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Deprecated APIs

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Deprecated APIs

This documentation lists APIs deprecated in the v3.x.x.

As we guarantee API compatibility in the v3.x.x, those API won’t disappear until we switch to a v4.x.x version.

You will find here which APIs are deprecated, why, and depending on the concerned API, how to replace it.

Fullscreen APIs

All fullscreen APIs have been deprecated, namely:

  • the isFullscreen method
  • the setFullscreen method
  • the exitFullscreen method
  • the fullscreenChange event

This is because of several things:

  • fullscreen management has now become a lot more complex with features such as advanced subtitles management, were the text track HTMLElement is controlled by the application.

  • most application developpers also wants to put their own controls into fullscreen mode. Those APIs only put the media element into fullscreen mode and not any other element. This can be misleading.

The fullscreen logic should now be entirely on the application-side. Replacement code is provided for each of those APIs below.

Image (BIF) APIs

The following properties methods and events have been deprecated:

  • the imageTrackUpdate event
  • the getImageTrackData method
  • the supplementaryImageTracks loadVideo option

This is because most code linked to image management will be moved outside the RxPlayer. Doing that will both be more flexible for users and much easier to maintain for us (albeit with a small time of transition for the application).

You can replace those API by this new exported function: parseBifThumbnails.

To give more details about why those APIs have been deprecated, there are multiple reasons:

  1. How it should be specified for live contents of for multi-Period DASH contents is not clear enough.
  2. Integrating it in the RxPlayer’s API means that it had to take multiple choices that we prefer to let to the application: whether to retry the request if the it fails or if it is unavailable, whether to do the request at all for users with a low bitrate…
  3. The task of displaying those thumbnails is ultimately on the UI-side (the part that know where the user wants to seek)
  4. The biggest part of the code related to it was a simple BIF parser, that can easily be re-implemented by any application.

RxPlayer Methods

The following RxPlayer methods are deprecated.

getManifest

getManifest returns our internal representation we have of a given “manifest” document.

Though it was first exposed to allow users to have access to more precize information on the current content, this method also limited us on the possible evolutions we could do, as changing what this function returns would mean breaking the API.

We also realized that that method was not used for now by the implementation we know of.

For now, we decided we will simply remove that API in the next major version. If that’s a problem for you, please open an issue.

getCurrentAdaptations

getCurrentAdaptations returns an object describing each tracks available for the current Period in the current content.

Like getManifest, we found that this API was not much used and limited us on the possible evolutions we can do on the RxPlayer.

Again like getManifest, we plan to remove that API completely without replacing it. If that’s a problem for you, please open an issue.

getCurrentRepresentations

getCurrentRepresentations returns an object describing each “qualities” available in the current chosen tracks.

Exactly like getCurrentAdaptations and getManifest, we found that this API:

  • was not used as far as we know
  • limited the evolutions we could do on the RxPlayer’s code without breaking the API.

We thus plan to remove that API completely without replacing it. If that’s a problem for you, please open an issue.

getNativeTextTrack

getNativeTextTrack returned the first TextTrack element attached to the media element or null if it did not exist.

This API was originally created to allow users to manipulate the TextTrack element themselves. For example, to “catch” cues as they appear and display them differently.

What changed is that we now have two text track modes:

  • html, which allow advanced subtitle management
  • native, the old mode, which display subtitles natively through a TextTrack element.

This API will only return an element for the native mode, but none for the html mode because its element is not attached to the media element.

We heavily insist on people wanting advanced usecases to use the html mode, as many formatting options do not work in native mode.

As we considered that getNativeTextTrack API was more confusing than it was helpful in our current API, we decided to deprecate it. Do not hesitate to open an issue if you use this API.

isFullscreen

isFullscreen has been deprecated as it is part of our Fullscreen APIs, see the related chapter for more information.

isFullscreen just checked that ANY element was fullscreen. As such, it can easily be replace for the majority of browsers with the following code:

function isFullscreen() {
  return !!(
    document.fullscreenElement ||
    document.mozFullScreenElement ||
    document.webkitFullscreenElement ||
    document.msFullscreenElement
  );
}

setFullscreen

setFullscreen has been deprecated as it is part of our Fullscreen APIs, see the related chapter for more information.

setFullscreen allowed to set the media element in fullscreen mode (or exit fullscreen mode, if false was given as argument).

