SoX(3)				Sound eXchange				SoX(3)



NAME
       libsox - SoX, an audio file-format and effect library

SYNOPSIS
       #include <sox.h>

       int sox_format_init(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);

       void sox_create_effect(sox_effect_t effp, sox_effect_handler_t const *e);

       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_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 exten-
       sion. 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 han-
       dler  specified by ft. All data read is converted to 32-bit signed sam-
       ples 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	speci-
       fied in total samples. If its value is not evenly divisable by the num-
       ber 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.

       sox_format_quite function performs some required cleanup related to all
       file format handlers.

       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 sox_update_effect function copies input and output signal info into
       effect structures. The effect_mask parameter is the return value of the
       previous call to this function; for the first call, pass 0.  The	 func-
       tion returns the updated effect mask.

       SoX  includes  skeleton	C  files  to assist you in writing new formats
       (skelform.c) and effects (skeleff.c). sox.c itself is a	good  starting
       point  for new programs. Note that new formats can often just deal with
       the header and then use raw.c's routines for reading and writing.

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  on  an  internal  buffer  format  of
       signed  32-bit  longs.  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  sam-
       ples  read.  For	 example,  data	 in linear signed byte format is left-
       shifted 24 bits.

       This does cause problems in processing the data.	 For example:
	    *obuf++ = (*ibuf++ + *ibuf++)/2;
       would not mix down left and right channels into one monophonic channel,
       because	the  resulting	samples	 would overflow 32 bits.  Instead, the
       ''avg'' effects must use:
	    *obuf++ = *ibuf++/2 + *ibuf++/2;

       Stereo data is stored with the left and right speaker data  in  succes-
       sive  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 sam-
       ple: sampling rate, data size (8, 16, or 32 bits), encoding  (unsigned,
       signed,	floating point, etc.), number of sound channels.  It also con-
       tains 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  mal-
       loc() 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
       An  effects  loop  has  one input and one output stream.	 It has 5 rou-
       tines.

       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 out-
			   put buffer, and sets the size variables to the num-
			   bers 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  sam-
			   ples.   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 to
			   process.  stop may generate output samples  on  its
			   own.	  See  echo.c for how to do this, and see that
			   what it does is absolutely bogus.

LINKING
       The method of linking against libsox and libsfx 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	 /path/to/lib-
       sfx.la


BUGS
       This manual page is both incomplete and out of date.

SEE ALSO
       sox(1), soxformat(7), soxeffect(7)

       example*.c in the SoX source distribution.

LICENSE
       Copyright  1991	Lance  Norskog	and  Sundry  Contributors.   Copyright
       1998-2007 by Chris Bagwell and SoX 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  MER-
       CHANTABILITY  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 con-
       tributors  are  listed in the AUTHORS file that is distributed with the
       source code.



libsox				 July 27, 2008				SoX(3)
