Configuring Sound in Visual C++ Development Environment

The information in this article applies to:

• Microsoft Visual C++, 32-bit Edition, version 2.0, 2.1, and 4.0, on the following platforms: x86, MIPS

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>

State                  sndPlaySound()      MessageBeep()
                       Sound Name          Beep Type

Breakpoint Hit         MSVC_HitBP         <nothing>
Error in Output        MSVC_OutputError   <nothing>
Warning in Output      MSVC_OutputWarning <nothing>

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" };

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" };

char *soundValue[4] = { "tada.wav,Build Complete",
                        "ding.wav,Build Up To Date",
                        "ding.wav,Build Error",
                        "ding.wav,Build Warning" };

void main( void )

int i;

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);
   }

       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]);

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