I hope I can get an answer here.

I am looking, in vain it seems, for any information on
how to program VB.NET to play sounds (.wav or any sound
files). Of course, there is BEEP, but I want to play a
chime, or some other sound to audibly signal an event. I
just don't see it. Yes, there is the PlaySound function,
but that appears to apply to C++ programming. Do I have
to design a C++ control to use?

Hope Not,
Richard Stauch
Long Beach, CA

Amazingly, .NET has no built in direct support for multimedia of any kind.
I hear they are working on it for the next major release (After VS 2003)

For now, you have a few options:
 * You can use the Windows API.
    (This solution is the simplest from a deployment perspective)
    http://www.dotnetjunkies.com/tutorials.aspx?tutorialid=463

 * You can use the old MCI32.OCX ActiveX control through COM Interop
    (This solution is the simplest from a development perspective)

 * You can use DirectX through COM Interop
    (best solution if you need to do any fancy multimedia stuff)
    http://msdn.microsoft.com/directx

--
I hope this helps,
Steve C. Orr, MCSD
http://Steve.Orr.net

As Steve Orr said, you can use the MCI32 control, which is what I did. Seems
to work fine, and plays a variety of sound files (WAV, MP3). I use it for my
picture slide show program. One nice feature is that you can stop  the
playing of a sound under program control when the user forces an advance to
the next picture.

I was totally clueless when I first came across this control. On the chance
you or some other interested person is too, I've included my VB code below.

  Public Sub PlaySoundFile(ByVal SoundFileName As String)
      'Play the sound file having the filename of SoundFileName

      'Before using this code, you must add this .NET multimedia control as
a reference, as follows:
      '   Go to the Solution Explorer
      '   Right click on "References" (or click on menu item Project)
      '   Select list item "Add Reference..."
      '   Select tab "COM"
      '   Select Component Name "Microsoft Multimedia Control 6.0 (SP3)",
which is in MCI32.OCX
      '   Click button "Select", then button "OK"
      'That object will then be added as a reference, having the object name
"MCI.MMControl"
      'The best documentation that exists for this control seems to be at
website:
      '
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/vbco...
l/vbconusingmultimediamcicontrol.asp

      'Note that PlayerControl.Length returns the length of the sound in
milliseconds.
      'If the player control is already set up as an object, close it
      If Not (PlayerControl Is Nothing) Then
         PlayerControl.Command = "Close"   'Immediately closes the sound
file (Must close in order to play it again)
      End If

      'Create an instance of the multimedia object (PlayerControl is Public)
      PlayerControl = New MCI.MMControl()

      PlayerControl.FileName = SoundFileName  'Tell it which sound file to
play

      PlayerControl.Notify = True     'Don't notify us when the sound is
done playing (optional)
      PlayerControl.Command = "Open"  'Open the sound file for playing
(required)

      'If Wait=True, wait until done playing before continuing execution
(optional).
      'If Wait=False, begin playing sound file and continue with execution.
      PlayerControl.Wait = False

      'If we can play the sound (should always happen), go ahead and play it
      If PlayerControl.CanPlay Then
         PlayerControl.Command = "Play" 'Play the sound (required)

         'If the picture display timer is on, increase the timer interval by
         'the length of the sound accompanying the picture so that we never
         'drop part of the narration describing the picture.
         If Not (PlayerControl Is Nothing) Then
            Timer1.Interval = Timer1.Interval + PlayerControl.Length
         End If
      Else
         MsgBox("Can't play sound file " & SoundFileName & ":" & vbCrLf _
         & "Error code = " & PlayerControl.Error.ToString & ", Error message
= " & PlayerControl.ErrorMessage)
      End If

   End Sub

Don,

Thank you very much. That is working for me, now. Just a
couple of extra notes:

First, I added the multimedia tool to the Windows Forms
Toolbox:
- Right-click the toolbox header
- Select Customize Toolbox
- Scroll down to Microsoft Multimedia Control, version 6.0
- Select the checkbox
- Hit OK
That adds a new tool called MMControl. Double-click that,
and two new References are added to the Solution Explorer
window: AxMCI and MCI. I think "stdole" was also added,
but I can't be sure. After that, I was able to add the
code you provided (repro below).

Then, I had a couple of minor problems. I had to install
the license keys from the MSDN (Pro) VS.NET DVD
(Extras\VB6Controls):
- Run RegEdit
- Select File|Import
- Browse to the .REG file on the CD or DVD
- Click OK, then File|Exit.

Last, I got an error that .WAV files could not be
automagically played. I had to add a line to the code to
set the device type, like so:
        PlayerControl.DeviceType = "WaveAudio"

Of course, I also had to DIM the variables. After all
that, it was just a matter of deciding what .WAV file to
play!

This is great. Thanks again,
Richard Stauch
Long Beach, CA

is what I did. Seems
MP3). I use it for my
forces an advance to
control. On the chance
included my VB code below.
multimedia control as
having the object name
control seems to be at
url=/library/en-us/vbcon98/htm
(PlayerControl is Public)
continuing execution
continue with execution.
go ahead and play it
the timer interval by
picture so that we never
PlayerControl.Length
PlayerControl.Error.ToString & ", Error message

Steve,

That is amazing, because they worked so hard to give us
data access, graphics, and all the rest, but sound seems
to have completely slipped their minds! I hope they add
it soon.

Thanks for all the information, though. I am still
checking everything out. Don Peters provided a more
practical solution, that is working for me (see my reply
to him). I hope MS can simply include such information in
the next edition of MSDN. That would be very helpful.

Thanks again,
Richard Stauch
Long Beach, CA

multimedia of any kind.