We have a SOAP-based webservice that our client uses to validate their updated live streaming video URLs. We implemented this service so our client can rotate their live streaming publishing points multiple times a day to obscure their location.
The problem is that we do a number of checks on our end to validate these new publishing points. To do this, we need the current publishing point and the updated one. Our process is as follows:
- FAIL if specified 'current' and 'new' points are identical. No need to update if they're the same.
- FAIL if the 'current' point does not exist within our database. Can't update something that doesn't exist.
- Validate the structure of the 'new' point's URL to ensure it conforms within our standards
- Use WMPlayer.ocx to open the stream and make an attempt to play it.
Once all 4 steps are passed, we do the update.
The problem is that WMPlayer.ocx is complete sh-t as it likes to fail on us for no reason at all. For some odd reason the only way to fix the issue is to restart Apache, which could end up becoming a support nightmare for us.
The COM object tends to return vague error messages which make it difficult to test and reproduce.
My question is, is there another way, perhaps using another COM object that supports playing streaming media through PHP, to perform STEP 4 in our web service?
Thanks all!
EDIT: I should note here that the errors are sporadic and cannot be replicated.