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I'm building a video system, and have came across a problem of accessing a video held in a remote location. Now predicament is that I don't want to mess around with the zip file by extracting the data, this would take too long from a user perspective and would rather be able to open video file directly from within side the zip. My question is, is this possible? The ability to open a file is not something I've found within the DotNetZip library.

The only solution I've found is pointing VideoLAN at the zip file and playing it from there. However, doing this programmatically is something I'm massively struggling with, through the VideoLan DotNet for WinForm & WPF C# plugin and it's lack of examples. Just wondering is there any alternative means?

wonea
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    You realize the file is compressed inside the zip and has to be extracted to be read, right? Some video formats can be played without having the whole file (allowing decryption of pieces on the fly,) but many require access to the whole file to allow seeking. – Fosco Jun 06 '11 at 16:24
  • regarding `The ability to open a file is not something I've found within the DotNetZip library.` what in particular are you looking for? DotNetZip allows a C# or .NET app to open files within zip archives. Check the `ZipEntry.OpenReader()` method. It gives you a readable stream, which decompresses as you read. – Cheeso Jun 06 '11 at 18:05

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Why dont you use the VLC ActiveX Directly ,just import the AxVlc.dll to you're project ,than you can select the VLC Plugin from Toolbox in VS (VLC Plugin v2 prefered).

Than you can do something vlc.playlist.add("FileName",Null,""); than use vlc.playlist.play(); version's under 0.9.9 works with Loop ,new version's you should build the Loop Function by you're self.

Rosmarine Popcorn
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What's the reason of compressing video files? They are already compressed, and far better than zip can do.

Nickolay Olshevsky
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    Well my system packages up the video along with associated media such as cover images, and sounds. I keep it in a zip file for neatness, and the ability to transfer whole files individually with associated data included. – wonea Jun 09 '11 at 08:12
  • In such way you can make zip with 'stored' compression method (where there is no any compression made), do some simple parsing of zip file to locate beginning and size of video inside the file, and just seek to needed position in file stream, and play video. – Nickolay Olshevsky Jun 09 '11 at 08:16
  • DotNetZip allows you to open a readable stream on any entry in the zip file, even if it is compressed. you don't need to do the simple parsing of the zip file. Just call ZipEntry.OpenReader(). – Cheeso Jun 10 '11 at 02:18