.ISM File Extension

File used by the Smooth Streaming extension of Microsoft's IIS Web server; uses XML formatting and contains bit rate and track information for audio (.ISMA) and video (.ISMV) files hosted on the Web server for streaming; saved in the same server directory as the multimedia files; allows the server to know which bit rates map to which multimedia files, which is useful for determining the streaming quality after negotiating the connection speed with a client.

ISM files are often referenced in Silverlight and other streaming applications for accessing video or audio streams. In the Smooth Streaming API, the SmoothStreamingSource is used to specify a streaming source for a SmoothStreamingMediaElement (SSME) that streams the multimedia content.

NOTE: ISM files are generated using Expression Encoder, a program that creates the multimedia content in addition to the manifests.

Project file created by InstallShield, a program used to create Windows installers; contains all project settings and code, including directory structures, file names, custom scripts, and installer dialog settings; used to build an installation package.

ISM files can be saved in either a binary format or an XML format.

NOTE: ISM files are created by the Premiere and Professional editions of InstallShield.