14

And Then There Were Applets

In this chapter:

  • What's a Java Applet?
  • AudioClip Interface
  • AppletContext Interface
  • AppletStub Interface
  • Audio in Applications

Although it is not part of the java.awt package, the java.applet package is closely related. The java.applet package provides support for running an applet in the context of a World Wide Web browser. It consists of one class (Applet) and three interfaces (AppletContext, AudioClip, and AppletStub). The Applet class supports the “applet life cycle” methods (init(), start(), stop(), destroy()) that you override to write an applet. AudioClip provides support for audio within applets. (Applications use the sun.audio package for audio support; sun.audio is also covered in this chapter.) The AppletStub and AppletContext interfaces provide a way for the applet to interact with its run-time environment. Many of the methods of AppletStub and AppletContext are duplicated in the Applet class.

14.1 What's a Java Applet?

Much of the initial excitement about Java centered around applets. Applets are small Java programs that can be embedded within HTML pages and downloaded and executed by a web browser. Because executing code from random Internet sites presents a security risk, Java goes to great lengths to ensure the integrity of the program executing and to prevent it from performing any unauthorized tasks.

An applet is a specific type of Java Container. The class hierarchy of an applet is shown in Figure 14-1.

When you are writing an applet, remember that you can use the features of its ancestors. In particular, remember to check the methods of the Component, Container, and Panel classes, which are inherited by the Applet class.

images

Figure 14–1: Applet class hierarchy

14.1.1 Applet Methods

All the methods of Applet, except setStub(), either need to be overridden or are methods based on one of the java.applet interfaces. The system calls setStub() to set up the context of the interfaces. The browser implements the AppletContext and AppletStub interfaces.

Constructor

public Applet ()

The system calls the Applet constructor when the applet is loaded and before it calls setStub(), which sets up the applet's stub and context. When you subclass Applet, you usually do not provide a constructor. If you do provide a constructor, you do not have access to the AppletStub or AppletContext and, therefore, may not call any of their methods.

AppletStub setup

public final void setStub (AppletStub stub)

The setStub() method of Applet is called by the browser when the applet is loaded into the system. It sets the AppletStub of the applet to stub. In turn, the AppletStub contains the applet's AppletContext.

Applet information methods

Several methods of Applet provide information that can be used while the applet is running.

public AppletContext getAppletContext ()

The getAppletContext() method returns the current AppletContext. This is part of the applet's stub, which is set by the system when setStub() is called.

public URL getCodeBase ()

The getCodeBase() method returns the complete URL of the .class file that contains the applet. This method can be used with the getImage() or the getAudioClip() methods, described later in this chapter, to load an image or audio file relative to the .class file location.

public URL getDocumentBase ()

The getDocumentBase() method returns the complete URL of the .html file that loaded the applet. This can be used with the getImage() or getAudioClip() methods, described later in this chapter, to load an image or audio file relative to the .html file.

public String getParameter (String name)

The getParameter() method allows you to get run-time parameters from within the <APPLET> tag of the .html file that loaded the applet. Parameters are defined by HTML <PARAM> tags, which have the form:

<PARAM name="parameter" value="value>

If the name parameter of getParameter() matches the name string of a <PARAM> tag, getParameter() returns the tag's value as a string. If name is not found within the <PARAM> tags of the <APPLET>, getParameter() returns null. The argument name is not case sensitive; that is, it matches parameter names regardless of case. Remember that getParameter() always returns a string, even though the parameter values might appear as integers or floating point numbers in the HTML file. In some situations, it makes sense to pass multiple values in a single parameter; if you do this, you have to parse the parameter string manually. Using a StringTokenizer will make the job easier.

Enabling your applets to accept parameters allows them to be customized at run-time by the HTML author, without providing the source code. This provides greater flexibility on the Web without requiring any recoding. Example 14-1 shows how an applet reads parameters from an HTML file. It contains three parts: the HTML file that loads the applet, the applet source code, and the output from the applet.

