public class MidiSystem
extends Object

The MidiSystem class provides access to the installed MIDI system resources, including devices such as synthesizers, sequencers, and MIDI input and output ports. A typical simple MIDI application might begin by invoking one or more MidiSystem methods to learn what devices are installed and to obtain the ones needed in that application.

The class also has methods for reading files, streams, and URLs that contain standard MIDI file data or soundbanks. You can query the MidiSystem for the format of a specified MIDI file.

You cannot instantiate a MidiSystem; all the methods are static.

Properties can be used to specify default MIDI devices. Both system properties and a properties file are considered. The sound.properties properties file is read from an implementation-specific location (typically it is the lib directory in the Java installation directory). If a property exists both as a system property and in the properties file, the system property takes precedence. If none is specified, a suitable default is chosen among the available devices. The syntax of the properties file is specified in Properties.load. The following table lists the available property keys and which methods consider them:

MIDI System Property Keys

Property Key	Interface	Affected Method
javax.sound.midi.Receiver	Receiver	getReceiver()
javax.sound.midi.Sequencer	Sequencer	getSequencer()
javax.sound.midi.Synthesizer	Synthesizer	getSynthesizer()
javax.sound.midi.Transmitter	Transmitter	getTransmitter()

The property value consists of the provider class name and the device name, separated by the hash mark ("#"). The provider class name is the fully-qualified name of a concrete MIDI device provider class. The device name is matched against the String returned by the getName method of MidiDevice.Info. Either the class name, or the device name may be omitted. If only the class name is specified, the trailing hash mark is optional.

If the provider class is specified, and it can be successfully retrieved from the installed providers, the list of MidiDevice.Info objects is retrieved from the provider. Otherwise, or when these devices do not provide a subsequent match, the list is retrieved from getMidiDeviceInfo() to contain all available MidiDevice.Info objects.

If a device name is specified, the resulting list of MidiDevice.Info objects is searched: the first one with a matching name, and whose MidiDevice implements the respective interface, will be returned. If no matching MidiDevice.Info object is found, or the device name is not specified, the first suitable device from the resulting list will be returned. For Sequencer and Synthesizer, a device is suitable if it implements the respective interface; whereas for Receiver and Transmitter, a device is suitable if it implements neither Sequencer nor Synthesizer and provides at least one Receiver or Transmitter, respectively. For example, the property javax.sound.midi.Receiver with a value "com.sun.media.sound.MidiProvider#SunMIDI1" will have the following consequences when getReceiver is called: if the class com.sun.media.sound.MidiProvider exists in the list of installed MIDI device providers, the first Receiver device with name "SunMIDI1" will be returned. If it cannot be found, the first Receiver from that provider will be returned, regardless of name. If there is none, the first Receiver with name "SunMIDI1" in the list of all devices (as returned by getMidiDeviceInfo) will be returned, or, if not found, the first Receiver that can be found in the list of all devices is returned. If that fails, too, a MidiUnavailableException is thrown.

public static MidiDevice.Info[] getMidiDeviceInfo()

public static MidiDevice getMidiDevice(MidiDevice.Info info)
                                throws MidiUnavailableException

public static Receiver getReceiver()
                            throws MidiUnavailableException

Obtains a MIDI receiver from an external MIDI port or other default device. The returned receiver always implements the MidiDeviceReceiver interface.

If the system property javax.sound.midi.Receiver is defined or it is defined in the file "sound.properties", it is used to identify the device that provides the default receiver. For details, refer to the class description. If a suitable MIDI port is not available, the Receiver is retrieved from an installed synthesizer.

If a native receiver provided by the default device does not implement the MidiDeviceReceiver interface, it will be wrapped in a wrapper class that implements the MidiDeviceReceiver interface. The corresponding Receiver method calls will be forwarded to the native receiver.

If this method returns successfully, the MidiDevice the Receiver belongs to is opened implicitly, if it is not already open. It is possible to close an implicitly opened device by calling close on the returned Receiver. All open Receiver instances have to be closed in order to release system resources hold by the MidiDevice. For a detailed description of open/close behaviour see the class description of MidiDevice.

public static Transmitter getTransmitter()
                                  throws MidiUnavailableException

Obtains a MIDI transmitter from an external MIDI port or other default source. The returned transmitter always implements the MidiDeviceTransmitter interface.

If the system property javax.sound.midi.Transmitter is defined or it is defined in the file "sound.properties", it is used to identify the device that provides the default transmitter. For details, refer to the class description.

If a native transmitter provided by the default device does not implement the MidiDeviceTransmitter interface, it will be wrapped in a wrapper class that implements the MidiDeviceTransmitter interface. The corresponding Transmitter method calls will be forwarded to the native transmitter.

If this method returns successfully, the MidiDevice the Transmitter belongs to is opened implicitly, if it is not already open. It is possible to close an implicitly opened device by calling close on the returned Transmitter. All open Transmitter instances have to be closed in order to release system resources hold by the MidiDevice. For a detailed description of open/close behaviour see the class description of MidiDevice.

public static Synthesizer getSynthesizer()
                                  throws MidiUnavailableException

Obtains the default synthesizer.

If the system property javax.sound.midi.Synthesizer is defined or it is defined in the file "sound.properties", it is used to identify the default synthesizer. For details, refer to the class description.

public static Sequencer getSequencer()
                              throws MidiUnavailableException

Obtains the default Sequencer, connected to a default device. The returned Sequencer instance is connected to the default Synthesizer, as returned by getSynthesizer(). If there is no Synthesizer available, or the default Synthesizer cannot be opened, the sequencer is connected to the default Receiver, as returned by getReceiver(). The connection is made by retrieving a Transmitter instance from the Sequencer and setting its Receiver. Closing and re-opening the sequencer will restore the connection to the default device.