If you want to just put the media element on fullscreen mode, you can use the following code:

function setFullscreen(goFull) {
  if (goFull === "false") {
    exitFullscreen();
    return;
  }
  if (isFullscreen()) { // see code above
    return;
  }

  const mediaElement = player.getVideoElement();
  if (!mediaElement) {
    throw new Error("No media element");
  }
  if (mediaElement.requestFullscreen) {
    mediaElement.requestFullscreen();
  } else if (mediaElement.msRequestFullscreen) {
    mediaElement.msRequestFullscreen();
  } else if (mediaElement.mozRequestFullScreen) {
    mediaElement.mozRequestFullScreen();
  } else if (mediaElement.webkitRequestFullscreen) {
    mediaElement.webkitRequestFullscreen(Element.ALLOW_KEYBOARD_INPUT);
  }
}

Please consider however that this function will only put the media element in full screen mode, without the eventual controls and HTML text tracks you might also want to set in fullscreen. The code is easily adaptable however to put your own element into fullscreen mode instead.

exitFullscreen

exitFullscreen has been deprecated as it is part of our Fullscreen APIs, see the related chapter for more information.

exitFullscreen just exited any element put in fullscreen mode. As such, its code can easily be replaced by:

function exitFullscreen() {
  if (isFullscreen()) {
    if (document.exitFullscreen) {
      document.exitFullscreen();
    } else if (document.msExitFullscreen) {
      document.msExitFullscreen();
    } else if (document.mozCancelFullScreen) {
      document.mozCancelFullScreen();
    } else if (document.webkitExitFullscreen) {
      document.webkitExitFullscreen();
    }
  }
}

getImageTrackData

getImageTrackData has been deprecated like most API related to BIF thumbnail parsing. You can read the related chapter for more information.

You can replace this API by using the parseBifThumbnails tool.

RxPlayer Events

The following RxPlayer events has been deprecated.

nativeTextTracksChange

nativeTextTracksChange events are deprecated. Which means they probably won’t be sent in a v4.x.x version.

The reasons are basically the same than for the getNativeTextTracks method. It should not be needed anymore as most advanced needs should be better answered by an html text track mode.

fullscreenChange

fullscreenChange events have been deprecated as it is part of our Fullscreen APIs, see the related chapter for more information.

The fullscreenChange event was sent when the media element got in or out of fullscreen mode, with agg boolean as a payload:

  • if true, the element entered fullscreen mode
  • if false, the element exited fullscreen mode

This behavior can easily be recreated through the following code:

const mediaElement = player.getVideoElement();
mediaElement.addEventListener("fullscreenChange", () => {
  if (isFullscreen()) { // see isFullscreen implementation above
    // do things
  } else {
    // do other things
  }
});

imageTrackUpdate

imageTrackUpdate events have been deprecated like most API related to BIF thumbnail parsing. You can read the related chapter for more information.

You can replace this API by using the parseBifThumbnails tool.

loadVideo options

The following loadVideo options are deprecated.

defaultAudioTrack

The preferredAudioTracks loadVideo option is now the preferred (no pun intended) solution to set the default audio track. This new option allows to handle much more complex use cases and can even be updated at any time through the setPreferredAudioTracks method.

How to replace that option

It is very easy to replace defaultAudioTrack by preferredAudioTracks.

For example, if you want to have a default french audio language, you probably previously did:

player.loadVideo({
  url: myURL,
  transport: myTransport,

  defaultAudioTrack: { language: "fra", audioDescription: false },
  // or just `defaultAudioTrack: "fra"`, both are equivalent
})

Now you will have to set it through an array either when creating a new RxPlayer:

const player = new RxPlayer({
  preferredAudioTracks: [{ language: "fra", audioDescription: false }],
})

Or at any time, through the setPreferredAudioTracks method:

player.setPreferredAudioTracks([{ language: "fra", audioDescription: false }]);

defaultTextTrack

defaultTextTrack is replaced by the preferredTextTracks constructor option for the same reason than defaultAudioTrack.

How to replace that option

It is very easy to replace defaultTextTrack by preferredTextTracks.