Example 14–1: Getting Parameters from an HTML File

<APPLET CODE=ParamApplet WIDTH=100 HEIGHT=100>
<PARAM NAME=one VALUE=1.0>
<PARAM name=TWO value=TOO>
</APPLET>

public class ParamApplet extends java.applet.Applet {
    public void init () {
        String param;
        float one;
        String two;
if ((param = getParameter ("ONE")) == null) {
            one = -1.0f; // Not present
        } else {
            one = Float.valueOf (param).longValue();
        }
        if ((param = getParameter ("two")) == null) {
            two = "two";
        } else {
            two = param.toUpperCase();
        }
        System.out.println ("One: " + one);
        System.out.println ("Two: " + two);
    }
}

One: 1
Two: TOO

public String getAppletInfo ()

The getAppletInfo() method lets an applet provide a short descriptive string to the browser. This method is frequently overridden to return a string showing the applet's author and copyright information. How (or whether) to display this information is up to the browser. With appletviewer, this information is displayed when the user selects the Info choice under the Applet menu. Neither Netscape Navigator nor Internet Explorer currently display this information.

public String[][] getParameterInfo ()

The getParameterInfo() method lets an applet provide a two-dimensional array of strings describing the parameters it reads from <PARAM> tags. It returns an array of three strings for each parameter. In each array, the first String represents the parameter name, the second describes the data type, and the third is a brief description or range of values. Like getAppletInfo(), how (or whether) to display this information is up to the browser. With appletviewer, this information is displayed when the user selects the Info choice under the Applet menu. Neither Netscape Navigator nor Internet Explorer currently display this information. The following code shows how an applet might use getParameterInfo() and getAppletInfo():

public String getAppletInfo() {
    String whoami = "By John Zukowski (c) 1997";
    return whoami;
}
public String[][] getParameterInfo() {
    String[][] strings = {
        {"parameter1", "String", "Background Color name"},
        {"parameter2", "URL", "Image File"},
        {"parameter3", "1-10", "Number in Series"}
};
    return strings;
}

public void showStatus (String message)

The showStatus() method displays message on the browser's status line, if it has one. Again, how to display this string is up to the browser, and the browser can overwrite it whenever it wants. You should only use showStatus() for messages that the user can afford to miss.

public boolean isActive ()

The isActive() method returns the current state of the applet. While an applet is initializing, it is not active, and calls to isActive() return false. The system marks the applet active just prior to calling start(); after this point, calls to isActive() return true.

public Locale getLocale () images

The getLocale() method retrieves the current Locale of the applet, if it has one. Using a Locale allows you to write programs that can adapt themselves to different languages and different regional variants. If no Locale has been set, getLocale() returns the default Locale. The default Locale has a user language of English and no region. To change the default Locale, set the system properties user.language and user.region, or call Locale.setDefault() (setDefault() verifies access rights with the security manager).*

Applet life cycle

The browser calls four methods of the Applet class to execute the applet. These methods constitute the applet's life cycle. The default versions don't do anything; you must override at least one of them to create a useful applet.

public void init ()

The init() method is called once when the applet is first loaded. It should be used for tasks that need to be done only once. init() is often used to load images or sound files, set up the screen, get parameters out of the HTML file, and create objects the applet will need later. You should not do anything that might “hang” or wait indefinitely. In a sense, init() does things that might otherwise be done in an applet's constructor.

public void start ()

The start() method is called every time the browser displays the web page containing the applet. start() usually does the “work” of the applet. It often starts threads, plays sound files, or does computation. start() may also be called when the browser is de-iconified.

public void stop ()

The stop() method is called whenever the browser leaves the web page containing the applet. It should stop or suspend anything that the applet is doing. For example, it should suspend any threads that have been created and stop playing any sound files. stop() may also be called when the browser is iconified.

public void destroy ()

The destroy() method is called when the browser determines that it no longer needs to keep the applet around—in practice, when the browser decides to remove the applet from its cache or the browser exits. After this point, if the browser needs to display the applet again, it will reload the applet and call the applet's init() method. destroy() gives the applet a final opportunity to release any resources it is using (for example, close any open sockets). Most applets don't need to implement destroy(). It is always a good idea to release resources as soon as they aren't needed, rather than waiting for destroy(). There are no guarantees about when destroy() will be called; if your browser has a sufficiently large cache, the applet may stay around for a very long time.

Applet-sizing methods

public void resize(int width, int height)

The resize() method changes the size of the applet space to width height. The browser must support changing the applet space or else the sizing does not change. Netscape Navigator does not allow an applet to change its size; the applet is sized to the region allocated by the <APPLET> tag, period.

