[General Questions and Answers] xchris00:
Hello

I'm new to programming and I'm trying to make a java application that will "hear" (not record necessarily) the sound and display how loud is.I'm thinking of converting the sound recordings to numbers,so I can see the difference on the sound levels.I got this code and I added the "getLevel()" method,which returns the amplitude of the current recording,but it's returning -1 everytime.I guess I'm not using it properly. Any ideas how I must call this method?I have to deliver my project in a week,so any help will be much appreciated!

public class Capture extends JFrame {

protected boolean running;
ByteArrayOutputStream out;

public Capture() {
super("Capture Sound Demo");
setDefaultCloseOperation(EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
Container content = getContentPane();

final JButton capture = new JButton("Capture");
final JButton stop = new JButton("Stop");
final JButton play = new JButton("Play");

capture.setEnabled(true);
stop.setEnabled(false);
play.setEnabled(false);

ActionListener captureListener =
new ActionListener() {
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
capture.setEnabled(false);
stop.setEnabled(true);
play.setEnabled(false);
captureAudio();
}
};
capture.addActionListener(captureListener);
content.add(capture, BorderLayout.NORTH);

ActionListener stopListener =
new ActionListener() {
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
capture.setEnabled(true);
stop.setEnabled(false);
play.setEnabled(true);
running = false;
}
};
stop.addActionListener(stopListener);
content.add(stop, BorderLayout.CENTER);

ActionListener playListener =
new ActionListener() {
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
playAudio();
}
};
play.addActionListener(playListener);
content.add(play, BorderLayout.SOUTH);
}

private void captureAudio() {
try {
final AudioFormat format = getFormat();
DataLine.Info info = new DataLine.Info(
TargetDataLine.class, format);
final TargetDataLine line = (TargetDataLine)
AudioSystem.getLine(info);
line.open(format);
line.start();

Runnable runner = new Runnable() {
int bufferSize = (int)format.getSampleRate()
* format.getFrameSize();
byte buffer[] = new byte[bufferSize];

public void run() {
out = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
running = true;
try {
while (running) {
int count =
line.read(buffer, 0, buffer.length);
if (count > 0) {
out.write(buffer, 0, count);

System.out.println(line.getLevel()); // |-this is what i added-|
}
}
out.close();
} catch (IOException e) {
System.err.println("I/O problems: " + e);
System.exit(-1);
}
}
};
Thread captureThread = new Thread(runner);
captureThread.start();
} catch (LineUnavailableException e) {
System.err.println("Line unavailable: " + e);
System.exit(-2);
}
}

private void playAudio() {
try {
byte audio[] = out.toByteArray();
InputStream input =
new ByteArrayInputStream(audio);
final AudioFormat format = getFormat();
final AudioInputStream ais =
new AudioInputStream(input, format,
audio.length / format.getFrameSize());
DataLine.Info info = new DataLine.Info(
SourceDataLine.class, format);
final SourceDataLine line = (SourceDataLine)
AudioSystem.getLine(info);
line.open(format);
line.start();

Runnable runner = new Runnable() {
int bufferSize = (int) format.getSampleRate()
* format.getFrameSize();
byte buffer[] = new byte[bufferSize];

public void run() {
try {
int count;
while ((count = ais.read(
buffer, 0, buffer.length)) != -1) {
if (count > 0) {
line.write(buffer, 0, count);
}
}

line.drain();
line.close();

} catch (IOException e) {
System.err.println("I/O problems: " + e);
System.exit(-3);
}
}
};
Thread playThread = new Thread(runner);
playThread.start();
} catch (LineUnavailableException e) {
System.err.println("Line unavailable: " + e);
System.exit(-4);
}
}

private AudioFormat getFormat() {
float sampleRate = 8000;
int sampleSizeInBits = 8;
int channels = 1;
boolean signed = true;
boolean bigEndian = true;
return new AudioFormat(sampleRate,
sampleSizeInBits, channels, signed, bigEndian);
}

@SuppressWarnings("deprecation")
public static void main(String args[]) {
JFrame frame = new Capture();
frame.pack();
frame.show();
}
}