C# Signature:

[DllImport("winmm.dll", SetLastError=true)]
static extern bool PlaySound(string pszSound, UIntPtr hmod, uint fdwSound);

[DllImport("winmm.dll", SetLastError=true)]
static extern bool PlaySound(byte[] pszSound, IntPtr hmod, SoundFlags fdwSound);

VB Signature:

<DllImport("winmm.dll")> _
Shared Function PlaySound( _
   ByVal szSound As String, _
   ByVal hModule As UIntPtr, _
   ByVal fdwSound As Integer) As Integer
End Function

Notes:

You will need these flags for the fdwSound parameter

[Flags]
public enum SoundFlags
{
    /// <summary>play synchronously (default)</summary>
    SND_SYNC = 0x0000,    
    /// <summary>play asynchronously</summary>
    SND_ASYNC = 0x0001,
    /// <summary>silence (!default) if sound not found</summary>
    SND_NODEFAULT = 0x0002,
    /// <summary>pszSound points to a memory file</summary>
    SND_MEMORY = 0x0004,
    /// <summary>loop the sound until next sndPlaySound</summary>
    SND_LOOP = 0x0008,    
    /// <summary>don't stop any currently playing sound</summary>
    SND_NOSTOP = 0x0010,
    /// <summary>Stop Playing Wave</summary>
    SND_PURGE = 0x40,
    /// <summary>don't wait if the driver is busy</summary>
    SND_NOWAIT = 0x00002000,
    /// <summary>name is a registry alias</summary>
    SND_ALIAS = 0x00010000,
    /// <summary>alias is a predefined id</summary>
    SND_ALIAS_ID = 0x00110000,
    /// <summary>name is file name</summary>
    SND_FILENAME = 0x00020000,
    /// <summary>name is resource name or atom</summary>
    SND_RESOURCE = 0x00040004
}

Tips & Tricks:

To play a sound looping both SND_LOOP and SND_ASYNC flags have to be specified. Looped sounds only stop when PlaySound is called with pszSound set to NULL.

Sample Code:

public static void Play (string strFileName)
{
    PlaySound (strFileName, UIntPtr.Zero, (uint)(SoundFlags.SND_FILENAME | SoundFlags.SND_ASYNC));
}

public static void Play (byte[] waveData)
{
    PlaySound (waveData, IntPtr.Zero, PlayFlags.SND_ASYNC | PlayFlags.SND_MEMORY);
}
private void button2_Click(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
{
     UIntPtr ip = UIntPtr.Zero;
     bool result = PlaySound(@"C:\path\to\wav\file.wav" ,ip ,0);
}

Alternative Managed API:

In .Net 2.0 you can use the System.Media.SoundPlayer class instead:

SoundPlayer sound = new SoundPlayer(@"C:\Windows\Media\tada.wav");
sound.Load(); // can also be called asychronously i.e. LoadAsync()
sound.Play(); // default is to play asyncronously

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms712879.aspx

Please edit this page!

Do you have...

• helpful tips or sample code to share for using this API in managed code?
• corrections to the existing content?
• variations of the signature you want to share?
• additional languages you want to include?

Select "Edit This Page" on the right hand toolbar and edit it! Or add new pages containing supporting types needed for this API (structures, delegates, and more).