For example, if you want to have a default swedish subtitle language, you probably previously did:

player.loadVideo({
  url: myURL,
  transport: myTransport,

  defaultTextTrack: { language: "swe", closedCaption: false },
  // or just `defaultTextTrack: "swe"`, both are equivalent
})

Now you will have to set it through an array either when creating a new RxPlayer:

const player = new RxPlayer({
  preferredTextTracks: [{ language: "swe", closedCaption: false }],
})

Or at any time, through the setPreferredTextTracks method:

player.setPreferredTextTracks([{ language: "fra", closedCaption: false }]);

supplementaryTextTracks

The supplementaryTextTracks has been deprecated for multiple reasons:

  1. The main reason is that the behavior of this API is not defined for multi-Period DASH contents (nor for MetaPlaylist contents): Should we only add the subtitles for the first Period or should it be for every Period? How to define a different subtitles track for the first and for the second Period?

    Adding an external tool much less coupled to the RxPlayer move those questions entirely to the application, which should know more than us what to do in those different cases.

  2. Its API was a little arcane because we had to make it compatible with every possible type of contents (i.e. DASH, Smooth, MetaPlaylist etc.) out there.

  3. It did not work for Directfile contents yet. Although we could have made it compatible with them, we thought that this was the occasion to define a better API to replace it.

  4. Its behavior was more complex that you would initially think of. For example, we could have to re-download multiple times the same subtitles file if manual garbage collecting was enabled.

  5. All usages of that API that we know of were for Smooth or DASH VoD contents which sadly just omitted those subtitles tracks in their Manifest. The true “clean” way to fix the problem in that case is to do it at the source: the content. In this case, fixing it on the player-side should only be a temporary work-around (don’t be scared, we still have an API replacement).

The new TextTrackRenderer tool which replace it is much more straightforward. As an external tool which just reads and renders already-downloaded text subtitles, its API and the extent of what it does should be much more simple.

It’s also compatible with any type of contents, even when playing through an other player.

How to replace that option

Every supplementaryTextTracks feature can be replaced by the TextTrackRenderer tool. Please bear in mind however that they are two completely different APIs, doing the transition might take some time.

The TextTrackRenderer tool is documented here.

supplementaryImageTracks

The supplementaryImageTracks events have been deprecated like most API related to BIF thumbnail parsing. You can read the related chapter for more information.

You can replace this API by using the parseBifThumbnails tool.

hideNativeSubtitle

The hideNativeSubtitle option is deprecated and won’t be replaced.

This is because it was added at a time when our text track API was much less advanced. Some applications wanted to handle subtitles themselves and thus hid the true “native” subtitles to display them themselves in a better way.

However, this API seems to not be used anymore. Please open an issue if you need it.

RxPlayer constructor options

The following RxPlayer constructor options are deprecated.

throttleWhenHidden

throttleWhenHiddenhas been deprecated as video visibility relies only on page visibility API and document hiddenness.

A video should be visible if the Picture-In-Picture mode is activated, even if the hidden attribute of document is set to true.

throttleVideoBitrateWhenHidden relies on both and can be used like this :

const rxPlayer = new RxPlayer({
  // ... RxPlayer options
  // throttleWhenHidden: true [deprecated]
  throttleVideoBitrateWhenHidden: true,
});

Other properties

Some very specific properties from various methods are deprecated. You will find them here.

Manifest

The adaptations property returned by the Manifest object you can obtain through the getManifest call is deprecated.

This corresponds to the adaptations property of the first element in the periods object from the same Manifest object, so it’s very easy to replace:

const manifest = player.getManifest();

if (manifest && manifest.periods.length) {
  console.log(manifest.adaptations === manifest.periods[0].adaptations); // true
}

Smooth

Setting a *.wsx, a *.ism or a *.isml URL as an url property in loadVideo is now deprecated when we’re talking about a Smooth Streaming content.

We recommend to only set a Manifest URL in that property when the transport is equal to smooth.

NetworkError

The xhr property from a NetworkError is deprecated.

This is to prepare the support of low-latency streaming, with CMAF, where the fetch API has to be used instead of an XMLHttpRequest.

We recommend to not rely on this property anymore. You still should have access to the status and url properties.