play

Typecommand
DictionaryLCS
LibraryLiveCode Script
Syntax
play [<clipType>] {<filePath> | <clip>} [looping] [at <point>] [options <xOptions>]
play {stop | pause | resume | step {forward | back}} [<clipType>] [<clip>]
Summary

Plays a movie or sound.

Introduced1.0
Changes

The use of QuickTime was deprecated in version 8.1 of LiveCode. As the play videoClip .. form of the play command was relying on QuickTime, it is no longer supported.

OSmac, windows, linux, ios
Platformsdesktop, server, mobile
Parameters
NameTypeDescription
clipType

The type of clip to play. - audioClip - videoClip

filePath

The location and name of the file you want to play. If you specify a name but not a location, LiveCode assumes the file is in the defaultFolder.

clip

A reference to an audio clip or video clip in an open stack.

point

Specifies the center of the movie to be played, relative to the current stack window. If the point is not specified, the movie is positioned at the center of the current card. If a sound is being played, the point has no effect.

xOptions

Are command line parameters passed to the "xanim" package on Unix systems. (On Mac OS and Windows systems, this parameter has no effect.).

Example
play "/usr/local/clips/music.aiff"
play videoClip "Movie" at 100,100
play audioClip "Trust No One" looping
play "/usr/local/clips/music.aiff"
# to stop the currently playing audio clip
play stop
Values
NameTypeDescription
The result

To pause a movie, use the play pause form. Continue playing with play resume. You can move one frame backward or forward with the play step form. If you use one of these commands with a clip that is not currently playing, the result function returns "videoClip is not playing". If the clip is a sound, these forms simply play the sound, ignoring the words "pause", "resume", or "step" .The play command does not work on some Unix systems that lack built-in support for sound. On these systems, when the play command executes, the result is set to "no sound support".

RelatedProperty: callbacks, currentTime, dontRefresh, frameCount, looping, playDestination, playLoudness, playRate, showSelection
Message: playStarted, playStopped
Object: audioClip, player, videoClip
Glossary: command, current card, environment variable, execute, message, QuickTime, return, Unix
Function: MCISendString, QTVersion, result, sound
Command: beep, import, iphoneSetAudioCategory, prepare, revStopAnimation, start, stop
Control Structure: function
Description

Use the play command to control playing of a movie or sound.

If you use the play ... looping form, the sound or video plays continuously from beginning to end until you stop it.

You can stop playing of a movie or sound with the stop command or with the play stop form. If you specify a clip, only that clip is stopped. If you specify a type but not a clip, the last clip of that type is stopped. (On Unix systems, you must wait a second or two after starting a movie or sound before you can stop it, to give the external player time to start up.)

You can play multiple movies at once by starting each one of them with the play command.

Movies cannot be played while any tool other than the Browse tool is in use.

If you start playing an audio clip when another one is playing, the first audio clip is stopped, and a playStopped message is sent to the current card. You cannot play two sounds at the same time, nor can you queue a sound while another sound is playing.

On Unix systems, the "xanim" program must be located in a directory in the PATH environment variable. You can set the PATH from within LiveCode by using the put command :

put newPath into $PATH

Note: The type of audio and video clip formats supported
by the play command is limited. See the entries for audioClip and videoClip for details. To play a wider variety of formats, use a player object.

Tagsmultimedia