Image mastering API

1. A method for recording to optical media, comprising:

selecting data to be recorded to optical media using a client application;

interfacing with an image mastering application programming interface (IMAPI);

sending the selected data through an application format interface to a file that is part of the IMAPI; and

recording the selected data in the file directly from Kernel Mode of an operating system.

2. The method for recording to optical media of claim 1 , wherein IMAPI is a collection of COM objects, and further wherein IMAPI is integrated into the operating system.

3. The method for recording to optical media of claim 1 , further comprising:

selecting one of a plurality of optical media formats supported by the IMAPI;

selecting one of a plurality of optical media recording devices supported by IMAPI; and

sending the selected data through the application format interface to the file that is part of the IMAPI, wherein the application format interface is associated with the selected one of the plurality of media formats.

4. The method for recording to optical media of claim 1 , further comprising:

creating a task list of operations to perform in recording the selected data to the optical media device, the selected data in the file being recorded directly from Kernel Mode of the operating system by executing the task list.

5. The method for recording to optical media of claim 3 , wherein the plurality of supported media formats include one or more of Redbook, Joliet, ISO 9660, UDF, HFS, VideoCD, PhotoCD, CDExtra, Mixed Mode, Raw Mode, Cue Sheet, unformatted, and CD3.

6. The method for recording to optical media of claim 1 , wherein the file that is part of the IMAPI is a stash file, the stash file being created in a COM object within IMAPI.

7. The method for recording to optical media of claim 6 , wherein IMAPI populates the stash file with data structures in accordance with a selected media format.

8. The method for recording to optical media of claim 4 , wherein IMAPI creates the task list for a burn engine to execute to record the selected data to optical media, the burn engine being a COM object in IMAPI and controlled by a driver from within Kernel Mode of the operating system.

9. An image mastering application programming interface for recording data to optical media, comprising:

a plurality of COM objects wherein each of the plurality of COM objects performs an operation in the recording of data to the optical media, and

an image mastering application programming interface driver, the image mastering application programming interface driver operating in Kernel Mode of a computer operating system,

wherein the operating of the image mastering application programming interface driver in Kernel Mode of the computer operating system results in the recording of data to optical media being a Kernel Mode operation.

10. The image mastering application programming interface of claim 9 , wherein the plurality of COM objects includes a disc master, a file, a disc recorder, and a burn engine.

11. The image mastering application programming interface of claim 10 , wherein the disk master provides access for a client application to all operations and functions of the image mastering application programming interface.

12. The image mastering application programming interface of claim 10 , wherein the file is a stash file, the stash file being a file into which is written data selected by a client application to be recorded to optical media.

13. The image mastering application programming interface of claim 10 , wherein the disc recorder provides status and configuration information of optical media recording devices to which data is recorded.

14. The image mastering application programming interface of claim 10 , further comprising a task list created by the image mastering application programming interface, wherein the task list includes a list of tasks to be accomplished in the recording of data to optical media.

15. The image mastering application programming interface, of claim 14 , wherein the burn engine reads data from the file and sends the data to be recorded by an optical media recording device in accordance with the task list.

16. A computer readable media having program instructions for recording data to optical media, comprising:

program instructions for selecting data to be recorded to optical media using a client application;

program instructions for sending the selected data through a file in a COM object within an image mastering application programming interface;

program instructions for reading the selected data from the file by a burn engine of the image mastering application programming interface; and

program instructions for recording the selected data directly from Kernel Mode of an operating system.

17. The computer readable media of claim 16 , further comprising:

program instructions for populating the file containing the selected data to be recorded to optical media with optical media data structures; and

program instructions for creating a task list of operations to perform in recording the selected data to a compact disc recording device,

wherein the populating is in accordance with a selected media format compatible with the compact disc recording device.

18. The computer readable media of claim 16 , wherein the image mastering application programming interface is integrated into the operating system.

19. The computer readable media of claim 16 , wherein the image mastering application programming interface is controlled by drivers from within Kernel Mode of the operating system.

20. The computer readable media of claim 16 , wherein the image mastering application programming interface is a collection of COM objects integrated into the operating system.