Oracle Product Name Oracle Video Client Software Guide Release 2.1.8 A42334_4

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Chapter 1
Installing the Oracle Video Client: Windows for Workgroups

The Oracle Video Client software enables you to develop interactive, video-based multimedia applications for such uses as computer-based training (CBT), interactive kiosks, and corporate repositories that receive and control networked Motion Picture Experts Groups (MPEG) streams. The Oracle Video Custom Control enables multimedia applications to start, stop, and seek MPEG video streams from the Oracle Video Server. The Oracle Video Server allows many different clients to concurrently access MPEG video streams. The Oracle Video Web Plug-in allows you to stream video from an Oracle Video Server to a web browser.

This chapter explains how to install and configure the Oracle Video Client software for Microsoft Windows for Workgroups 3.11. (If you are installing on a Windows 95 client, see Chapter 2, Installing the Oracle Video Client: Windows 95.) It also explains how to test the software with local and networked MPEG streams. This chapter contains these sections:

• Oracle Video Client Overview
• Before You Install
• Installation
• The Oracle Installer
• Testing the Installation

Oracle Video Client Overview

The Oracle Video Client software includes:

• A web browser plug-in that enables web pages to access MPEG videos from the Oracle Video Server. The Oracle Video Plug-in is compatible with Internet browsers that support Netscape plug-ins.
• An Oracle Video Custom Control, an OLE2 Custom Extension (OCX) that enables 16-bit OLE2 applications to access MPEG videos locally and from the Oracle Video Server. Currently the Oracle Video Custom Control supports:
• Oracle Power Objects v2.0, 2.1
• Microsoft Visual Basic v4.0
• Oracle Forms v4.5.7

The software also includes:

• Sample applications (with source code) that demonstrate how applications can work with the Oracle Video Client and the Oracle database. Appendix A in this manual describes the sample code in more detail.
• A video application, OVS Player, that tests your machine's ability to display MPEG files from either a local hard disk or from the Oracle Video Server.

System Requirements

Before installing the Oracle Video Client software, ensure that the client PC meets these minimum hardware and software requirements.

• Intel based-PC with minimum processor requirements:
• 486/66 for hardware MPEG decoding
• Pentium 90 for software MPEG decoding
• 16 MB RAM (minimum)
• Sufficient disk space for your development environment. Oracle Video Client software requires 20MB (including documentation)
• PCI (recommended) or EISA bus
• Ethernet LAN card for PCI (recommended) or EISA bus

You may also use SMC Ultra 16 ISA cards within a PCI/ISA client machine.

• MPEG-1 decoder (see MPEG-1 Hardware and Software Decoder Details for more information about hardware and software decoders)
• Graphics accelerator with 640x480 resolution and 256 colors
• 8 or 16-bit audio output
• Local CD-ROM drive or access to a networked CD-ROM drive
• VGA/SVGA monitor
• Windows for Workgroups 3.11
• A Windows VxD-based TCP/IP stack (with UDP). You can use any one of these products, but you must ensure that you install it with Enhanced Mode NDIS 3.0 support:
• Microsoft TCP/IP-32 3.11b
• OnNet 2.01
• TGV's MultiNet v1.2

MPEG-1 Hardware and Software Decoder Details

The Oracle Video Client provides support for two MPEG-1 decoding solutions:

• Sigma Designs RealMagic Maxima (with software version 2.30), Pro, and Ultra MPEG-1 Accelerator Cards (with software version 2.33). The software is available by FTP from http://www.SigmaDesigns.com.
• CompCore Multimedia, Inc. software MPEG decoder v2.1. For more information about this decoder, contact CompCore at http://www.CompCore.com. This decoder is included on the Oracle Video Client CD. To install the Compcore library, execute the command \compcore\setup.exe from the CD.

MPEG-1 decoding on the client is best performed by a hardware accelerator card that is capable of providing full-screen, full-motion digital video at 30 frames per second (fps) with CD-quality audio. Software decoding, even on high-end CPUs (such as a Pentium 133) will most likely have reduced performance, perhaps as low as 15 fps, with lower motion quality. Oracle does not recommend software MPEG-1 decoding for production applications. Instead, software decoding is best used for system testing or application development.

Before You Install

Before you install the Oracle Video Client, make sure you complete the following:

• Review the accompanying Oracle Video Client Software Release Notes.
• Make sure DOS and Windows for Workgroups 3.11 are properly installed on the client PC.
• Make sure you have the Oracle Media Net address (the IP address and UDP port number of the Oracle Video Server). You can get this from your System Administrator.)
• Make sure the Oracle Video Server is correctly installed and running on the server machine. (See the Oracle Video Server Installation and Administrator Guides for your server platform, or call your system administrator for more information.)
• Make sure the client PC CD-ROM drive that you will use for installation is working correctly.