Because Applet is a subclass of Component, it inherits the Java 1.1 method setSize(), which has the same function.

public void resize (Dimension dim)

This resize() method calls the previous version of resize() with a width of dim.width and a height of dim.height.

Images

We have discussed Image objects extensively in Chapter 2, Simple Graphics, and Chapter 12, Image Processing, and used them in many of our examples. When writing an applet, you can use the getImage() method directly. In applications, you must go through Toolkit (which the following methods call) to get images.

public Image getImage (URL url)

The getImage() method loads the image file located at url. url must be a complete and valid URL. The method returns a system-specific object that subclasses Image and returns immediately. The Image is not loaded until needed, either by prepareImage(), MediaTracker, or drawImage().

public Image getImage (URL url, String filename)

The getImage() method loads the image file located at url in filename. The applet locates the file relative to the specified URL; that is, if the URL ends with a filename, the applet removes the filename and appends the filename argument to produce a new URL. getImage() returns a system-specific object that subclasses Image and returns immediately. The Image is not loaded until needed, either by prepareImage(), MediaTracker, or drawImage().

In most cases, the url argument is a call to getDocumentBase() or getCodeBase(); most often, image files are located in the same directory as the HTML file, the applet's Java class file, or their own subdirectory.

Audio

Every Java platform is guaranteed to understand Sun's AU file format, which contains a single channel of 8000 Hz μLaw encoded audio data.* Java applets do not require any helper applications to play audio; they use the browser's audio capabilities. You can use an independent application, like Sun's audiotool, to control the volume. Of course, the user's workstation or PC needs audio hardware, but these days, it's hard to buy a computer that isn't equipped for audio.

The Java Media Framework API is rumored to provide support for additional audio formats, like Microsoft's .wav files or Macintosh/SGI .aiff audio files. At present, if you want your Java program to play audio files in other formats, you must first convert the audio file to the .au format, using a utility like SOX (Sound Exchange).† Once converted, your Java program can play the resulting .au file normally. (If you are interested in more information about audio, look in the alt.binaries.sounds.d newsgroup.)

The Applet class provides two ways to play audio clips. The first mechanism provides a method to load and play an audio file once:

public void play (URL url)

The play() method downloads and plays the audio file located at url. url must be a complete and valid URL. If url is invalid, no sound is played. Some environments throw an exception if the URL is invalid, but not all. Calling play() within an applet's destroy() method usually has no effect; the applet and its resources will probably be deallocated before play() has time to download the audio file.

public void play (URL url, String filename)

This version of play() downloads and plays the audio file located at url in the file filename. The applet locates the file relative to the specified URL; that is, if the URL ends with a filename, the applet removes the filename and appends the filename argument to produce a new URL. If the resulting URL is invalid, no sound is played. Some environments throw an exception if the URL is invalid, but not all.

In most cases, the url argument is a call to getDocumentBase() or getCodeBase(); most often, sound files are located in the same directory as the HTML file or the applet's Java class file. For some reason, you cannot have a double dot (..) in the URL of an audio file; you can in the URL of an image file. Putting a double dot in the URL of an audio file raises a security exception in an applet causing play() to fail.

The following applet plays an audio file located relative to the HTML file from which the applet was loaded:

import java.net.*;
import java.applet.*;
public class audioTest extends Applet {
    public void init () {
        System.out.println ("Before");
        play (getDocumentBase(), "audio/flintstones.au");
        System.out.println ("After");
    }
}

The second way to play audio files splits the process into two steps: you get an AudioClip object and then play it as necessary. This procedure eliminates a significant drawback to play(): if you call play() repeatedly, it reloads the audio file each time, making the applet much slower.

public AudioClip getAudioClip (URL url)

The getAudioClip() method loads the audio file located at url. url must be a complete and valid URL. Upon success, getAudioClip() returns an instance of a class that implements the AudioClip interface. You can then call methods in the AudioClip interface (see Section 14.2) to play the clip. If an error occurs during loading (e.g., because the file was not found or the URL was invalid), getAudioClip() returns null.

getAudioClip() sounds similar to getImage(), and it is. However, Java currently loads audio clips synchronously; it does not start a separate thread as it does for images. You may want to create a helper class that loads audio clips in a separate thread.

