The parameters and flags for this message vary according to the selected device. The values of the MCI_TO parameters must be specified in the currently selected time format. See the MCI_SET message and the MCI_SET_TIME_FORMAT flag for more information.

The following example illustrates how the MCI_TO parameter is interpreted. If a multimedia element is composed of samples; in a file with 100 samples, the samples are numbered from 0 to 99. If MCI_TO is specified as 0, the media is positioned at its start. If an MCI_PLAY message is issued, the first sample would be the first to play. If MCI_TO is specified as 99, the media is positioned before the last sample. Issuing an MCI_PLAY message would play the last sample. Specifying MCI_TO_END would position the media at the end of the file and the current position would be 100. At this point, if an MCI_PLAY message is issued, the command would return successfully without performing any operation.