Using the CD-ROM Drive

Any CD-ROM drive that can be attached as a logical drive (for example, the D: drive) can be used to install the Oracle Video Client software. Refer to the CD-ROM drive documentation for instructions on its use.

Drive Letter

In general, the instructions in this chapter assume that your CD-ROM drive is recognized as the logical drive D. If the PC CD-ROM drive letter differs, substitute the correct logical letter.

Installation

This section explains how to install the Oracle Video Client software on a client PC.

How the Installation Process Works

The installation process uses the Oracle Installer, a Windows application that is supplied on the Oracle Video Client CD-ROM.

Set up the Oracle Installer in Windows Program Manager by starting the Oracle Installer application from the CD-ROM, as described in the section "Running the Oracle Installer." After you start the Oracle Installer, it performs the following tasks:

• Creates the Oracle Home directory and subdirectories. You can select the default directory (recommended, particularly if you have installed other Oracle products), or you can specify your own custom path.

Note

If you have previously installed other Oracle Windows products, the Oracle Installer does not recreate directories.

• Copies Oracle Video Client files to the subdirectories of the Oracle Home directory. The default Oracle Home directory is C:\orawin for Windows for Workgroups clients.
• Creates the Oracle Video Client Program Group with icons for the OVS Player (a movie player) and Windows Notepad icons for editing the oravideo.ini and oracle.ini configuration files.

The Oracle Installer

The Oracle Installer provides a common interface for the installation of all Oracle products. A complete installation of the Oracle Video Client includes three components:

• Oracle Video Client 2.1.8 - the software that requests and displays the streaming MPEG video.
• Oracle Media Net 3.0 - a software abstraction layer that provides communication among components of the Oracle Video Server and the Oracle Video Client.
• Oracle Installer - used as part of the Oracle Video Client Configuration Utility.

Running the Oracle Installer

Run the Oracle Installer from the Windows Program Manager by following the steps in this section.

Note

If you have previously installed another Oracle product for Windows, the Oracle Installer may already be installed on the hard disk. However, you should follow these steps to ensure that you have the latest Installer software available.

To begin the installation process:

1. Start Windows. No other applications should be running.
2. Insert the Oracle Video Client CD-ROM installation disk in the CD-ROM drive, assumed to be the D: drive.
3. Choose Run... from the File menu.
4. Type D:\windows\install\orainst.exe where D stands for the logical drive letter of the CD-ROM drive. (Figure 1-1) The installation screen appears.

Figure 1-1: Running the Oracle Installer from a CD.



5. If the language has not been established by a previous Oracle Software installation, the Language dialog windows appears (Figure 1-2). Choose the language to use when working with the Oracle Video Client software. If you select a language that is not supported by the Oracle Video Client, the language defaults to English. Click OK.

Currently, only English is supported.

Figure 1-2: The Language dialog window

Figure 1-3: The Installation Settings dialog window

Note

The Oracle Installer's default location for all Oracle Products is the C:\orawin directory. Choosing a different directory can disable currently installed Oracle products. If Oracle products are already installed on your system, and you try to establish a new home for Oracle products, the following window is displayed (Figure 1-4).

Figure 1-4: Choosing a new Oracle Home directory

If you still choose a new home directory, the Oracle installer checks your C:\autoexec.bat file and your environment settings. The Installer asks if you want the new Oracle Home added to the PATH= statement in your C:\autoexec.bat file. (Figure 1-5) Click Yes to update your path.

Figure 1-5: Configuration warning dialog window

If your PATH statement is correct, but for some reason the environment does not reflect your PATH accurately, the PATH Problem dialog window is displayed (Figure 1-6). Some common causes for inaccurate environment readings include changes to the autoexec.bat that have not been initiated by a reboot (or executing the autoexec.bat again), or networks that prepend PATH entries to the beginning of an autoexec.bat PATH= statement, rendering some entries unusable. Click OK to accept this. You need to quit Windows and reboot the computer for the new settings to take effect.

Figure 1-6: Path Problem dialog window

After changes to autoexec.bat file are made, a notification dialog (Figure 1-7) suggests that you reboot to enable the changes. Exit Windows before rebooting. Then restart the Oracle Installer.

Figure 1-7: Reboot Notification

The dialog windows in Figure 1-4 through Figure 1-7 do not appear if you do not make changes to the Oracle Home directory.

