Advanced Attributes

With QuickTime 5 and later the HREF attribute functionality has been expanded. You pass specific Target and Embed attributes for the content loaded in the HREF (in previous versions this could be accomplished with the Plug-In Helper application). The format is

For example, the following HREF parameter would load the movie called newmovie.mov into QuickTime Player and automatically play the movie:

HREF="<newmovie.mov> T<quicktimeplayer> E<autoplay=True>"

With QuickTime 4.1 and later the AUTOHREF parameter can be used to automatically load an HREF. This can be combined with the example above: Specifying AUTOHREF="True" would load the URL specified in the HREF parameter without waiting for a mouse click.

QuickTime 5 supports text links using standard HREF tags. The extension for the text file is ".qtl". For this to function properly the web server should be configured with the mime type "application/x-quicktimeplayer" for .qtl files. Any movie on your server can use the .qtl extension to utilize this new feature. Typically a .qtl movie is a reference movie that loads content appropriate for the viewer. The .qtl files can also be XML text files that reference movies. For example, the following file would load the movie mymovie.mov, automatically playing it full screen:

<?xml version "1.0"?>

<?quicktime type="application/x-quicktime-media-link"?>

Parameters supported for the embed tag in the XML file include:

autoplay = "true" | "false"
controller = "true" | "false"
fullscreen = "normal" | "double" | "half" | "current" | "full"
href = "url"
loop = "true" | "false" | "palindrome"
qtnext = "url"
quitwhendone = "true" | "false"

The data: protocol can be used as the QTSRC parameter. You can specify either text or Base64. Using text allows you to create small, self contained text movies. The Base64 support allows you to include movie's or images encoded in Base64.

QuickTime supports intermovie communication - movies on a page can send messages to movies on the same page. Movies open in QuickTime Player can send messages to other open movies. Tools such as Totally Hip LiveStage Pro and Adobe GoLive can create wired movies that use this feature. The moviename attribute can be used on a web page to specify the target for a message. For example, the applezoom.mov displayed below can be controlled by the controller.mov underneath it.

Another example of a custom controller that speaks the names of the playback buttons is posted here.

QuickTime supports xml communication with http servers - the xml format used in QuickTime are called QTLists. This can be used to create sophisticated movies with dynamically generated content. A simple example is available here.. This example embeds a movie that uses QTList communication to fetch streaming urls and present an interface for switching between them.