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C# find the length of a video file

I am using the following code to find the length of a video file.
WindowsMediaPlayer windowsMediaPlayer = new WindowsMediaPlayer();
WindowsMediaPlayer player = windowsMediaPlayer;
var clip = player.newMedia(strPath);
WMPLength = $"{TimeSpan.FromSeconds(clip.duration)} ";
player.close();
The code returns what I expect but there are two problems.
One it crashes randomly. It crashes like its out of memory but while I do see memory usage go up it doesn't appear to be enough to crash the program
Two it is very slow
Am I missing something in cleaning up the code, a memory leak
or is there a better way to do this?
Thank you

First thing first: your method requires WMP installed on the computer, there are many editions without WMP installed oob.
This is an approach i am using and no problems so far (not sure why you need the media player) is it a specific requirement, extension ?
1-Install the following NuGet package, Microsoft.WindowsAPICodePack-Shell
https://www.nuget.org/packages/Microsoft.WindowsAPICodePack-Shell
2-Use the code snipet
using Microsoft.WindowsAPICodePack.Shell;
using Microsoft.WindowsAPICodePack.Shell.PropertySystem;
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
namespace VideoLenght
{
internal class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
Console.WriteLine(GetVideoDuration(#"C:\videos\20190531_005611.mp4"));
Console.ReadLine();
}
public static TimeSpan GetVideoDuration(string filePath)
{
using (var shell = ShellObject.FromParsingName(filePath))
{
IShellProperty prop = shell.Properties.System.Media.Duration;
var t = (ulong)prop.ValueAsObject;
return TimeSpan.FromTicks((long)t);
}
}
}
}

Trouble Enumerating BLE devices in Win32 Desktop Application Using UWP APIs

I am trying to add BLE functionality into a classic (WinForms?) C# desktop application, and have added references (Windows.winmd and System.Runtime.WindowsRuntime) to allow me to access the new BLE API recently introduced by Microsoft for Windows 10 UWP applications. I need to create a classic desktop application, as I need to use an older driver device wrapper (teVirtualMIDI) and want to create a .exe, not an app package.
I am referencing the aformentioned libraries from the following locations...
C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\UnionMetadata\Facade\Windows.WinMD
C:\Program Files (x86)\Reference Assemblies\Microsoft\Framework.NETCore\v4.5\System.Runtime.WindowsRuntime.dll
C:\Program Files (x86)\Reference Assemblies\Microsoft\Framework.NETCore\v4.5\System.Runtime.WindowsRuntime.UI.Xaml.dll
At this point, I simply want to be able to view connected services and characteristics in the debug output window, as is done in this blog post...
https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/cdndevs/2017/04/28/uwp-working-with-bluetooth-devices-part-1/
It seems that I am getting errors because the BLE API needs to perform async operations, but I am honestly at a loss. The code I have written so far is included below. Essentially, I am receiving errors when trying to call the "GetGattServicesAsync()" method, as Visual Studio says that class "BluetoothLEDevice" does not contain such a definition. That method is included in the online documentation though, and I am wondering why I am not able to access it.
I hope I have given sufficient information, and any help in solving this problem will be more than appreciated. Thank you all for all the helpful advice you give!
using System;
using System.Diagnostics;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Collections.ObjectModel;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
using Windows.Devices.Bluetooth;
using Windows.Devices.Midi;
using Windows.Devices.Bluetooth.Advertisement;
using Windows.Devices.Bluetooth.GenericAttributeProfile;
using Windows.Devices.Enumeration;
using Windows.Foundation;
using Windows.Foundation.Collections;
using Windows.Storage.Streams;
using Windows.UI.Core;
using Windows.UI.Xaml;
using Windows.UI.Xaml.Controls;
using Windows.UI.Xaml.Navigation;
namespace BDBMidiClient
{
public class BLEHandlingDiscovery : Page
{
//private ObservableCollection<BluetoothLEAttributeDisplay> ServiceCollection = new ObservableCollection<BluetoothLEAttributeDisplay>();
//private ObservableCollection<BluetoothLEAttributeDisplay> CharacteristicCollection = new ObservableCollection<BluetoothLEAttributeDisplay>();
public ObservableCollection<BluetoothLEDeviceDisplay> KnownDevices = new ObservableCollection<BluetoothLEDeviceDisplay>();
//private List<DeviceInformation> UnknownDevices = new List<DeviceInformation>();
//private DeviceWatcher deviceWatcher;
//private BluetoothLEDevice bluetoothLeDevice = null;
//private GattCharacteristic selectedCharacteristic;
private void StartBLEDeviceWatcher()
{
string[] requestedProperties = { "System.Devices.Aep.DeviceAddress", "System.Devices.Aep.IsConnected" };
DeviceWatcher deviceWatcher =
DeviceInformation.CreateWatcher(
BluetoothLEDevice.GetDeviceSelectorFromPairingState(false),
requestedProperties,
DeviceInformationKind.AssociationEndpoint);
/*
DeviceWatcher deviceWatcher =
DeviceInformation.CreateWatcher(
"System.ItemNameDisplay:~~\"BDB\"",
requestedProperties,
DeviceInformationKind.AssociationEndpoint);*/
deviceWatcher.Added += DeviceWatcher_Added;
deviceWatcher.Updated += DeviceWatcher_Updated;
deviceWatcher.Removed += DeviceWatcher_Removed;
deviceWatcher.Start();
//Debug.WriteLine(requestedProperties);
}
private async void DeviceWatcher_Added(DeviceWatcher sender, DeviceInformation deviceInfo)
{
Guid gattService = new Guid();
var device = await BluetoothLEDevice.FromIdAsync(deviceInfo.Id);
var services=await device.GetGattServicesAsync();
foreach (var service in services.Services)
{
Debug.WriteLine($"Service: {service.Uuid}");
var characteristics = await service.GetCharacteristicsAsync();
foreach (var character in characteristics.Characteristics)
{
Debug.WriteLine($"Characteristic: {character.Uuid}");
}
}
}
private void DeviceWatcher_Updated(DeviceWatcher sender, DeviceInformationUpdate deviceInfoUpdate)
{
}
private void DeviceWatcher_Removed(DeviceWatcher sender, DeviceInformationUpdate deviceInfoUpdate)
{
}
async void ConnectToBLEDevice(DeviceInformation deviceInformation)
{
BluetoothLEDevice bluetoothLeDevice = await BluetoothLEDevice.FromIdAsync("BDB");
}
private BluetoothLEDeviceDisplay FindBluetoothLEDeviceDisplay(string id)
{
foreach (BluetoothLEDeviceDisplay bleDeviceDisplay in KnownDevices)
{
if (bleDeviceDisplay.Id == id)
{
return bleDeviceDisplay;
}
}
return null;
}
}

