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SoundLoad

SoundLoad (Function)​

Format​

soundload ( filename )
soundload ( url )
soundload ( frequency, duration )
soundload ( array[] )

returns string_expression

Description​

Creates a reusable sound resource ahead of time, without playing it. The file is read fully into memory (or the URL is downloaded) once, the bytes are stored under a handle, and that handle is returned as a string. Nothing is played and no player instance is created.

The returned resource string can be passed to Sound, SoundPlay, or SoundPlayer so the same sound does not have to be re-read or re-fetched each time. This is the right tool for a sound effect fired repeatedly in a game loop, or for a URL you don't want to download again. The cost is that the bytes stay resident in memory.

  • soundload( filename ) — loads from a local file path.
  • soundload( url ) — loads from an http, https, or ftp URL.
  • soundload( frequency, duration ) — generates a tone resource (frequency in Hz, duration in milliseconds). An array of frequency/duration pairs is likewise accepted.

If the file cannot be found or fetched, an empty string is returned and ERROR_SOUNDFILE is thrown.

Example​

boing$ = soundload("bounce.mp3")
for n = 1 to 3
    soundplay boing$    # plays straight from RAM each time
    pause 1.0
next n

See Also​

Sound, SoundLength, SoundPlay, SoundPlayer, SoundVolume, SoundWait

Availability​

BASIC-256 2.0 and later. Documented from the BASIC-256 v2.1 continuation project.