About AVIFile Functions and Macros
[The feature associated with this page, AVIFile Functions and Macros, is a legacy feature. It has been superseded by Source Reader. Source Reader has been optimized for Windows 10 and Windows 11. Microsoft strongly recommends that new code use Source Reader instead of AVIFile Functions and Macros, when possible. Microsoft suggests that existing code that uses the legacy APIs be rewritten to use the new APIs if possible.]
The AVIFile functions and macros handle the information in time-based files as one or more data streams instead of tagged blocks of data called chunks. Data streams refer to the components of a time-based file. An AVI file can contain several different types of data, such as a video sequence, an English soundtrack, and a French soundtrack. Using AVIFile, an application can access each of these components separately.
Note
Although the AVIFile functions and macros work with any RIFF file, this overview demonstrates their use with AVI files only. AVI files are typically the time-based files used with the AVIFile macros and functions.
AVIFile functions and macros are contained in a dynamic-link library. To initialize the library, use the AVIFileInit function. After you initialize the library, you can use any of the AVIFile functions or macros. To release the library, use the AVIFileExit function. AVIFile maintains a reference count of the applications that are using the library, but not those that have released it. Your applications should balance each use of AVIFileInit with a call to AVIFileExit to completely release the library after each application finishes using it.