The actual class of the AudioClip object depends on the platform you are using; you shouldn't need to know it. If you are curious, the appletviewer uses the class sun.applet.AppletAudioClip; Netscape Navigator uses the class netscape.applet.AppletAudioClip.

public AudioClip getAudioClip (URL url, String filename)

This version of the getAudioClip() method loads the audio file located at url in the file filename. The applet locates the file relative to the specified URL; that is, if the URL ends with a filename, the applet removes the filename and appends the filename argument to produce a new URL. If the resulting URL is invalid, the file is not loaded. Upon success, getAudioClip() returns an instance of a class that implements the AudioClip interface. You can then call methods in the AudioClip interface (see Section 14.2) to play the clip. If an error occurs during loading (e.g., because the file was not found or the URL was invalid), getAudioClip() returns null.

In most cases, the url argument is a call to getDocumentBase() or getCodeBase(); most often, sound files are located in the same directory as the HTML file or the applet's Java class file.

14.2 AudioClip Interface

Once an audio file is loaded into memory with getAudioClip(), you use the AudioClip interface to work with it.

Methods

Three methods define the AudioClip interface. The class that implements these methods depends on the run-time environment; the class is probably sun.applet.AppletAudioClip or netscape.applet.AppletAudioClip.

If you play an audio clip anywhere within your Applet, you should call the AudioClip stop() method within the stop() method of the applet. This ensures that the audio file will stop playing when the user leaves your web page. Stopping audio clips is a must if you call loop() to play the sound continuously; if you don't stop an audio clip, the user will have to exit the browser to get the sound to stop playing.

Applets can play audio clips simultaneously. Based upon the user's actions, you may want to play a sound file in the background continuously, while playing other files.

void play ()

The play() method plays the audio clip once from the beginning.

void loop ()

The loop() method plays the audio clip continuously. When it gets to the end-of-file marker, it resets itself to the beginning.

void stop ()

The stop() method stops the applet from playing the audio clip.

14.2.1 Using an AudioClip

The applet in Example 14-2 loads three audio files in the init() method. The start() method plays Dino barking in the background as a continuous loop. Whenever the browser calls paint(), Fred yells “Wilma,” and when you click the mouse anywhere, the call to mouseDown() plays Fred yelling, “Yabba-Dabba-Doo.” If you try real hard, all three can play at once. Before playing any audio clip, the applet makes sure that the clip is not null—that is, that the clip loaded correctly. stop() stops all clips from playing; you should make sure that applets stop all audio clips before the viewer leaves the web page.

Example 14–2: AudioClip Usage

import java.net.*;
import java.awt.*;
import java.applet.*;
public class AudioTestExample extends Applet{
    AudioClip audio1, audio2, audio3;
    public void init () {
        audio1 = getAudioClip (getCodeBase(), "audio/flintstones.au");
        audio2 = getAudioClip (getCodeBase(), "audio/dino.au");
        audio3 = getAudioClip (getCodeBase(), "audio/wilma.au");
    }
    public boolean mouseDown (Event e, int x, int y) {
        if (audio1 != null)
            audio1.play();
        return true;
    }
    public void start () {
        if (audio2 != null)
            audio2.loop();
    }
    public void paint (Graphics g) {
        if (audio3 != null)
            audio3.play();
    }
    public void stop () {
        if (audio1 != null)
            audio1.stop();
        if (audio2 != null)
            audio2.stop();
if (audio3 != null)
            audio3.stop();
    }
}

14.3 AppletContext Interface

The AppletContext interface provides the means to control the browser environment where the applet is running.

Methods

Some of these methods are so frequently used that they are also provided within the Applet class.

public abstract AudioClip getAudioClip (URL url)

The getAudioClip() method loads the audio file located at url. url must be a complete and valid URL. Upon success, getAudioClip() returns an instance of a class that implements the AudioClip interface. You can then call methods in the AudioClip interface (see Section 14.2) to play the clip. If an error occurs during loading (e.g., because the file was not found or the URL was invalid), getAudioClip() returns null.

public abstract Image getImage (URL url)

The getImage() method loads the image file located at url. url must be a complete and valid URL. The method returns a system-specific object that subclasses Image and returns immediately. The Image is not loaded until needed. A call to prepareImage(), MediaTracker, or drawImage() forces loading to start.