The doc says the API belongs to "Windows 10 Creators Update (introduced v10.0.15063.0)". So please try to add the one from "C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\UnionMetadata\10.0.15063.0\Windows.winmd"
Here is the result from my project
You can see my code works well.

Synaptics SDK can't find device

I'm attempting to grab a device handle on the Synaptics Touchpad using the Synaptics SDK, specifically using methods in the SYNCTRLLib.
However, the SYNCTRL method failed to find it, returning -1.
Syn.cs:
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using SYNCOMLib;
using SYNCTRLLib;
namespace TP_Test1
{
class Syn
{
SynAPICtrl SynTP_API = new SynAPICtrl();
SynDeviceCtrl SynTP_Dev = new SynDeviceCtrl();
SynPacketCtrl SynTP_Pack = new SynPacketCtrl();
int DeviceHandle;
//Constructor
public Syn ()
{
SynTP_API.Initialize();
SynTP_API.Activate();
//DeviceHandle == -1 ? Can't find device?
DeviceHandle = SynTP_API.FindDevice(new SynConnectionType(), new SynDeviceType(), 0);
//Below line causing Unhandled Exception
SynTP_Dev.Select(DeviceHandle);
SynTP_Dev.Activate();
SynTP_Dev.OnPacket += SynTP_Dev_OnPacket;
}
public void SynTP_Dev_OnPacket()
{
Console.WriteLine(SynTP_Pack.FingerState);
Console.WriteLine(SynTP_Pack.X);
Console.WriteLine(SynTP_Pack.Y);
}
}
}
Program.cs
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using SYNCOMLib;
using SYNCTRLLib;
namespace TP_Test1
{
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
Syn mySyn = new Syn();
mySyn.SynTP_Dev_OnPacket();
}
}
}

I see that you are using the C# wrappers for Synaptics SDK. Even though CPP code might be not trivial to you, you might want to take a look at the file Samples/ComTest.cpp. It contains some example logic in order to find devices, more specifically at lines 66-76:
// Find a device, preferentially a TouchPad or Styk.
ISynDevice *pDevice = 0;
long lHandle = -1;
if ((pAPI->FindDevice(SE_ConnectionAny, SE_DeviceTouchPad, &lHandle) &&
pAPI->FindDevice(SE_ConnectionAny, SE_DeviceStyk, &lHandle) &&
pAPI->FindDevice(SE_ConnectionAny, SE_DeviceAny, &lHandle)) ||
pAPI->CreateDevice(lHandle, &pDevice))
{
printf("Unable to find a Synaptics Device.\n");
exit(-1);
}
Also, make sure you have registered the dlls. According to the ReadSynSDK.txt file:
For certain purposes it may be necessary to register the dlls
that are provided with the SDK. This can be done with the windows regsvr32
utility.

