Symbian
Symbian OS Library

SYMBIAN OS V9.3

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Media Transfer Protocol (MTP)

Connectivity via MTP

Connectivity via MTP

Introduction

Support for MTP means that Symbian devices are able to interact with Microsoft Windows (certain versions only) without the need to install any additional software on either device. The degree of interaction (the range and sophistication of features available) will depend upon the software built into both the PC and the Symbian device.

The basic Symbian MTP framework provides access to the public file system on the device over a USB connection. The PC user is able to view the file system using applications such as Windows Explorer and the Windows Media Player.

Basic MTP over USB

Basic MTP over USB

Within Symbian OS MTP is implemented as a framework which allows the use of a variety of transports (e.g. USB, TCP/IP, Bluetooth...), a variety of modes (MTP, PTP & PictBridge) and a variety of Data Providers (e.g. specific media and data type providers).

MTP Framework Interfaces

MTP Framework Interfaces

There are three interfaces to the MTP Framework.

Data Providers

Data providers may be created (by licensees and partners) to support specific data (media) types. They are created as ECOM plugins and are built into the ROM. It is not possible to add data providers after the ROM has been built. The MTP framework enables a connected PC to ascertain the data types supported by a device's plugins. A guide to writing a Data Provider may be found here.

Controlling and Configuring the MTP framework

The MTP framework is started and stopped using the Control Interface. This uses the standard Symbian OS Client/Server model. One client of the MTP server is the USB Manager, which automatically starts the server (and the framework) when a device is connected to a PC over USB. A guide to using the control interface may be found here.

There are a number of ways in which the MTP framework is configured.

MTP developement requires the MTP Porting Kit, which can be downloaded from the Microsoft Website


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