public abstract Applet getApplet (String name)

The getApplet() method fetches the Applet from the current HTML page named name, which can be the applet's class name or the name provided in the NAME parameter of the <APPLET> tag. getApplet() returns null if the applet does not exist in the current context. This method allows you to call methods of other applets within the same context, loaded by the same ClassLoader. For example:

MyApplet who = (MyApplet)getAppletContext().getApplet("hey");
who.method();

TIP

Netscape Navigator 3.0 restricts which applets can communicate with each other. Internet Explorer seems to have a similar restriction. For applets to communicate, they must:

  • Have the same CODEBASE.
  • Have the same or no ARCHIVES tag.
  • Have MAYSCRIPT tags and appear in the same frame; alternatively, neither applet may have a MAYSCRIPT tag.

If these conditions are not met and you try to cast the return value of getApplet() or getApplets() to the appropriate class, either the cast will throw a ClassCastException; or nothing will happen, and the method will not continue beyond the point of the failure.

public abstract Enumeration getApplets ()

The getApplets() method gathers all the Applets in the current context, loaded by the same ClassLoader, into a collection and returns the Enumeration. You can then cycle through them to perform some operation collectively. For example:

Enumeration e = getAppletContext().getApplets();
while (e.hasMoreElements()) {
    Object o = e.nextElement();
    if (o instance of MyApplet) {
        MyApplet a = (Object)o;
        a.MyAppletMethod();
    }
}

TIP

If you want communication between applets on one page, be aware that there is no guarantee which applet will start first. Communications must be synchronized by using a controlling class or continual polling.

public abstract void showDocument (URL url)

The showDocument() method shows url in the current browser window. The browser may ignore the request if it so desires.

public abstract void showDocument (URL url, String frame)

The showDocument() method shows url in a browser window specified by frame. Different frame values and the results are shown in Table 14-1. The browser may ignore the request, as appletviewer does.

try {
    URL u = new URL (getDocumentBase(), (String) file);
    getAppletContext().showDocument (u, "_blank");
} catch (Exception e) {
}

Table 14–1: Target Values

Target String Results
_blank Show url new browser window with no name.
_parent Show url in the parent frame of the current window.
_self Replace current url with url (i.e., display in the current window).
_top Show url in top-most frame.
name Show url in new browser window named name.

public abstract void showStatus (String message)

The showStatus() method displays message on the browser's status line, if it has one. How to display this string is up to the browser, and the browser can over write it whenever it wants. You should use showStatus() only for messages that the user can afford to miss.

14.4 AppletStub Interface

The AppletStub interface provides a way to get information from the run-time browser environment. The Applet class provides methods with similar names that call these methods.

Methods

public abstract boolean isActive ()

The isActive() method returns the current state of the applet. While an applet is initializing, it is not active, and calls to isActive() return false. The system marks the applet active just prior to calling start(); after this point, calls to isActive() return true.

public abstract URL getDocumentBase ()

The getDocumentBase() method returns the complete URL of the HTML file that loaded the applet. This method can be used with the getImage() or getAudioClip() methods to load an image or audio file relative to the HTML file.

public abstract URL getCodeBase ()

The getCodeBase() method returns the complete URL of the .class file that contains the applet. This method can be used with the getImage() method or the getAudioClip() method to load an image or audio file relative to the .class file.

public abstract String getParameter (String name)

The getParameter() method allows you to get parameters from <PARAM> tags within the <APPLET> tag of the HTML file that loaded the applet. The name parameter of getParameter() must match the name string of the <PARAM> tag; name is case insensitive. The return value of getParameter() is the value associated with name; it is always a String regardless of the type of data in the tag. If name is not found within the <PARAM> tags of the <APPLET>, getParameter() returns null.

public abstract AppletContext getAppletContext ()

The getAppletContext() method returns the current AppletContext of the applet. This is part of the stub that is set by the system when setStub() is called.

public abstract void appletResize (int width, int height)

The appletResize() method is called by the resize method of the Applet class. The method changes the size of the applet space to width height. The browser must support changing the applet space; if it doesn't, the size remains unchanged.

