My.Computer.Audio.Play Method

Plays a .wav sound file.

' Usage
My.Computer.Audio.Play(location)
My.Computer.Audio.Play(location ,playMode)
My.Computer.Audio.Play(data ,playMode)
My.Computer.Audio.Play(stream ,playMode)
' Declaration
Public Sub Play( _
   ByVal location As String _
)
' -or-
Public Sub Play( _
   ByVal location As String, _
   ByVal playMode As AudioPlayMode _
)
' -or-
Public Sub Play( _
   ByVal data As Byte(), _
   ByVal playMode As AudioPlayMode _
)
' -or-
Public Sub Play( _
   ByVal stream As System.IO.Stream, _
   ByVal playMode As AudioPlayMode _
)

Parameters

• location
  A String containing the name of the sound file

• data
  Byte array that represents the sound file.

• stream
  Stream that represents the sound file.

• playMode
  AudioPlayMode Enumeration mode for playing the sound. By default, AudioPlayMode.Background.

Exceptions

The following conditions can cause an exception:

• The data or stream is Nothing, or location is an empty string (ArgumentNullException).

• The playMode argument is not one of the AudioPlayMode Enumeration values (InvalidEnumArgumentException).

• The user does not have sufficient permissions to access the file named by location (IOException).

• The file path is malformed in location (DirectoryNotFoundException)

• The path name in location is too long (PathTooLongException)

• A partial-trust situation exists in which the user lacks necessary permissions (SecurityException).

Remarks

The Play method plays the .wav sound file stored as a file at location, as a byte array in data, or as a stream in stream.

If the overload that takes only the location parameter is used, the Play method plays the sound in the background. Otherwise, the playMode parameter determines how the sound will play.

playMode	Description
AudioPlayMode.Background	Plays the sound in the background. The calling code continues to execute.
AudioPlayMode.BackgroundLoop	Plays the sound in the background until the My.Computer.Audio.Stop Method is called. The calling code continues to execute.
AudioPlayMode.WaitToComplete	Plays the sound and waits until it completes before the calling code continues.

Background playing lets the application execute other code while the sound plays. For more information, see How to: Play Looping Sounds in Visual Basic and How to: Play Sounds in Visual Basic.

Tasks

The following table lists examples of tasks involving the My.Computer.Audio.Play method.

To	See
Play a sound once	How to: Play Sounds and Wait For Completion in Visual Basic
Play a sound many times	How to: Play Looping Sounds in Visual Basic
Play a sound in the background	How to: Play Sounds in Visual Basic

Example

The My.Computer.Audio.Play method plays the specified sound in the background when PlayMode.Background is specified.

Sub PlayBackgroundSoundFile()
    My.Computer.Audio.Play("C:\Waterfall.wav", _
        AudioPlayMode.Background)
End Sub

This code example can only run within a Windows Forms application.

The file name should reference a .wav sound file on your system.

To simplify the management of your sound files, consider storing the files as application resources. They can then be accessed through the My.Resources Object.

Requirements

Namespace:Microsoft.VisualBasic.Devices

Class:Audio

Assembly: Visual Basic Runtime Library (in Microsoft.VisualBasic.dll)

Availability by Project Type

Project type	Available
Windows Application	Yes
Class Library	Yes
Console Application	Yes
Windows Control Library	Yes
Web Control Library	No
Windows Service	Yes
Web Site	No

Permissions

The following permissions may be necessary:

Permission	Description
FileIOPermission	Controls the ability to access files and folders. Associated enumeration: Unrestricted.
SecurityPermission	Describes a set of security permissions applied to code. Associated enumeration: ControlThread.

For more information, see Code Access Security and Requesting Permissions.

See Also

Tasks

How to: Play Sounds and Wait For Completion in Visual Basic

How to: Play Looping Sounds in Visual Basic

How to: Play Sounds in Visual Basic

Reference

My.Computer.Audio Object

My.Computer.Audio.Stop Method

AudioPlayMode Enumeration

System.IO.Stream

Audio.Play