Play recorded sessions
After you open a recorded session in the Session Recording Player, you can navigate through the recorded sessions using these methods:
- Use the player controls to play, stop, pause, and increase or decrease playback speed.
- Use the seek slider to move forward or backward.
If you have inserted markers into the recording or if the recorded session contains custom events, you can also navigate through the recorded session by going to those markers and events.
Note:
- During playback of a recorded session, a second mouse pointer might appear. The second pointer appears at the point in the recording when the user navigated within Internet Explorer and clicked an image that was originally larger than the screen but was scaled down automatically by Internet Explorer. While only one pointer appears during the session, two might appear during playback.
- This version of Session Recording does not support SpeedScreen Multimedia Acceleration for XenApp or the Flash quality adjustment policy setting for XenApp. When this option is enabled, playback displays a black square.
- Session Recording cannot record the Lync webcam video when using the HDX RealTime Optimization Pack.
- When you record a session with a resolution higher than or equal to 4096 x 4096, there might be fragments in the recording appearance.
- You cannot record Windows 7 desktop sessions correctly when Legacy Graphics Mode is enabled by the XenDesktop site policy and Disk-based Caching is enabled by the Citrix Receiver for Windows policy. Those recordings show a black screen.
As a workaround, disable Disk-based Caching with GPO on the machines where you installed Citrix Receiver for Windows. For more information about disabling Disk-based Caching, see CTX123169. - Session Recording does not support the Framehawk display mode. Sessions in Framehawk display mode cannot be recorded and played back correctly. Sessions recorded in Framehawk display mode might not contain the sessions’ activities.
Use player controls
You can click the player controls in the lower part of the Player window or access them by choosing Play from the Session Recording Player menu bar. Use Player controls to:
| Player Control | Function |
|---|---|
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Plays the selected session file. |
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Pauses playback. |
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Stops playback. If you click Stop, then Play, the recording restarts at the beginning of the file. |
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Halves the current playback speed down to a minimum of one-quarter normal speed. |
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Doubles the current playback speed up to a maximum of 32 times normal speed. |
Use the seek slider
Use the seek slider in the lower part of the Player window to jump to a different position within the recorded session. You can drag the seek slider to the point in the recording you want to view or click anywhere on the slider bar to move to that location.
You can also use the following keyboard keys to control the seek slider:
| Key | Seek action |
|---|---|
| Home | Seeks to the beginning. |
| End | Seeks to the end. |
| Right Arrow | Seeks forward five seconds. |
| Left Arrow | Seeks backward five seconds. |
| Move mouse wheel one notch down | Seeks forward 15 seconds. |
| Move mouse wheel one notch up | Seeks backward 15 seconds. |
| Ctrl + Right Arrow | Seeks forward 30 seconds. |
| Ctrl + Left Arrow | Seeks backward 30 seconds. |
| Page Down | Seeks forward one minute. |
| Page Up | Seeks backward one minute. |
| Ctrl + Move mouse wheel one notch down | Seeks forward 90 seconds. |
| Ctrl + Move mouse wheel one notch up | Seeks backward 90 seconds. |
| Ctrl + Page Down | Seeks forward six minutes. |
| Ctrl + Page Up | Seeks backward six minutes. |
To adjust the speed of the seek slider: From the Session Recording Player menu bar, choose Tools > Options > Player and drag the slider to increase or decrease the seek response time. A faster response time requires more memory. The response might be slow depending on the size of the recordings and your machine’s hardware.
Change the playback speed
You can set Session Recording Player to play recorded sessions in exponential increments from one-quarter normal playback speed to 32 times normal playback speed.
- Log on to the workstation where the Session Recording Player is installed.
- From the Start menu, choose Session Recording Player.
- From the Session Recording Player menu bar, choose Play > Play Speed.
- Choose a speed option.
The speed adjusts immediately. A number indicating the increased or decreased speed appears below the Player window controls. Text indicating the exponential rate appears briefly in green in the Player window.
Highlight the idle periods of recorded sessions
Idle periods of a recorded session are the portions in which no action takes place. The Session Recording Player can highlight the idle periods of recorded sessions when played back. The option is On by default.
Note that idle periods are not highlighted when playing back the live sessions with Session Recording Player.
- Log on to the workstation where Session Recording Player is installed.
- From the Start menu, choose Session Recording Player.
- From the Session Recording Player menu bar, choose View > Idle Periods and check or uncheck the option box.
Skip over spaces where no action occurred
Fast review mode allows you to set Session Recording Player to skip the portions of recorded sessions in which no action takes place. This setting saves time for playback viewing; however, it does not skip animated sequences such as animated mouse pointers, flashing cursors, or displayed clocks with second hand movements.
- Log on to the workstation where Session Recording Player is installed.
- From the Start menu, choose Session Recording Player.
- From the Session Recording Player menu bar, choose Play > Fast Review Mode.
The option toggles on and off. Each time you choose it, its status appears briefly in green in the Player window.