14.5 Audio in Applications

The rest of this chapter describes how to use audio in your applications. Because the audio support discussed so far has been provided by the browser, applications that don't run in the context of a browser must use a different set of classes to work with audio. These classes are within the sun.audio package. Although the sun.* package hierarchy is not necessarily included by other vendors, the sun.audio classes discussed here are provided with Netscape Navigator 2.0/3.0 and Internet Explorer 3.0. Therefore, you can use these classes within applets, too. This section ends by developing a SunAudioClip class that has an interface similar to the applet's audio interface; you can use it to minimize coding differences between applets and applications.

14.5.1 AudioData

The AudioData class holds a clip of 8000 Hz μLaw audio data. This data can be used to construct an AudioDataStream or ContinuousAudioDataStream, which can then be played with the AudioPlayer.

Constructor

public AudioData (byte buffer[])

The AudioData constructor accepts a byte array buffer and creates an instance of AudioData. The buffer should contain 8000 Hz μLaw audio data.

Methods

There are no methods for AudioData.

14.5.2 AudioStream

AudioStream subclasses FilterInputStream, which extends InputStream. Using an InputStream lets you move back and forth (rewind and fast forward) within an audio file, in addition to playing the audio data from start to finish.

Constructors

public AudioStream (InputStream in) throws IOException

The AudioStream constructor has InputStream in as its parameter and can throw IOException on error. In the following code, we get an input stream by opening a .au file. Another common way to construct an AudioStream is to use the stream associated with a URL through the URL's openStream() method.

FileInputStream fis = new FileInputStream ("/usr/openwin/demo/sounds/1.au");
AudioStream audiostream = new AudioStream (fis);

or:

AudioStream audiostream = new AudioStream (savedUrl.openStream());

If you are constructing the audio data yourself, you would use a ByteArrayInputStream. Whatever the source of the data, the input stream should provide data in Sun's .au format.

Methods

public int read (byte buffer[], int offset, int length) throws IOException

The read() method for AudioStream reads an array of bytes into buffer. offset is the first element of buffer that is used. length is the maximum number of bytes to read. This method blocks until some input is available. read() returns the actual number of bytes read. If the end of stream is encountered and no bytes were read, read() returns -1. Ordinarily, you read() an AudioStream only if you want to modify the audio data in some way.

public int getLength()

The getLength() method returns the length of the audio data contained within the AudioStream, excluding any header information in the file.

public AudioData getData () throws IOException

The getData() method of AudioStream is the most important and most frequently used. It reads the data from the input stream and creates an AudioData instance. As the following code shows, you can create an AudioStream and get the AudioData with one statement.

AudioData audiodata = new AudioStream (aUrl.openStream()).getData();

14.5.3 AudioDataStream

Constructors

public AudioDataStream (AudioData data)

This constructor creates an AudioDataStream from an AudioData object data. The resulting AudioDataStream is a subclass of ByteArrayInputStream and can be played by the AudioPlayer.start() method.

Methods

There are no methods for AudioDataStream.

14.5.4 ContinuousAudioDataStream

Constructors

public ContinuousAudioDataStream (AudioData data)

This constructor creates a continuous stream of audio from data. The resulting ContinuousAudioDataStream is a subclass of AudioDataStream and, therefore, of ByteArrayInputStream. It can be played by AudioPlayer.start(); whenever the player reaches the end of the continuous audio data stream, it restarts from the beginning.

Methods

public int read ()

This read() method of ContinuousAudioDataStream overrides the read() method in ByteArrayInputStream to rewind back to the beginning of the stream when end-of-file is reached. This method is used by the system when it reads the InputStream; it is rarely called directly. read() never returns -1 since it loops back to the beginning on end-of-file.

public int read (byte buffer[], int offset, int length)

This read() method of ContinuousAudioDataStream overrides the read() method in ByteArrayInputStream to rewind back to the beginning of the stream when end-of-file is reached. This method is used by the system when it reads the InputStream; it is rarely called directly. read() returns the actual number of bytes read. read() never returns -1 since it loops back to the beginning on end-of-file.

