Documentation:VLC Modules Loading
Contents
VLC modules loading
How does VLC load modules?
Introduction about Modules
VLC has a core and a lot of modules (between 200 and 400 depending on the build).
VLC cannot do much without modules, since modules are providing most of the functionnalities we expect. See the "Major Capabilites" sections.
A VLC module has 2 major properties:
- the capability, VLC_MODULE_CAPABILITY, that describes the category of the module
- the score, VLC_MODULE_SCORE, that holds the priority of the module
How does the loading of modules happens
VLC keeps a list of detected VLC modules (named the plugins cache).
When VLC needs a module, it tries to open a the higher-score capabiltiy-matching module that accept the request.
Let's do an example.
When VLC needs a "decoder" ("decoder" is one special category/capability), it opens all "decoder" modules, until one matches.
It opens them in decreasing score order (bigger score first, smaller ones at the end), and runs the Open() function of the modules. When one module returns OK, VLC uses this module.
How to list Modules
- Using Console
vlc --list
- Using GUI
Menu -> Tools -> Plugins and extensions
