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Most properties for the webcam are set and retrieved using windows messaging, that is, using the SendMessage API to issue windows messages (WM_) to the capture window. This is quite an arcane means of setting properties, so it is best that we encapsulate these into separate functions as follows:

Function capDriverConnect(ByVal lwnd As Integer, ByVal i As Short) _
As Boolean
  capDriverConnect = SendMessage(lwnd, WM_CAP_DRIVER_CONNECT, i, 0)
End Function

The capDriverConnect API call connects a VFW driver to a previously created capture window. The ‘i’ parameter is the index of the driver, which, in this application is always set to 0, but when used with multiple drivers, could be any number between 0 and 10.

Function capDriverDisconnect(ByVal lwnd As Integer) As Boolean
  capDriverDisconnect = SendMessage(lwnd, WM_CAP_DRIVER_DISCONNECT, _
                                     0, 0)
End Function

The capDriverDisconnect gracefully disconnects a VFW driver from a capture window. Failure to call this method before exiting the application could stop other webcam applications from accessing the camera.

Function capSetVideoFormat(ByVal hCapWnd As Integer,ByRef BmpFormat _
          As BITMAPINFO, ByVal CapFormatSize As Integer) As Boolean
   capSetVideoFormat = SendMessageAsBitMap(hCapWnd, _
          WM_CAP_SET_VIDEOFORMAT, CapFormatSize, BmpFormat)
End Function

The capSetVideoFormat API is used to indicate to the webcam the format of image to be returned. Many cameras do not support all ranges of bitmap formats, however, 24 bit colour 320 x 240 and 640 x 480 are quite common.

Function capPreview(ByVal lwnd As Integer, ByVal f As Boolean) As _
                    Boolean
   capPreview = SendMessage(lwnd, WM_CAP_SET_PREVIEW, f, 0)
End Function

The capPreview function is used to initiate the streaming of images between the VFW driver and the capture window.

Function capPreviewRate(ByVal lwnd As Integer,ByVal wMS As Short)As _
                        Boolean
  capPreviewRate = SendMessage(lwnd, WM_CAP_SET_PREVIEWRATE, wMS, 0)

End Function

The capPreviewRate function determines the refresh rate by specifying the refresh interval in milliseconds. In our case, it is set to 66 ms (15 Frames Per second).

Now, we must implement the two functions referenced by the main form as follows –
Sub MapWebcamToWindow(ByRef lWidth As Integer, ByRef lHeight As Integer, ByRef hWnd As Integer)
   Dim lpszName As New VB6.FixedLengthString(100)
   Dim bmp As BITMAPINFO
   With bmp.bmiHeader
      .biSize = Len(bmp.bmiHeader)
      .biWidth = 320
      .biHeight = 240
      .biPlanes = 1
      .biBitCount = 24
   End With
   capGetDriverDescriptionA(0,lpszName.Value,100,Nothing,100)
   lwndC = capCreateCaptureWindowA(lpszName.Value, _
      WS_VISIBLE Or WS_CHILD, 0, 0, lWidth, lHeight, hWnd, 0)
   If capDriverConnect(lwndC, 0) Then
      capPreviewRate(lwndC, 66)
      capPreview(lwndC, True)
      capSetVideoFormat(lwndC, bmp, Len(bmp))
      SetWindowPos(lwndC, 0, 0, 0, bmp.bmiHeader.biWidth, _
         bmp.bmiHeader.biHeight, SWP_NOMOVE Or SWP_NOZORDER)
   End If

End Sub Page 2  Page 4