This method is equivalent to calling getSequencer(true).

If the system property javax.sound.midi.Sequencer is defined or it is defined in the file "sound.properties", it is used to identify the default sequencer. For details, refer to the class description.

public static Sequencer getSequencer(boolean connected)
                              throws MidiUnavailableException

Obtains the default Sequencer, optionally connected to a default device.

If connected is true, the returned Sequencer instance is connected to the default Synthesizer, as returned by getSynthesizer(). If there is no Synthesizer available, or the default Synthesizer cannot be opened, the sequencer is connected to the default Receiver, as returned by getReceiver(). The connection is made by retrieving a Transmitter instance from the Sequencer and setting its Receiver. Closing and re-opening the sequencer will restore the connection to the default device.

If connected is false, the returned Sequencer instance is not connected, it has no open Transmitters. In order to play the sequencer on a MIDI device, or a Synthesizer, it is necessary to get a Transmitter and set its Receiver.

If the system property javax.sound.midi.Sequencer is defined or it is defined in the file "sound.properties", it is used to identify the default sequencer. For details, refer to the class description.

public static Soundbank getSoundbank(InputStream stream)
                              throws InvalidMidiDataException,
                                     IOException

public static Soundbank getSoundbank(URL url)
                              throws InvalidMidiDataException,
                                     IOException

public static Soundbank getSoundbank(File file)
                              throws InvalidMidiDataException,
                                     IOException

public static MidiFileFormat getMidiFileFormat(InputStream stream)
                                        throws InvalidMidiDataException,
                                               IOException

Obtains the MIDI file format of the data in the specified input stream. The stream must point to valid MIDI file data for a file type recognized by the system.

This method and/or the code it invokes may need to read some data from the stream to determine whether its data format is supported. The implementation may therefore need to mark the stream, read enough data to determine whether it is in a supported format, and reset the stream's read pointer to its original position. If the input stream does not permit this set of operations, this method may fail with an IOException.

This operation can only succeed for files of a type which can be parsed by an installed file reader. It may fail with an InvalidMidiDataException even for valid files if no compatible file reader is installed. It will also fail with an InvalidMidiDataException if a compatible file reader is installed, but encounters errors while determining the file format.

public static MidiFileFormat getMidiFileFormat(URL url)
                                        throws InvalidMidiDataException,
                                               IOException

Obtains the MIDI file format of the data in the specified URL. The URL must point to valid MIDI file data for a file type recognized by the system.

This operation can only succeed for files of a type which can be parsed by an installed file reader. It may fail with an InvalidMidiDataException even for valid files if no compatible file reader is installed. It will also fail with an InvalidMidiDataException if a compatible file reader is installed, but encounters errors while determining the file format.

public static MidiFileFormat getMidiFileFormat(File file)
                                        throws InvalidMidiDataException,
                                               IOException

Obtains the MIDI file format of the specified File. The File must point to valid MIDI file data for a file type recognized by the system.

This operation can only succeed for files of a type which can be parsed by an installed file reader. It may fail with an InvalidMidiDataException even for valid files if no compatible file reader is installed. It will also fail with an InvalidMidiDataException if a compatible file reader is installed, but encounters errors while determining the file format.

public static Sequence getSequence(InputStream stream)
                            throws InvalidMidiDataException,
                                   IOException

Obtains a MIDI sequence from the specified input stream. The stream must point to valid MIDI file data for a file type recognized by the system.

This method and/or the code it invokes may need to read some data from the stream to determine whether its data format is supported. The implementation may therefore need to mark the stream, read enough data to determine whether it is in a supported format, and reset the stream's read pointer to its original position. If the input stream does not permit this set of operations, this method may fail with an IOException.

This operation can only succeed for files of a type which can be parsed by an installed file reader. It may fail with an InvalidMidiDataException even for valid files if no compatible file reader is installed. It will also fail with an InvalidMidiDataException if a compatible file reader is installed, but encounters errors while constructing the Sequence object from the file data.

public static Sequence getSequence(URL url)
                            throws InvalidMidiDataException,
                                   IOException

Obtains a MIDI sequence from the specified URL. The URL must point to valid MIDI file data for a file type recognized by the system.

This operation can only succeed for files of a type which can be parsed by an installed file reader. It may fail with an InvalidMidiDataException even for valid files if no compatible file reader is installed. It will also fail with an InvalidMidiDataException if a compatible file reader is installed, but encounters errors while constructing the Sequence object from the file data.

public static Sequence getSequence(File file)
                            throws InvalidMidiDataException,
                                   IOException

Obtains a MIDI sequence from the specified File. The File must point to valid MIDI file data for a file type recognized by the system.

This operation can only succeed for files of a type which can be parsed by an installed file reader. It may fail with an InvalidMidiDataException even for valid files if no compatible file reader is installed. It will also fail with an InvalidMidiDataException if a compatible file reader is installed, but encounters errors while constructing the Sequence object from the file data.

public static int[] getMidiFileTypes()

public static boolean isFileTypeSupported(int fileType)

public static int[] getMidiFileTypes(Sequence sequence)

public static boolean isFileTypeSupported(int fileType,
                                          Sequence sequence)

public static int write(Sequence in,
                        int fileType,
                        OutputStream out)
                 throws IOException

public static int write(Sequence in,
                        int type,
                        File out)
                 throws IOException