libsox(3)
NAME
libsox - SoX, an audio file-format and effect library
SYNOPSIS
#include <sox.h> int sox_format_init(void); void sox_format_quit(void); sox_format_t sox_open_read(const char *path, const sox_signalinfo_t *info, const char *filetype); sox_format_t sox_open_write(sox_bool (*overwrite_permitted)(const char *filename), const char *path, const sox_signalinfo_t *info, const char *filetype, const char *comment, sox_size_t length, const sox_instrinfo_t *instr, const sox_loopinfo_t *loops); sox_size_t sox_read(sox_format_t ft, sox_ssample_t *buf, sox_size_t len); sox_size_t sox_write(sox_format_t ft, sox_ssample_t *buf, sox_size_t len); int sox_close(sox_format_t ft); int sox_seek(sox_format_t ft, sox_size_t offset, int whence); sox_effect_handler_t const *sox_find_effect(char const *name); sox_effect_t *sox_create_effect(sox_effect_handler_t const *eh); int sox_effect_options(sox_effect_t *effp, int argc, char * const argv[]); sox_effects_chain_t *sox_create_effects_chain(sox_encodinginfo_t const *in_enc, sox_encodinginfo_t const *out_enc); void sox_delete_effects_chain(sox_effects_chain_t *ecp); int sox_add_effect(sox_effects_chaint_t *chain, sox_effect_t*effp, sox_signalinfo_t *in, sox_signalinfo_t const *out); cc file.c -o file -lsox
DESCRIPTION
libsox is a library of sound sample file format readers/writers and sound effects processors. It is mainly developed for use by SoX but is useful for any sound application. sox_format_init function performs some required initialization related to all file format handlers. If compiled with dynamic library support then this will detect and initialize all external libraries. This should be called before any other file operations are performed. sox_format_quit function performs some required cleanup related to all file format handlers. sox_open_input function opens the file for reading whose name is the string pointed to by path and associates an sox_format_t with it. If info is non-NULL then it will be used to specify the data format of the input file. This is normally only needed for headerless audio files since the information is not stored in the file. If filetype is non- NULL then it will be used to specify the file type. If this is not specified then the file type is attempted to be derived by looking at the file header and/or the filename extension. A special name of "-" can be used to read data from stdin. sox_open_output function opens the file for writing whose name is the string pointed to by path and associates an sox_format_t with it. If info is non-NULL then it will be used to specify the data format of the output file. Since most file formats can write data in different data formats, this generally has to be specified. The info structure from the input format handler can be specified to copy data over in the same format. If comment is non-NULL, it will be written in the file header for formats that support comments. If filetype is non-NULL then it will be used to specify the file type. If this is not specified then the file type is attempted to be derived by looking at the filename extension. A special name of "-" can be used to write data to stdout. The function sox_read reads len samples in to buf using the format handler specified by ft. All data read is converted to 32-bit signed samples before being placed in to buf. The value of len is specified in total samples. If its value is not evenly divisable by the number of channels, undefined behavior will occur. The function sox_write writes len samples from buf using the format handler specified by ft. Data in buf must be 32-bit signed samples and will be converted during the write process. The value of len is specified in total samples. If its value is not evenly divisable by the number of channels, undefined behavior will occur. The sox_close function dissociates the named sox_format_t from its underlying file or set of functions. If the format handler was being used for output, any buffered data is written first. The function sox_find_effect finds effect name, returning a pointer to its sox_effect_handler_t if it exists, and NULL otherwise. The function sox_create_effect instantiates an effect into a sox_effect_t given a sox_effect_handler_t *. Any missing methods are automatically set to the corresponding nothing method. The function sox_effect_options allows passing options into the effect to control its behavior. It will return SOX_EOF if there were any invalid options passed in. On success, the effp->in_signal will optional contain the rate and channel count it requires input data from and effp->out_signal will optionally contain the rate and channel count it outputs in. When present, this information should be used to make sure appropriate effects are placed in the effects chain to handle any needed conversions. Passing in options is currently only supported when they are passed in before the effect is ever started. The behavior is undefined if its called once the effect is started. sox_create_effects_chain will instantiate an effects chain that effects can be added to. in_enc and out_enc are the signal encoding of the input and output of the chain respectively. The pointers to in_enc and out_enc are stored internally and so their memory should not be freed. Also, it is OK if their values change over time to reflect new input or output encodings as they are referenced only as effects start up or are restarted. sox_delete_effects_chain will release any resources reserved during the creation of the chain. This will also call sox_delete_effects if any effects are still in the chain. sox_add_effect adds an effect to the chain. in specifies the input signal info for this effect. out is a suggestion as to what the output signal should be but depending on the effects given options and on in the effect can choose to do differently. Whatever output rate and channels the effect does produce are written back to in. It is meant that in be stored and passed to each new call to sox_add_effect so that changes will be propagated to each new effect. SoX includes skeleton C files to assist you in writing new formats (skelform.c) and effects (skeleff.c). Note that new formats can often just deal with the header and then use raw.c's routines for reading and writing. example0.c and example1.c are a good starting point to see how to write applications using libsox. sox.c itself is also a good reference.
