_SNDOPEN

The _SNDOPEN function loads a sound file into memory and returns a LONG handle value above 0.

Syntax

soundHandle& = _SNDOPEN(fileName$[, capabilities$])

Description

• Returns a LONG soundHandle& value to the sound file in memory. A value less than one means the sound could not be loaded.
• The literal or variable STRING sound fileName$ can be WAV, FLAC, OGG, MP3, MID, IT, XM, S3M, MOD or RAD (v2 only) file types.
• The literal or variable STRING capabilities$ is optional but can be STREAM (version 3.1.0 and up). Anything else is ignored.
• Specifying STREAM as a second parameter will "stream" the sound into memory rather than fully decoding it. This is good when we want to play long sounds as background music and want to avoid loading delays.
• Short sounds should not be loaded using STREAM. Also, _MEMSOUND will not work for sounds loaded using STREAM.
• Always check the handle value returned is greater than zero before attempting to play the sound.
• The handle can be used by most of the _SND sound playing functions and statements in QB64 except _SNDPLAYFILE which plays a sound file directly from the disk and does not use a handle value.
• Handles can be closed with _SNDCLOSE when the sound is no longer necessary.
• If a WAV sound file won't play, try it using the Windows Play WAV sounds library to check it or convert the sound file to FLAC, OGG or MP3.

Examples

Snippet 1: Loading a sound file to use in the program later. Only load it once and use the handle any time you want.

h& = _SNDOPEN("dog.wav") IF h& <= 0 THEN BEEP ELSE _SNDPLAY h& 'check for valid handle before using!

Snippet 2: Playing a sound from 2 different speakers based on program results.

' This examples load, plays and then bounces the sound between the left and right channels Laff& = _SNDOPEN("KONGlaff.ogg", "stream") 'load sound file and get LONG handle value IF Laff& > 0 THEN _SNDPLAY Laff& 'play sound ELSE PRINT "Failed to load sound file." END END IF PRINT "Press ESC to stop." dir = 0.01 DO IF laffx! <= -1 THEN dir = 0.01 IF laffx! >= 1 THEN dir = -0.01 laffx! = laffx! + dir LOCATE , 1: PRINT USING "Balance = ##.##"; laffx!; _SNDBAL Laff&, laffx! 'balance sound to left or right speaker _LIMIT 60 LOOP WHILE _SNDPLAYING(Laff&) AND _KEYHIT <> 27

Snippet 3: Playing a file and controlling playback:

s& = _SNDOPEN("song.ogg") PRINT "READY"; s& _SNDPLAY s& _SNDLOOP s& xleft = -1 xright = 1 DO k$ = INKEY$ SELECT CASE k$ CASE "f" xleft = xleft - 0.1 _SNDBAL s&, xleft, , , 1 CASE "g" xleft = xleft + 0.1 _SNDBAL s&, xleft, , , 1 CASE "h" xright = xright - 0.1 _SNDBAL s&, xright, , , 2 CASE "j" xright = xright + 0.1 _SNDBAL s&, xright, , , 2 CASE "n" volume = volume - 0.1 _SNDVOL s&, volume CASE "m" volume = volume + 0.1 _SNDVOL s&, volume CASE "p" _SNDPAUSE s& CASE " " _SNDPLAY s& CASE "i" PRINT _SNDPLAYING(s&) PRINT _SNDPAUSED(s&) SLEEP CASE "b" _SNDSETPOS s&, 110 CASE "l" _SNDLIMIT s&, 10 PRINT "LIM" SLEEP CASE "k" _SNDSTOP s& CASE "c" _SNDCLOSE s& SLEEP s2& = _SNDOPEN("song.ogg") CASE "d" s2& = _SNDCOPY(s&) _SNDPLAY s2& END SELECT LOCATE 1, 1 PRINT xleft, xright, volume, _SNDGETPOS(s&); " " LOOP

Code by Johny B

See also

• _SNDCLOSE, _SNDPLAY, _SNDSTOP
• _SNDPAUSE, _SNDLOOP, _SNDLIMIT
• _SNDSETPOS, _SNDGETPOS
• _SNDPLAYING, _SNDPAUSED
• _SNDCOPY, _SNDPLAYCOPY
• _SNDBAL, _SNDLEN, _SNDVOL
• _SNDPLAYFILE (plays a named sound file directly and closes)
• _SNDRAW, _SNDRATE, _SNDRAWLEN (raw sounds without files)

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