Configuring Sound in Visual C++ Development Environment (122158)

SUMMARY

Visual C++ will play different sounds at the end of a build, depending on the success of the build. Without a sound system installed, Visual C++ calls MessageBeep().

If there is a sound system installed in the computer, Visual C++ calls sndPlaySound(), using the Multimedia API, with specific sound names. If the sound names listed below are not in the system's registry, Visual C++ does not make any sound at all.



   Build State            sndPlaySound()      MessageBeep()
                          Sound Name          Beep Type
   -----------------------------------------------------------
   Build is up to date    BuildUpToDate       MB_ICONASTERISK
   Build has errors       BuildError          MB_ICONEXCLAMATION
   Build has warnings     BuildWarning        MB_ICONQUESTION
   Build complete         BuildComplete       MB_ICONASTERISK
   Build cancelled        <nothing>           <nothing>

In addition, Visual C++ version 4.0 supports the following sound states:

   State                  sndPlaySound()      MessageBeep()
                          Sound Name          Beep Type
   -----------------------------------------------------------
   Breakpoint Hit         MSVC_HitBP         <nothing>
   Error in Output        MSVC_OutputError   <nothing>
   Warning in Output      MSVC_OutputWarning <nothing>

If a sound card is not installed, you can modify the system sounds by choosing the Sound icon from the Control Panel. If you have a sound card installed, you need to modify the registry to add the sndPlaySound() sound names to enable sound before you change the sounds in the Control Panel.

MORE INFORMATION

Under Windows NT registry, the sounds need to be placed in:

   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Sounds

You can use the following sample C program to automatically add these sounds, or you can use REGEDT32.EXE to directly modify the registry. After the modifications, your registry should contain the following lines for Visual C++ 2.x:

   BuildComplete:REG_SZ:tada.wav,Build Complete
   BuildUpToDate:REG_SZ:ding.wav,Build Up To Date
   BuildError:REG_SZ:ding.wav,Build Error
   BuildWarning:REG_SZ:ding.wav,Build Warning

After the modifications, your registry should contain the following lines for Visual C++ 4.0:

   BuildComplete : REG_SZ : tada.wav,MSDev: Build Complete
   BuildUpToDate : REG_SZ : ding.wav,MSDev: Build Up To Date
   BuildError : REG_SZ : ding.wav,MSDev: Build Error
   BuildWarning : REG_SZ : ding.wav,MSDev: Build Warning

Sample Code

/* Compile options needed: Default build options for a console
                  application.
*/ 

#include <windows.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>

char *sound[4] = { "BuildComplete", "BuildUpToDate",
                   "BuildError", "BuildWarning" };
#if _MSC_VER == 1000  // using Visual C++ 4.0
char *soundValue[4] = { "tada.wav,MSDev: Build Complete",
                        "ding.wav,MSDev: Build Up To Date",
                        "ding.wav,MSDev: Build Error",
                        "ding.wav,MSDev: Build Warning" };
#else  // using Visual C++ 2.x
char *soundValue[4] = { "tada.wav,Build Complete",
                        "ding.wav,Build Up To Date",
                        "ding.wav,Build Error",
                        "ding.wav,Build Warning" };
#endif

void main( void )
{
int i;
HKEY hCPanel;
HKEY hSounds;

if ((ERROR_SUCCESS != RegOpenKeyEx(HKEY_CURRENT_USER, "Control Panel",
                       0, KEY_SET_VALUE, &hCPanel)) ||
                (ERROR_SUCCESS != RegOpenKeyEx(hCPanel, "Sounds",
                 0, KEY_SET_VALUE, &hSounds)))
   {
    printf("Error opening HKEY_CURRENT_USER\\Control Panel\\Sounds\n");
    exit(-1);
   }

for (i=0; i<4; i++)
       if (ERROR_SUCCESS != RegSetValueEx(hSounds, sound[i], 0, REG_SZ,
        (unsigned char*) soundValue[i], strlen(soundValue[i]) + 1))
       printf("Could not set sound: %s\n", sound[i]);

RegCloseKey(hSounds);
RegCloseKey(hCPanel);

printf("Sounds were successfully added\n");
exit(0);
}