Background

Extractors "unpackage" the data in containers, in order to make that data useful for codecs. They may also extract a usually limited amount of information directly, such as bitrate, or framerate.

Writers do the opposite, "packaging" the data from codecs along with other information about the content.

For more background please see ContainersVsCodecs. Also, please refer to the The Annotated BeBook. Helpful information can be found by looking at the page for BMediaFile and especially by looking at media_file_format.

1. OpenBeOS.ExtractorWriterAPI.CurrentPractice
2. OpenBeOS.ExtractorWriterAPI.OutstandingIssues
3. OpenBeOS.ExtractorWriterAPI.OtherApproaches
4. OpenBeOS.ExtractorWriterAPI.ProposedAPI