1. The Software Asset Manager dialog window appears. This dialog window itemizes installed Oracle software on the right side, and installable products on the left side. Choose the products to install by clicking on them. Multiple selections can be made by clicking and holding the primary mouse button while dragging the mouse.

For the Oracle Video Client to operate properly, these two items must be installed:

• Oracle Video Client
• Oracle Media Net

Choosing Oracle Video Client automatically installs Oracle Media Net.

Options

Before you continue with the installation, click on the Options button and choose the level of installation reporting (Figure 1-8). The reports are written to the orainst.log file which is stored in the C:\orawin\orainst directory.

Figure 1-8: The Installer Options dialog window

The Options provided in this dialog window set the level of confirmation prompts and information messages you can receive during the installation process.

• Display Before Installing - displays an additional confirmation dialog window before installing products. If this checkbox is unchecked, the installer begins installing products on your hard disk when you click Install.
• Display Before Removing - displays an additional confirmation dialog window before removing any items. If this option is not selected, items will be removed immediately upon clicking OK.
• Display Additional Messages or Prompts - displays an additional confirmation dialog window before committing changes required by normal operating conditions. Notifications and questions regarding unusual changes or conditions are always posted, regardless of the setting for this option.
• Log Installer Action - writes all of the installer's actions to a log file located in the C:\orawin\orainst directory.
• Remember Location of Available Products - remembers and scans the "remembered" directory for available products. Deselect this option if you do not want the Installer to remember the last available products directory next time you run the Oracle Installer.

When you are ready to continue the installation, click Install. Click Yes on the Confirmation dialog, unless you have disabled it, to confirm that you want to install the selected products.

Installing the Oracle Video Client

After you have confirmed that you wish to install the Oracle Video Client software, the Choose Directory dialog window displays the subdirectory where the Oracle Video Client software will be installed. The Installer will create the vc21 subdirectory underneath the C:\orawin directory (Figure 1-9).

Figure 1-9: The Choose Directory dialog window

1. Click OK to confirm your Oracle Video Client home directory. The MPEG choice dialog window appears.

2. The MPEG Choice dialog asks which MPEG decoder you are using:
• Sigma Designs RealMagic Maxima, Pro, or Ultra hardware MPEG decoder
• CompCore SoftPeg software MPEG decoder
  
  NOTE: Choose only one. Support files for your choice are copied into the installation directory, and the oravideo.ini file is created to reflect the MPEG decoder you choose. You can choose support for one of the decoders now and install the actual MPEG decoder at a later time.

3. The Oracle Video Client support dialog window asks you to select which application development tools you will be using with the Oracle Video Client software. The list includes support for:
• Oracle Forms v4.5.7
• Oracle Power Objects v2.0, 2.1
• Microsoft Visual Basic 4.0
• Oracle Video Web Plug-in

You use the Oracle Video Client software with these application development tools to develop applications that use MPEG video from the Oracle Video Server. Choose the application development tools that you will use. The installer copies files for the tools you choose onto the hard disk. If you choose support for Oracle Power Objects or Visual Basic, the Installer automatically registers the Oracle Video Custom Control with the Windows registry.

If you choose the Oracle Video Web Plug-in, the Installer prompts you for the location of the directory in which to put the plug-in. The default is C:\netscape\plugins.

Note

If the C:\netscape\plugins directory does not exist on your machine, the Oracle Installer will display a dialog box giving you the option of entering the name of the appropriate Netscape plug-in directory.

If necessary, the Installer updates the Windows system files on your machine and install Microsoft Re-Distributable Support files. These enable your machine to run applications that take advantage of OLE2 features (Figure 1-10).

Figure 1-10: System Support Files dialog window

1. The Text Entry/IP address window begins the process of installing Oracle Media Net. The Oracle Video Server IP address and Oracle Video Server UDP port number define the Oracle Media Net Address. Oracle Media Net is the component responsible for establishing communication among the components of the Oracle Video Server and the Oracle Video Client.

The Text Entry/IP address window asks for the IP address of the Oracle Video Server. Enter the IP address (or IP alias) and click OK.

1. The Text Entry/UDP Port number dialog window appears next (Figure 1-11). Add the UDP port number. Click OK.

(Refer to Chapter 3, of the Oracle Video Server Administrator's Guide for your system or contact your System Administrator for more information on Oracle Media Net addresses, IP addresses and UDP port numbers.)

