> Do not use ov_open() in
24 Windows applications; Windows linking places restrictions on
25 passing <tt>FILE *</tt> handles successfully, and ov_open() runs
26 afoul of these restrictions <a href="#winfoot">[a]</a>. See the <a
27 href="ov_open_callbacks.html">ov_open_callbacks() page </a> for
29 href="ov_open_callbacks.html">ov_open_callbacks()</a> instead. </em>
31 <p>The first argument must be a file pointer to an already opened file
32 or pipe (it need not be seekable--though this obviously restricts what
33 can be done with the bitstream). <tt>vf</tt> should be a pointer to the
34 OggVorbis_File structure -- this is used for ALL the externally visible libvorbisfile
35 functions. Once this has been called, the same <a href="OggVorbis_File.html">OggVorbis_File</a>
36 struct should be passed to all the libvorbisfile functions.<p>
38 The <tt>vf</tt> structure initialized using ov_fopen() must eventually
39 be cleaned using <a href="ov_clear.html">ov_clear()</a>. Once a
40 <tt>FILE *</tt> handle is passed to ov_open() successfully, the
41 application MUST NOT <tt>fclose()</tt> or in any other way manipulate
42 that file handle. Vorbisfile will close the file in <a
43 href="ov_clear.html">ov_clear()</a>. If the application must be able
44 to close the <tt>FILE *</tt> handle itself, see <a
45 href="ov_open_callbacks.html">ov_open_callbacks()</a> with the use of
46 <tt>OV_CALLBACKS_NOCLOSE</tt>.
48 <p>It is often useful to call <tt>ov_open()</tt> simply to determine
49 whether a given file is a Vorbis bitstream. If the <tt>ov_open()</tt>
50 call fails, then the file is not recognizable as Vorbis. If the call
51 succeeds but the initialized <tt>vf</tt> structure will not be used,
52 the application is responsible for calling <a
53 href="ov_clear.html">ov_clear()</a> to clear the decoder's buffers and
56 If [and only if] an <tt>ov_open()</tt> call fails, the application
57 must explicitly <tt>fclose()</tt> the <tt>FILE *</tt> pointer itself.
61 <table border=0 color=black cellspacing=0 cellpadding=7>
65 int ov_open(FILE *f,<a href="OggVorbis_File.html">OggVorbis_File</a> *vf,char *initial,long ibytes);
74 <dd>File pointer to an already opened file
75 or pipe (it need not be seekable--though this obviously restricts what
76 can be done with the bitstream).</dd>
78 <dd>A pointer to the OggVorbis_File structure--this is used for ALL the externally visible libvorbisfile
79 functions. Once this has been called, the same <tt>OggVorbis_File</tt>
80 struct should be passed to all the libvorbisfile functions.</dd>
81 <dt><i>initial</i></dt>
82 <dd>Typically set to NULL. This parameter is useful if some data has already been
83 read from the file and the stream is not seekable. It is used in conjunction with <tt>ibytes</tt>. In this case, <tt>initial</tt>
84 should be a pointer to a buffer containing the data read.</dd>
85 <dt><i>ibytes</i></dt>
86 <dd>Typically set to 0. This parameter is useful if some data has already been
87 read from the file and the stream is not seekable. In this case, <tt>ibytes</tt>
88 should contain the length (in bytes) of the buffer. Used together with <tt>initial</tt></dd>
92 <h3>Return Values</h3>
94 <li>0 indicates success</li>
96 <li>less than zero for failure:</li>
98 <li>OV_EREAD - A read from media returned an error.</li>
99 <li>OV_ENOTVORBIS - Bitstream is not Vorbis data.</li>
100 <li>OV_EVERSION - Vorbis version mismatch.</li>
101 <li>OV_EBADHEADER - Invalid Vorbis bitstream header.</li>
102 <li>OV_EFAULT - Internal logic fault; indicates a bug or heap/stack corruption.</li>
111 <a name="winfoot"></a>
112 <dt><b>[a] Windows and ov_open()</b><p>
114 <dd>Under Windows, stdio file access is implemented in each of many
115 variants of crt.o, several of which are typically installed on any one
116 Windows machine. If libvorbisfile and the application using
117 libvorbisfile are not linked against the exact same
118 version/variant/build of crt.o (and they usually won't be, especially
119 using a prebuilt libvorbis DLL), <tt>FILE *</tt> handles cannot be
120 opened in the application and then passed to vorbisfile to be used
121 by stdio calls from vorbisfile's different version of CRT. For this
122 reason, using <a href="ov_open.html">ov_open()</a> under Windows
123 without careful, expert linking will typically cause a protection
124 fault. Windows programmers should use <a
125 href="ov_fopen.html">ov_fopen()</a> (which will only use libvorbis's
126 crt.o) or <a href="ov_open_callbacks.html">ov_open_callbacks()</a>
127 (which will only use the application's crt.o) instead.<p>
129 This warning only applies to Windows and only applies to <a
130 href="ov_open.html">ov_open()</a>. It is perfectly safe to use <a
131 href="ov_open.html">ov_open()</a> on all other platforms.<p>
133 For more information, see the following microsoft pages on <a
134 href="http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/abx4dbyh(VS.80).aspx">C
135 runtime library linking</a> and a specific description of <a
136 href="http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms235460(VS.80).aspx">restrictions
137 on passing CRT objects across DLL boundaries</a>.
141 <dt><b>[b] Threaded decode</b><p>
142 <dd>If your decoder is threaded, it is recommended that you NOT call
144 in the main control thread--instead, call <tt>ov_open()</tt> in your decode/playback
145 thread. This is important because <tt>ov_open()</tt> may be a fairly time-consuming
146 call, given that the full structure of the file is determined at this point,
147 which may require reading large parts of the file under certain circumstances
148 (determining all the logical bitstreams in one physical bitstream, for
149 example). See <a href="threads.html">Thread Safety</a> for other information on using libvorbisfile with threads.
152 <dt><b>[c] Mixed media streams</b><p>
154 As of Vorbisfile release 1.2.0, Vorbisfile is able to access the
155 Vorbis content in mixed-media Ogg streams, not just Vorbis-only
156 streams. For example, Vorbisfile may be used to open and access the
157 audio from an Ogg stream consisting of Theora video and Vorbis audio.
158 Vorbisfile 1.2.0 decodes the first logical audio stream of each
159 physical stream section.<p>
161 <dt><b>[d] Faster testing for Vorbis files</b><p>
162 <dd><a href="ov_test.html">ov_test()</a> and <a
163 href="ov_test_callbacks.html">ov_test_callbacks()</a> provide less
164 computationally expensive ways to test a file for Vorbisness, but
165 require more setup code.<p>
171 <table border=0 width=100%>
173 <td><p class=tiny>copyright © 2007 Xiph.org</p></td>
174 <td align=right><p class=tiny><a href="http://www.xiph.org/ogg/vorbis/">Ogg Vorbis</a></p></td>
176 <td><p class=tiny>Vorbisfile documentation</p></td>
177 <td align=right><p class=tiny>vorbisfile version 1.2.0 - 20070723</p></td>