14.5.5 AudioStreamSequence

Constructors

public AudioStreamSequence (Enumeration e)

The constructor for AudioStreamSequence accepts an Enumeration e(normally the elements of a Vector of AudioStreams) as its sole parameter. The constructor converts the sequence of audio streams into a single stream to be played in order. An example follows:

Vector v = new Vector ();
v.addElement (new AudioStream (url1.openStream ());
v.addElement (new AudioStream (url2.openStream ());
AudioStreamSequence audiostream = new AudioStreamSequence (v.elements ());

Methods

public int read ()

This read() method of AudioStreamSequence overrides the read() method in InputStream to start the next stream when end-of-file is reached. This method is used by the system when it reads the InputStream and is rarely called directly. If the end of all streams is encountered and no bytes were read, read() returns -1. Otherwise, read() returns the character read.

public int read (byte buffer[], int offset, int length)

This read() method of AudioStreamSequence overrides the read() method in InputStream to start the next stream when end-of-file is reached. This method is used by the system when it reads the InputStream and is rarely called directly. read() returns the actual number of bytes read. If the end of all streams is encountered and no bytes were read, read() returns -1.

14.5.6 AudioPlayer

The AudioPlayer class is the workhorse of the sun.audio package. It is used to play all the streams that were created with the other classes. There is no constructor for AudioPlayer; it just extends Thread and provides start() and stop() methods.

Variable

public final static AudioPlayer player

player is the default audio player. This audio player is initialized automatically when the class is loaded; you do not have to initialize it (in fact, you can't because it is final) or call the constructor yourself.

Methods

public synchronized void start (InputStream in)

The start() method starts a thread that plays the InputStream in. Stream in continues to play until there is no more data or it is stopped. If in is a ContinuousAudioDataStream, the playing continues until stop() (described next) is called.

public synchronized void stop (InputStream in)

The stop() method stops the player from playing InputStream in. Nothing happens if the stream in is no longer playing or was never started.

14.5.7 SunAudioClip Class Definition

The class in Example 14-3 is all you need to play audio files in applications. It implements the java.applet.AudioClip interface, so the methods and functionality will be familiar. The test program in main() demonstrates how to use the class. Although the class itself can be used in applets, provided your users have the sun.audio package available, it is geared towards application users.

Example 14–3: The SunAudioClip Class

import java.net.URL;
import java.io.FileInputStream;
import sun.audio.*;
public class SunAudioClip implements java.applet.AudioClip {
    private AudioData audiodata;
    private AudioDataStream audiostream;
    private ContinuousAudioDataStream continuousaudiostream;
    static int length;
    public SunAudioClip (URL url) throws java.io.IOException {
        audiodata = new AudioStream (url.openStream()).getData();
        audiostream = null;
        continuousaudiostream = null;
    }
    public SunAudioClip (String filename) throws java.io.IOException {
        FileInputStream fis = new FileInputStream (filename);
        AudioStream audioStream = new AudioStream (fis);
        audiodata = audioStream.getData();
        audiostream = null;
        continuousaudiostream = null;
    }
    public void play () {
audiostream = new AudioDataStream (audiodata);
        AudioPlayer.player.start (audiostream);
    }
    public void loop () {
        continuousaudiostream = new ContinuousAudioDataStream (audiodata);
        AudioPlayer.player.start (continuousaudiostream);
    }
    public void stop () {
        if (audiostream != null)
            AudioPlayer.player.stop (audiostream);
        if (continuousaudiostream != null)
            AudioPlayer.player.stop (continuousaudiostream);
    }
    public static void main (String args[]) throws Exception {
        URL url1 = new URL ("http://localhost:8080/audio/1.au");
        URL url2 = new URL ("http://localhost:8080/audio/2.au");
        SunAudioClip sac1 = new SunAudioClip (url1);
        SunAudioClip sac2 = new SunAudioClip (url2);
        SunAudioClip sac3 = new SunAudioClip ("1.au");
        sac1.play ();
        sac2.loop ();
        sac3.play ();
        try {// Delay for loop
            Thread.sleep (2000);
        } catch (InterruptedException ie) {}
        sac2.stop();
    }
}

* For more on the Locale class, see Java Fundamental Classes Reference, by Mark Grand, from O'Reilly & Associates.

* The AU format is explained in the Audio File Format FAQ (version 3.10) located at ftp://ftp.cwi.nl/pub/audio/index.html in files AudioFormats.part1 and AudioFormats.part2.

† SOX is available at http://www.spies.com/Sox. The current version of SOX is 10; version 11 is in gamma release. The UNIX source is located in sox10.tar.gz, while the DOS executable is sox10dos.zip.

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