windows media player

[amcrae]

I would like to be able to use windows media player, or something else if someone can offer an alternative to play an mp3 file.

The only constraint is that it can't be from a component on a form or web page. A friend of mine was able to do this using delphi to convert the component into some sort of class file which was then called to play the mp3. Is the same thing possible in VB?

Here is a module that can Start and Stop MP3 Play
it also has a few extra functions that I needed when I used it.
PS:
I really wish you newbies would search for something before posting, this is like the 3rd or 4th time I have posted this code.

Public Declare Function mciGetErrorString Lib "winmm.dll" Alias "mciGetErrorStringA" (ByVal dwError As Long, ByVal lpstrBuffer As String, ByVal uLength As Long) As Long
Public Declare Function GetShortPathName Lib "kernel32" Alias "GetShortPathNameA" (ByVal lpszLongPath As String, ByVal lpszShortPath As String, ByVal cchBuffer As Long) As Long
Public Declare Function mciSendString Lib "winmm.dll" Alias "mciSendStringA" (ByVal lpstrCommand As String, ByVal lpstrReturnString As String, ByVal uReturnLength As Long, ByVal hwndCallback As Long) As Long
Public Declare Function SendMessage Lib "user32" Alias "SendMessageA" (ByVal hwnd As Long, ByVal wMsg As Long, ByVal wParam As Long, lParam As Any) As Long
Public Declare Function ReleaseCapture Lib "user32" () As Long
Public Declare Function SetWindowPos Lib "user32" (ByVal hwnd As Long, ByVal hWndInsertAfter As Long, ByVal x As Long, ByVal y As Long, ByVal cx As Long, ByVal cy As Long, ByVal wFlags As Long) As Long
Public Const SWP_NOMOVE = &H2
Public Const SWP_NOSIZE = &H1
Public Const HWND_TOPMOST = -1
Public Const HWND_NOTOPMOST = -2
Public TheFileName As String



Public Function IsItPlaying() As Boolean
Static yn As String * 30
    mciSendString "status MP3Play mode", yn, Len(yn), 0
    IsPlaying = (Mid$(yn, 1, 7) = "playing")
End Function

Public Function mp3Play(FileName As String)
Dim cmdToDo As String * 255
Dim dwReturn As Long
Dim ret As String * 128

Dim tmp As String * 255
Dim lenShort As Long
Dim ShortPathAndFie As String
    
    If Dir(FileName) = "" Then
        mmOpen = "Error with input file"
        Exit Function
    End If
    lenShort = GetShortPathName(FileName, tmp, 255)
    ShortPathAndFie = Left$(tmp, lenShort)
    glo_hWnd = hwnd
    cmdToDo = "open " & ShortPathAndFie & " type MPEGVideo Alias MP3Play"
    dwReturn = mciSendString(cmdToDo, 0&, 0&, 0&)

    If dwReturn <> 0 Then  'not success
        mciGetErrorString dwReturn, ret, 128
        mmOpen = ret
        MsgBox ret, vbCritical
        Exit Function
    End If
    
    mmOpen = "Success"
    mciSendString "play MP3Play", 0, 0, 0
End Function

Public Function mp3Pause()
    mciSendString "pause MP3Play", 0, 0, 0
End Function

Public Function mp3Stop() As String
    mciSendString "stop MP3Play", 0, 0, 0
    mciSendString "close MP3Play", 0, 0, 0
End Function

Public Function PositionInSec()
Static PIS As String * 30
    mciSendString "set MP3Play time format milliseconds", 0, 0, 0
    mciSendString "status MP3Play position", PIS, Len(PIS), 0
    PositionInSec = Round(Mid$(PIS, 1, Len(PIS)) / 1000)
End Function

Public Function Position()
Static P As String * 30
    mciSendString "set MP3Play time format milliseconds", 0, 0, 0
    mciSendString "status MP3Play position", P, Len(P), 0
    sec = Round(Mid$(P, 1, Len(P)) / 1000)
    If sec < 60 Then Position = "0:" & Format(sec, "00")
    If sec > 59 Then
        mins = Int(sec / 60)
        sec = sec - (mins * 60)
        Position = Format(mins, "00") & ":" & Format(sec, "00")
    End If
End Function

Public Function LengthInSec()
Static L As String * 30
    mciSendString "set MP3Play time format milliseconds", 0, 0, 0
    mciSendString "status MP3Play length", L, Len(s), 0
    LengthInSec = Round(Val(Mid$(L, 1, Len(L))) / 1000) 'Round(CInt(Mid$(s, 1, Len(s))) / 1000)
End Function

Public Function Length()
Static L As String * 30
    mciSendString "set MP3Play time format milliseconds", 0, 0, 0
    mciSendString "status MP3Play length", L, Len(L), 0
    sec = Round(Val(Mid$(L, 1, Len(L))) / 1000) 'Round(CInt(Mid$(l, 1, Len(l))) / 1000)
    If sec < 60 Then Length = "0:" & Format(sec, "00")
    If sec > 59 Then
        mins = Int(sec / 60)
        sec = sec - (mins * 60)
        Length = Format(mins, "00") & ":" & Format(sec, "00")
    End If
End Function


Public Function SeekTo(Second)
    mciSendString "set MP3Play time format milliseconds", 0, 0, 0
    If IsItPlaying = True Then mciSendString "play MP3Play from " & Second, 0, 0, 0
    If IsItPlaying = False Then mciSendString "seek MP3Play to " & Second, 0, 0, 0
End Function

Public Sub FormDrag(frm As Form)
ReleaseCapture
Call SendMessage(frm.hwnd, 161, 2, 0&)
End Sub

Public Sub FormOnTop(frm As Form, OTTF As Boolean)
  Select Case OTTF
    Case True
      Call SetWindowPos(frm.hwnd, HWND_TOPMOST, 0, 0 _
        , 0, 0, SWP_NOMOVE Or SWP_NOSIZE)
    Case False
      Call SetWindowPos(frm.hwnd, HWND_NOTOPMOST, 0, 0 _
        , 0, 0, SWP_NOMOVE Or SWP_NOSIZE)
  End Select
End Sub

Public Function RevInStr(ByVal sIn As String, sFind As String, Optional nStart As Long = 1, Optional bCompare As VbCompareMethod = vbBinaryCompare) As Long
Dim nPos As Long
    nPos = InStr(nStart, sIn, sFind, bCompare)
    If nPos = 0 Then
        RevInStr = 0
    Else
        RevInStr = Len(sIn) - nPos - Len(sFind) + 2
    End If
End Function