About This File
This file includes the source code for zPlayer, which is a stand-alone, simple, intuitive and easy-to-use, yet fully functional media player. I made this to suit my purpose and you can tweak it to your taste. The source code is only about 1600 lines and only standard #include files were used. Also included in the attached zip file are some image files which are used for drawing the graphical media controls in the main window.
As this forum does not recommend uploading an executable file, please use This Site to download the compiled exe file of this player. This file is not flagged by Windows Defender with latest Security Intelligence Update.
This player has the following features:
- Play back all formats of media files which can be played back by the Windows Media Player in your computer
- Depending on the file types specified by the user in zPlayer.ini file this player can be either audio only, video only or both.
- Video window is independent of other windows and, when maximized, increases the immersion of the user
- Graphical media controls similar to embedded Windows Media Player
- Forward, backward, pause, repeat, shuffle function
- Increase/decrease/mute sound volume
- Change folders and create playlist for all media files in that folder and its subfolders, and support for manually-made playlists
- Save play-back environment when terminating and resume that environment when restarting
- With one click, you can see internet search results for the file selected in playlist
- With a double-click, you can play back an item in the playlist
- Search strings in the playlist
- Option to see long file names including folder names
- Resize the playlist and video windows, and restore them to their default positions
- Very small footprint: very low CPU and memory usage, with only about 1MB when compiled
- You can even hide all the windows and manipulate the player with hotkeys only
Note: zPlayer is the name I used when I introduced the early version of this player in my blog back in early 2009 and, therefore, has nothing to do with the mobile media player of the same name which started marketing in 2015.
CHANGE LOGS
Version 3.0.1.8 - July 3, 2021
1. Added 4 alternate hotkey sets to be used when the Windows uses Ctrl+Alt+Arrow shortcuts to change screen orientation. This happens when the computer has Intel CPU and Intel HD Graphics Control Panel installed. The alternate hotkeys use =, -, < and > keys instead of up, down, left and right arrows.
2. Changed some lines of code to comply with good coding practice.
Version 3.0.1.7 - April 17, 2021
1. Added Ctrl+Alt+0(Zero) hotkey to restore all windows to their default postions
2. Added Ctrl+Alt+c hotkey to show/hide media controls in video window
Version 3.0.1.6 - March 27, 2021
1. Drastically reduced the playlist load time by using _GUICtrlListView_AddArray() function instead of _GUICtrlListView_AddItem(). The load time was further reduced by use of _SendMessage(GUICtrlGetHandle($ctrlView), $LVM_DELETEALLITEMS) instead of _GUICtrlListView_DeleteAllItems() for deleting existing listview items when changing the folder. It used to take more than 5 seconds to load an 8,000-item playlist but, now, it takes less than 2 seconds.
2. Disabled hiding or showing main and/or playlist windows when video is playing in full screen or maximized mode.
3. Fixed incorrect functioning of Ctrl+Alt+m hotkey for changing playing mode.
Version 3.0.1.5 - March 24, 2021
1. Added codes to make the current item of the listview control remain focused all the time when the playlist window is visible.
2. Disabled hiding or showing main and/or playlist windows when video is playing in full screen mode.
3. Fixed incorrect functioning of Ctrl+Alt+m hotkey for changing playing mode.
Version 3.0.1.4 - March 17, 2021
1. Fixed the problem of main window being minimized when the Close box of playlist window is clicked.
2. Changed hotkeys for Play Next File, Play Previous File, Increase Volume and Decrease Volume from Ctrl+Arrows to Ctrl+Alt+Arrows. This will unify all the hotkey combinations of zPlayer and free up Ctrl+Arrows which are frequently used by other applications.
3. Fixed the problem of the title bar text of playlist window failing to accurately indicate the current playing mode.
4. Improved the way playlist window is scrolled to bring current file to the center of the window. Now it works dynamically while the window is resized.
I owe special thanks to @pixelsearch for his kind and active participation in this update.