Figure 1-11: The Text Entry/UDP port number dialog window

1. An information dialog window appears confirming the Oracle Media Net address. Confirm that the IP address and UDP port number are correct and click OK.
2. The next dialog window asks you to confirm the installation of System Support files and Oracle Media Net files. This dialog confirms choices you made earlier. Click OK. The files will now be copied to the client PC.

Once the installation completes, you will see a Windows Program Group named Oracle Video Client (Figure 1-12) with the OVS Player icon, and Notepad icons for the oravideo.ini and oracle.ini files inside.

Figure 1-12: The Oracle Video Client Program Group.

Testing the Installation

The Oracle Installer makes the necessary modifications to the Oracle configuration file (oracle.ini) and the win.ini file. Both files can be found in your Windows directory. The Oracle configuration file must be referenced in the win.ini file. If you need to make modifications to these files, look for the section headings [Oracle] and [MediaNet].

The win.ini file has a section header named Oracle. It appears as the following:

[Oracle]
ORA_CONFIG=C:\ORAWIN\ORACLE.INI

This is the reference to the oracle.ini file.

The oracle.ini file has a section header named MediaNet, that contains the Media Net address of the Oracle Video Server:

[MediaNet]
UDP=UDP:192.25.102.201:5000

The oracle.ini file also contains a reference to the directory containing the Oracle Video Client software. VC21= must reference the Oracle Video Client directory. The default, for example, is VC21=C:\ORAWIN\VC21.

Verify the Installation

Before the Oracle Video Client installation can be verified, one of the two MPEG decoding solutions must installed:

• Sigma Designs RealMagic hardware decoder
• CompCore SoftPeg software decoder

The Sigma Designs decoder installs a media player to view MPEG files. The media player can be found as an icon in the Windows Program Group created by the installation of the decoder. Use the media player to test that the client software can decode local MPEG files from the CD-ROM or local hard disk.

The Compcore decoder does not come with a video player.

Test streaming a local MPEG file

After you have tested using the media player installed with your MPEG solution, test using OVS Player, which is installed with the Oracle Video Client software. OVS Player can be found as an icon in the Windows Program Group created by the installation of the Oracle Video Client.

To use OVS Player, perform the following steps:

1. Double click the OVS Player icon.

2. Click on the Local button to view a list of files on the hard disk or CD-ROM.

Note: You may have to transfer an MPEG file to the client PC in order to verify that OVS Player works with the installed decoder. See your system administrator for assistance in transferring files.

3. Locate a video file, select it, and click OK.

Choose Play from the Video menu to view the video.

If local MPEG files do not play, see your system administrator for assistance.

After you have successfully viewed video from a local file, use OVS Player to test viewing MPEG streams from the Oracle Video Server over a network.

Test streaming a network MPEG file

Before testing streamed MPEG over the network, you should verify:

• that the network is operational
• that the Oracle Video Server is running

Network Verification

Use the Ping utility that accompanies the TCP/IP stack software installed on your system to verify that the network is capable of delivering video. This example (Figure 1-13) shows a generic ping utility.

Figure 1-13: A generic ping utility

1. Start the Ping utility accompanying the TCP/IP stack installed on the client PC.
2. Enter the IP address, (or IP address alias) of the Oracle Video Server.
3. Set your ping utility to use 8K (8192 byte) packets. Check the ping utility's Options settings for this parameter. Check with your system administrator for more information about pinging the Oracle Video Server.
4. Ping the server using 8K (8192 bytes) packets (Figure 1-14).

Figure 1-14: Use 8K packets when pinging

Note: If the network is not capable of using 8K packets, you will be notified that the data length is too long for your network's MTU (maximum transfer unit). If this happens, call your network administrator to resolve this problem. Video will not work with packet sizes smaller than 8K. You can still query the Oracle Video Server for a list of videos, but you cannot play them.

However, note that some TCP/IP stacks (such as ONNET 2.1) cannot ping packets of that size, but can still send video packets correctly.

Test streaming a network MPEG file

Verifying the network stream is similar to verifying the local stream, except that the MPEG stream comes from the Oracle Video Server over a network instead of from an MPEG file on a local hard disk.

Use the following procedure to test viewing MPEG streams from an Oracle Video Server:

1. Double click the OVS Player icon.
2. Click Server. A list of files (Figure 1-15) located in the Media Data Store of the Oracle Video Server is displayed. The files displayed are "tag" files, with the extension .mpi, that contain information about the video MPEG content files, such as encoding rate and time length of the video.

Note

If nothing appears in the Network list, contact your system administrator.

Figure 1-15: Oracle Video Server List

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