Would you share your idea how to call python command from embedded Python.Net?

I've been played with Python.Net for a week, but I can't find any sample code to use Python.Net in embedded way although Python.Net source has several embeddeding tests. I've searched many threads from the previous emailing list (Python.Net), the results are not consistent and are clueless.
What I'm trying to do is to get result (PyObject po) from C# code after executing python command such as 'print 2+3' from python prompt via Python.Net because IronPython doesn't have compatibility with the module that I currently using.
When I executed it from nPython.exe, it prints out 5 as I expected. However, when I run this code from embedded way from C#. it returns 'null' always. Would you give me some thoughts how I can get the execution result?
Thank you,
Spark.
Enviroments:
1. Windows 2008 R2, .Net 4.0. Compiled Python.Net with Python27, UCS2 at VS2012
2. nPython.exe works fine to run 'print 2+3'
using NUnit.Framework;
using Python.Runtime;
namespace CommonTest
{
[TestFixture]
public class PythonTests
{
public PythonTests()
{
}
[Test]
public void CommonPythonTests()
{
PythonEngine.Initialize();
IntPtr gs = PythonEngine.AcquireLock();
PyObject po = PythonEngine.RunString("print 2+3");
PythonEngine.ReleaseLock(gs);
PythonEngine.Shutdown();
}
}
}

It seems like PythonEngine.RunString() doesn't work. Instead, PythonEngine.RunSimpleString() works fine.
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using System.Diagnostics;
using System.Reflection;
using Python.Runtime;
namespace npythontest
{
public class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
string external_file = "c:\\\\temp\\\\a.py";
Console.WriteLine("Hello World!");
PythonEngine.Initialize();
IntPtr pythonLock = PythonEngine.AcquireLock();
var mod = Python.Runtime.PythonEngine.ImportModule("os.path");
var ret = mod.InvokeMethod("join", new Python.Runtime.PyString("my"), new Python.Runtime.PyString("path"));
Console.WriteLine(mod);
Console.WriteLine(ret);
PythonEngine.RunSimpleString("import os.path\n");
PythonEngine.RunSimpleString("p = os.path.join(\"other\",\"path\")\n");
PythonEngine.RunSimpleString("print p\n");
PythonEngine.RunSimpleString("print 3+2");
PythonEngine.RunSimpleString("execfile('" + external_file + "')");
PythonEngine.ReleaseLock(pythonLock);
PythonEngine.Shutdown();
}
}
}

C# and Microsoft Speech.Recognition and Speech.Synthesis

I'm new to C# and I'm new to Speech.Recognition.
I searched very long for tutorials but didn't find that much, I'm even not quiet sure whether I included everything correctly.
I downloaded:
SDK
Runtime
Languages
I'm programming local, I have Windows XP, .net framework 3.5.
Now I just want to get started with some simple lines of code, like to say "hello world" or say one or two words as input.
I tried following, and of course it doesn't work :>
error:
"The Typ- or Namespacename "SpeechSynthesizer" couldn't be found (Is a Using-Direktive or a Assemblyverweis missing?)"
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Speech.Recognition;
using System.Speech.Synthesis;
namespace System.Speech.Recognition { }
namespace System.Speech.AudioFormat {}
namespace System.Speech.Recognition.SrgsGrammar{}
namespace System.Speech.Synthesis { }
namespace System.Speech.Synthesis.TtsEngine { }
namespace ConsoleApplication1
{
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
SpeechSynthesizer foo = new SpeechSynthesizer();
foo.Speak("Test");
}
}
}
edit:
hello,
i tried you code,but
using SpeechLib;
couldn't be found :>
well now i wrote:
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Speech.Recognition;
using System.Speech.Synthesis;
using System.SpeechLib;
namespace System.SpeechLib { }
namespace System.Speech.Recognition { }
namespace System.Speech.AudioFormat {}
namespace System.Speech.Recognition.SrgsGrammar{}
namespace System.Speech.Synthesis { }
namespace System.Speech.Synthesis.TtsEngine { }
but I get an error with:
numericUpDown1,SpVoice,SpeechVoiceSpeakFlags,textBox1 and Timeout

Project + Add Reference, .NET tab, select "System.Speech".
A project template pre-selects several .NET assemblies. But only common ones, like System.dll, System.Core.dll, etcetera. You have to add the 'unusual' ones yourself.

you can try this:
get Interop.SpeechLib.dll
using SpeechLib;
private void ReadText(string readText)
{
int iCounter = 0;
while (Convert.ToInt32(numericUpDown1.Value) > iCounter)
{
SpVoice spVoice = new SpVoice();
spVoice.Speak(textBox1.Text, SpeechVoiceSpeakFlags.SVSFPurgeBeforeSpeak);
spVoice.WaitUntilDone(Timeout.Infinite);
iCounter = iCounter + 1;
}
}