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VFW_E_NO_TIME_FORMAT_SET
Meaning
Windows documents VFW_E_NO_TIME_FORMAT_SET as “No media time format has been selected”. Here, a seeking operation requires a selected media time format, but the object has not yet established one.
Relevant contract
This result occurs in the data-delivery and timing contract between DirectShow filters. Reference time, media time, sample flags, buffering and seeking formats are separate metadata channels and must not be substituted for one another without an explicit conversion.
Start with the first producer of the sample or seeking state and the immediate consumer.
Conditions that can produce it
- Cause 1: SetTimeFormat was never called and the object has no default.
- Cause 2: initialization reset the selected format.
- Cause 3: the application queries or seeks before graph connection completes.
Evidence worth preserving
- Evidence 1: supported time formats returned by the object.
- Evidence 2: selected format before and after graph changes.
- Evidence 3: call order for connection, SetTimeFormat and seeking.
Correction strategy
- Action 1: query supported formats and select one explicitly.
- Action 2: reapply the format after topology changes that reset seeking state.
- Action 3: defer time-dependent calls until the object is initialized.
Retry and recovery
Retry rule: Retry after a supported format is selected; do not loop while the time-format state remains unset.
Example incident
A custom parser supports byte and media-time positions but exposes no default before connection; selecting TIME_FORMAT_MEDIA_TIME after graph construction resolves it.
How it differs from nearby results
VFW_E_NO_TIME_FORMAT is returned when the active format is TIME_FORMAT_NONE, while it indicates that no format has been selected yet.
Official Microsoft references
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