RETURN VALUE
Upon successful completion sox_open_input and sox_open_output return an sox_format_t (which is a pointer). Otherwise, NULL is returned. TODO: Need a way to return reason for failures. Currently, relies on sox_warn to print information. sox_read and sox_write return the number of samples successfully read or written. If an error occurs, or the end-of-file is reached, the return value is a short item count or SOX_EOF. TODO: sox_read does not distiguish between end-of-file and error. Need an feof() and ferror() concept to determine which occured. Upon successful completion sox_close returns 0. Otherwise, SOX_EOF is returned. In either case, any further access (including another call to sox_close()) to the handler results in undefined behavior. TODO: Need a way to return reason for failures. Currently, relies on sox_warn to print information. Upon successful completion sox_seek returns 0. Otherwise, SOX_EOF is returned. TODO Need to set a global error and implement sox_tell.
ERRORS
TODO
INTERNALS
SoX's formats and effects operate with an internal sample format of
signed 32-bit integer. The data processing routines are called with
buffers of these samples, and buffer sizes which refer to the number of
samples processed, not the number of bytes. File readers translate the
input samples to signed 32-bit integers and return the number of
samples read. For example, data in linear signed byte format is left-
shifted 24 bits.
Representing samples as integers can cause problems when processing the
audio. For example, if an effect to mix down left and right channels
into one monophonic channel were to use the line
*obuf++ = (*ibuf++ + *ibuf++)/2;
distortion might occur since the intermediate addition can overflow 32
bits. The line
*obuf++ = *ibuf++/2 + *ibuf++/2;
would get round the overflow problem (at the expense of the least
significant bit).
Stereo data is stored with the left and right speaker data in
successive samples. Quadraphonic data is stored in this order: left
front, right front, left rear, right rear.
FORMATS
A format is responsible for translating between sound sample files and
an internal buffer. The internal buffer is store in signed longs with
a fixed sampling rate. The format operates from two data structures: a
format structure, and a private structure.
The format structure contains a list of control parameters for the
sample: sampling rate, data size (8, 16, or 32 bits), encoding
(unsigned, signed, floating point, etc.), number of sound channels. It
also contains other state information: whether the sample file needs to
be byte-swapped, whether sox_seek() will work, its suffix, its file
stream pointer, its format pointer, and the private structure for the
format .
The private area is just a preallocated data array for the format to
use however it wishes. It should have a defined data structure and
cast the array to that structure. See voc.c for the use of a private
data area. Voc.c has to track the number of samples it writes and when
finishing, seek back to the beginning of the file and write it out.
The private area is not very large. The ``echo'' effect has to
malloc() a much larger area for its delay line buffers.
A format has 6 routines:
startread Set up the format parameters, or read in a data
header, or do what needs to be done.
read Given a buffer and a length: read up to that many
samples, transform them into signed long integers,
and copy them into the buffer. Return the number
of samples actually read.
stopread Do what needs to be done.
startwrite Set up the format parameters, or write out a data
header, or do what needs to be done.
write Given a buffer and a length: copy that many samples
out of the buffer, convert them from signed longs
to the appropriate data, and write them to the
file. If it can't write out all the samples, fail.
stopwrite Fix up any file header, or do what needs to be
done.
