System Sounds in Java

Question

I'm trying to code an error dialog, and I want it to call the proper system-specified sound. Is there any way to access system sounds from Java (i.e. Startup sound, default beep, asterisk, critical stop, etc.)?

Note: I know about java.awt.Toolkit.getDefaultToolkit().beep();

Answer 1

Here ya go (exclusively for windows:)

final Runnable runnable =
     (Runnable) Toolkit.getDefaultToolkit().getDesktopProperty("win.sound.exclamation");
if (runnable != null) runnable.run();

More sounds for Windows (all pages contain the same content): Java 6, Java 7, Java 8. (Good luck finding some for other OS!)

Answer 2

I assume you are talking about windows system sounds? My mac doesn't have a "critical stop" noise. ;-)

You'll need to find the proper filesystem path to those sound files. I assume they are wav files so something like this should work:

new JavaSoundAudioClip(new FileInputStream(new File("/tmp/go.wav"))).play();

The file may have a path such as:

C:\WINDOWS\MEDIA\Microsoft Office 2000\EXPLODE.WAV

NOTE: This will return immediately although the sound has been "queued" to the audio device. You can call stop() if you need to stop it.

If you need to do something more special take a look at this Java forum. Here's some documentation which breaks down how to use the audio system more directly.