MediaPlayer setDataSource, better to use path or FileDescriptor?

Question

Let\'s say I have a full path to a file. Which is the better approach to loading that file into a MediaPlayer?

String filePath = \"somepath/somefile.mp3\"         


        

Answer 1

MediaPlayer.java has setDataSource() signatures that accept both a String (path) and an FD. They both eventually go into native C code. Although one of these may be SLIGHTLY more efficient it will be negligible unless you're setting your data source more often than once a second.

/**
 * Sets the data source (file-path or http/rtsp URL) to use. Call this after 
 * reset(), or before any other method (including setDataSource()) that might
 * throw IllegalStateException in this class.
 * 
 * @param path the path of the file, or the http/rtsp URL of the stream you want to play
 * @throws IllegalStateException if it is called
 * in an order other than the one specified above
 */
public native void setDataSource(String path) throws IOException, IllegalArgumentException, IllegalStateException;

/**
 * Sets the data source (FileDescriptor) to use. It is the caller's responsibility
 * to close the file descriptor. It is safe to do so as soon as this call returns.
 * Call this after reset(), or before any other method (including setDataSource()) 
 * that might throw IllegalStateException in this class.
 * 
 * @param fd the FileDescriptor for the file you want to play
 * @throws IllegalStateException if it is called
 * in an order other than the one specified above
 */
public void setDataSource(FileDescriptor fd) 
        throws IOException, IllegalArgumentException, IllegalStateException {
    // intentionally less than LONG_MAX
    setDataSource(fd, 0, 0x7ffffffffffffffL);
}

/**
 * Sets the data source (FileDescriptor) to use.  It is the caller's responsibility
 * to close the file descriptor. It is safe to do so as soon as this call returns.
 * Call this after reset(), or before any other method (including setDataSource()) 
 * that might throw IllegalStateException in this class.
 * 
 * @param fd the FileDescriptor for the file you want to play
 * @param offset the offset into the file where the data to be played starts, in bytes
 * @param length the length in bytes of the data to be played
 * @throws IllegalStateException if it is called
 * in an order other than the one specified above
 */
public native void setDataSource(FileDescriptor fd, long offset, long length) 
        throws IOException, IllegalArgumentException, IllegalStateException;