Version 3.0.1.3 - March 14, 2021
1. Provided an input box in the Welcome window to allow the first time user to add file types to the default ones.
2. The main loop, which basically handled messages from all of the windows, was divided into 3 loops: one loop each for main window, playlist window and video window.
3. Eliminated minimize and maximize boxes from playlist window.
4. Eliminated horizontal scroll bar from listview control.
5. Added many comments to increase readability of source code.
Version 3.0.1.2 - March 11, 2021
1. Changed some constants to variables: they are heights of listview header and individual items in the playlist window, which are used for scrolling the current file to the center of window, and GUI border width, which is a factor affecting the default positions of windows. They are now obtained from an acutual temporary GUI created at the start of the program so that they accurately reflect the user's OS and default language which affect their values.
2. Streamliined the procedure to handle discrepancy between a playlist and actual files existing in the folder.
Version 3.0.1.1 - March 6, 2021
1. Fixed the problem of mute status being automatically unmuted when a new file is loaded.
2. Set $oPlayer.Settings.autoStart to true once at the start of the program instead of issuing $oPlayer.Controls.Play every time a file is loaded.
Version 3.0.1.0 - February 26, 2021
1. Streamlined procedures which synchronize media controls of zPlayer and Windows Media Player. New code is shorter and more readable.
2. Added a submenu item(Copy file name) in playlist context menu.
Version 3.0.0.8 - February 21, 2021
1. Changed design of main window so that the file name label control dynamically adjusts its position as the string size of the file name changes.
2. Added a menu and hot key in the main and video windows. Turn UI Full Screen On/Off (Ctrl+Alt+u) will toggle the full-screen mode of video window on and off.
3. zPlayer controls such as pause/play, repeat(loop) and volume level are now synchronized with WMP-intrinsic media controls in video window.
4. Changed the way repeat function works: Instead of loading the same file again after its play is complete, it now uses $oPlayer.Settings.setMode("loop", True). This makes the transition from end of file to beginning of file very smooth, especially noticeable in video files.
Version 3.0.0.6 - February 13, 2021
1. Changed media length and current position formats from MM:SS to HH:MM:SS. When this player was for audio only, HH was rarely needed.
2. Improved the way the media position indicators work in both main and video windows such that their numbers are changed real time as the slider shuttle is clicked and dragged.
3. The shape of mute control icon was changed for more intuitive look.
Version 3.0.0.5 - February 10, 2021
1. Media controls have been added to video window. By default it is a small rectangle in the bottom right corner of the video window which can be expanded to a collection of full controls when necessary.
2. mkv was added to default file types. It is recommended that existing zPlayer.ini file be deleted before applying this update.
Version 3.0.0.4 - December 7, 2020
1. A major error was found in "Rescan" function and corrected.
Version 3.0.0.3 - October 7, 2020
1. The file extension was the basis for zPlayer to recognize a video file, but now the existence of video image in the file itself is the basis for recognition of a video file. As a result, there is no need to have two separate keys for audio and video file types to be defined in zPlayer.ini file. Now all audio and video file types are defined under one key named File Types.
Version 3.0.0.2 - August 10, 2020
1. Added context menu in the playlist window with following submenus: Play this file, Delete from playlist, Copy file path, Go to this folder, Search internet
2. Added Reshuffle button to the playlist window. It reshuffles the current shuffled playlist. The button is disabled when the play mode is Sequential.
3. Used _GUICtrlListView_AddItem() instead of GUICtrlCreateListViewItem() to add playlist items, thus avoiding frequent re-creation of playlist window.
Version 3.0.0.1 - August 4, 2020
1. Added a video player
2. Depending on the file types specified by the user in zPlayer.ini file this player can be either audio only, video only or both.
Edited by CYCho
What's New in Version 3.0.1.9
Released
zPlayer Version 3.0.1.9 - Released on July 19, 2021
1. Added menu buttons in playlist window to move an item up or dwon. Drop and drag was not impemented at this stage considering it's complexity for a small player like this.
2. Streamlined codes for drawing menu buttons in playlist window to improve readability and make it easier to add or delete a menu button.