EFFECTS
Each effect runs with one input and one output stream. An effect's
implementation comprises six functions that may be called to the follow
flow diagram:
LOOP (invocations with different parameters)
getopts
LOOP (invocations with the same parameters)
LOOP (channels)
start
LOOP (whilst there is input audio to process)
LOOP (channels)
flow
LOOP (whilst there is output audio to generate)
LOOP (channels)
drain
LOOP (channels)
stop
kill
Notes: For some effects, some of the functions may not be needed and
can be NULL. An effect that is marked `MCHAN' does not use the LOOP
(channels) lines and must therefore perform multiple channel processing
inside the affected functions. Multiple effect instances may be
processed (according to the above flow diagram) in parallel.
getopts is called with a character string argument list for
the effect.
start is called with the signal parameters for the input
and output streams.
flow is called with input and output data buffers, and
(by reference) the input and output data buffer
sizes. It processes the input buffer into the
output buffer, and sets the size variables to the
numbers of samples actually processed. It is under
no obligation to read from the input buffer or
write to the output buffer during the same call.
If the call returns SOX_EOF then this should be
used as an indication that this effect will no
longer read any data and can be used to switch to
drain mode sooner.
drain is called after there are no more input data
samples. If the effect wishes to generate more
data samples it copies the generated data into a
given buffer and returns the number of samples
generated. If it fills the buffer, it will be
called again, etc. The echo effect uses this to
fade away.
stop is called when there are no more input samples and
no more output samples to process. It is typically
used to release or close resources (e.g. allocated
memory or temporary files) that were set-up in
start. See echo.c for an example.
kill is called to allow resources allocated by getopts
to be released. See pad.c for an example.
LINKING
The method of linking against libsox depends on how SoX was built on
your system. For a static build, just link against the libraries as
normal. For a dynamic build, you should use libtool to link with the
correct linker flags. See the libtool manual for details; basically,
you use it as:
libtool --mode=link gcc -o prog /path/to/libsox.la
BUGS
This manual page is both incomplete and out of date.
SEE ALSO
sox(1), soxformat(7) example*.c in the SoX source distribution.
LICENSE
Copyright 1998-2011 by Chris Bagwell and SoX Contributors. Copyright 1991 Lance Norskog and Sundry Contributors. This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2.1, or (at your option) any later version. This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
AUTHORS
Chris Bagwell (cbagwell@users.sourceforge.net). Other authors and contributors are listed in the ChangeLog file that is distributed with the source code.
Opportunity
Personal Opportunity - Free software gives you access to billions of dollars of software at no cost. Use this software for your business, personal use or to develop a profitable skill. Access to source code provides access to a level of capabilities/information that companies protect though copyrights. Open source is a core component of the Internet and it is available to you. Leverage the billions of dollars in resources and capabilities to build a career, establish a business or change the world. The potential is endless for those who understand the opportunity.
Business Opportunity - Goldman Sachs, IBM and countless large corporations are leveraging open source to reduce costs, develop products and increase their bottom lines. Learn what these companies know about open source and how open source can give you the advantage.
Free Software
Free Software provides computer programs and capabilities at no cost but more importantly, it provides the freedom to run, edit, contribute to, and share the software. The importance of free software is a matter of access, not price. Software at no cost is a benefit but ownership rights to the software and source code is far more significant.
Free Office Software - The Libre Office suite provides top desktop productivity tools for free. This includes, a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation engine, drawing and flowcharting, database and math applications. Libre Office is available for Linux or Windows.
Free Books
The Free Books Library is a collection of thousands of the most popular public domain books in an online readable format. The collection includes great classical literature and more recent works where the U.S. copyright has expired. These books are yours to read and use without restrictions.
Source Code - Want to change a program or know how it works? Open Source provides the source code for its programs so that anyone can use, modify or learn how to write those programs themselves. Visit the GNU source code repositories to download the source.
Education
Study at Harvard, Stanford or MIT - Open edX provides free online courses from Harvard, MIT, Columbia, UC Berkeley and other top Universities. Hundreds of courses for almost all major subjects and course levels. Open edx also offers some paid courses and selected certifications.
Linux Manual Pages - A man or manual page is a form of software documentation found on Linux/Unix operating systems. Topics covered include computer programs (including library and system calls), formal standards and conventions, and even abstract concepts.
