CPersistStream Class

Microsoft DirectShow 9.0

CPersistStream Class

CPersistStream is the base class for persistent properties of filters (that is, filter properties in saved graphs).

The simplest way to use CPersistStream is to:

1. Arrange for your filter to inherit this class.

2. Implement WriteToStream and ReadFromStream in your class. These will override the functions here, which do nothing but act as placeholders.

3. Change your NonDelegatingQueryInterface to handle IPersistStream.

4. Implement SizeMax to return an upper bound on the number of bytes of data you save.

   If you save Unicode™ data, remember that a WCHAR is 2 bytes.

5. When your data changes, call SetDirty.

Version Numbers

At some point you might decide to alter or extend the format of your data. You will then wish you had a version number in all the old saved streams so you can tell, when you read them, whether they represent the old or new form. To assist you, this class writes and reads a version number. When it writes, it calls GetSoftwareVersion to inquire as to the version of the software being used at the moment. (In effect, this is a version number of the data layout in the file.) It writes this as the first thing in the data. If you want to change the version, implement (override) GetSoftwareVersion. It reads the version number from the file into mPS_dwFileVersion before calling ReadFromStream, so in ReadFromStream you can check mPS_dwFileVersion to see if you are reading an old version file. Usually you should accept files whose version is no newer than the software version that is reading them.

Protected Data Members

mPS_dwFileVersion	Version number of the file.
mPS_fDirty	Data for this stream must be saved.

Member Functions

CPersistStream	Constructs a CPersistStream object.
SetDirty	Indicates that the object must be saved to the stream.

Overridable Member Functions

GetClassID	Retrieves the class identifier of this stream.
GetSoftwareVersion	Retrieves the version number for this file format.
ReadFromStream	Reads the filter's data from the stream.
SizeMax	Retrieves the number of bytes needed for data (not including version number).
WriteToStream	Writes the filter's data to the stream.

CPersistStream implements IPersistStream. For more implementation information, see the COM Reference in the Microsoft Platform SDK.

Implemented IPersistStream Methods

GetSizeMax	Retrieves the number of bytes needed for data (including version number).
IsDirty	Checks if the object must be saved.
Load	Loads the data from the stream into memory.
Save	Saves the data from memory to the stream.