How to: Loop a Sound Playing on a Windows Form

The following code example plays a sound repeatedly. When the code in the stopPlayingButton_Click event handler runs, any sound currently playing stops. If no sound is playing, nothing happens.

Example

Imports System
Imports System.Media
Imports System.Windows.Forms

Public Class Form1
    Inherits System.Windows.Forms.Form

    Private Player As New SoundPlayer

    Sub New()

        Me.InitializeComponent()

    End Sub

    Private Sub playLoopingButton_Click( _
        ByVal sender As System.Object, _
        ByVal e As System.EventArgs) _
        Handles playLoopingButton.Click

        Try
            ' Note: You may need to change the location specified based on
            ' the sounds loaded on your computer.
            Me.Player.SoundLocation = "C:\Windows\Media\chimes.wav"
            Me.Player.PlayLooping()
        Catch ex As Exception
            MessageBox.Show(ex.Message, "Error playing sound")
        End Try

    End Sub

    Private Sub stopPlayingButton_Click( _
        ByVal sender As System.Object, _
        ByVal e As System.EventArgs) _
        Handles stopPlayingButton.Click

        Me.Player.Stop()

    End Sub

    'Form overrides dispose to clean up the component list.
    <System.Diagnostics.DebuggerNonUserCode()> _
    Protected Overloads Overrides Sub Dispose(ByVal disposing As Boolean)
        If disposing AndAlso components IsNot Nothing Then
            components.Dispose()
        End If
        MyBase.Dispose(disposing)
    End Sub

    Friend WithEvents playLoopingButton As System.Windows.Forms.Button
    Friend WithEvents stopPlayingButton As System.Windows.Forms.Button

    'Required by the Windows Form Designer
    Private components As System.ComponentModel.IContainer

    'NOTE: The following procedure is required by the Windows Form Designer
    'It can be modified using the Windows Form Designer.  
    'Do not modify it using the code editor.
    <System.Diagnostics.DebuggerStepThrough()> _
    Private Sub InitializeComponent()
        Me.playLoopingButton = New System.Windows.Forms.Button
        Me.stopPlayingButton = New System.Windows.Forms.Button
        Me.SuspendLayout()
        '
        'playLoopingButton
        '
        Me.playLoopingButton.Location = New System.Drawing.Point(12, 12)
        Me.playLoopingButton.Name = "playLoopingButton"
        Me.playLoopingButton.Size = New System.Drawing.Size(89, 23)
        Me.playLoopingButton.TabIndex = 0
        Me.playLoopingButton.Text = "Play Looping"
        Me.playLoopingButton.UseVisualStyleBackColor = True
        '
        'stopPlayingButton
        '
        Me.stopPlayingButton.Location = New System.Drawing.Point(107, 12)
        Me.stopPlayingButton.Name = "stopPlayingButton"
        Me.stopPlayingButton.Size = New System.Drawing.Size(75, 23)
        Me.stopPlayingButton.TabIndex = 1
        Me.stopPlayingButton.Text = "Stop"
        Me.stopPlayingButton.UseVisualStyleBackColor = True
        '
        'Form1
        '
        Me.AutoScaleDimensions = New System.Drawing.SizeF(6.0!, 13.0!)
        Me.AutoScaleMode = System.Windows.Forms.AutoScaleMode.Font
        Me.ClientSize = New System.Drawing.Size(197, 52)
        Me.Controls.Add(Me.stopPlayingButton)
        Me.Controls.Add(Me.playLoopingButton)
        Me.Name = "Form1"
        Me.Text = "Form1"
        Me.ResumeLayout(False)

    End Sub

    <STAThread()> _
    Shared Sub Main()
        Application.EnableVisualStyles()
        Application.Run(New Form1())
    End Sub

End Class
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Media;
using System.Windows.Forms;

namespace SoundPlayerPlayLoopingExample
{
    public class Form1 : Form
    {
        private SoundPlayer Player = new SoundPlayer();

        public Form1()
        {
            InitializeComponent();
        }

        private void playLoopingButton_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            try
            {
                // Note: You may need to change the location specified based on
                // the sounds loaded on your computer.
                this.Player.SoundLocation = @"C:\Windows\Media\chimes.wav";
                this.Player.PlayLooping();
            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
                MessageBox.Show(ex.Message, "Error playing sound");
            }
        }

        private void stopPlayingButton_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            this.Player.Stop();
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// Required designer variable.
        /// </summary>
        private System.ComponentModel.IContainer components = null;

        /// <summary>
        /// Clean up any resources being used.
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="disposing">true if managed resources should be disposed; otherwise, false.</param>
        protected override void Dispose(bool disposing)
        {
            if (disposing && (components != null))
            {
                components.Dispose();
            }
            base.Dispose(disposing);
        }

        #region Windows Form Designer generated code

        /// <summary>
        /// Required method for Designer support - do not modify
        /// the contents of this method with the code editor.
        /// </summary>
        private void InitializeComponent()
        {
            this.playLoopingButton = new System.Windows.Forms.Button();
            this.stopPlayingButton = new System.Windows.Forms.Button();
            this.SuspendLayout();
            // 
            // playLoopingButton
            // 
            this.playLoopingButton.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(12, 12);
            this.playLoopingButton.Name = "playLoopingButton";
            this.playLoopingButton.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(87, 23);
            this.playLoopingButton.TabIndex = 0;
            this.playLoopingButton.Text = "Play Looping";
            this.playLoopingButton.UseVisualStyleBackColor = true;
            this.playLoopingButton.Click += new System.EventHandler(this.playLoopingButton_Click);
            // 
            // stopPlayingButton
            // 
            this.stopPlayingButton.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(105, 12);
            this.stopPlayingButton.Name = "stopPlayingButton";
            this.stopPlayingButton.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(75, 23);
            this.stopPlayingButton.TabIndex = 1;
            this.stopPlayingButton.Text = "Stop";
            this.stopPlayingButton.UseVisualStyleBackColor = true;
            this.stopPlayingButton.Click += new System.EventHandler(this.stopPlayingButton_Click);
            // 
            // Form1
            // 
            this.AutoScaleDimensions = new System.Drawing.SizeF(6F, 13F);
            this.AutoScaleMode = System.Windows.Forms.AutoScaleMode.Font;
            this.ClientSize = new System.Drawing.Size(195, 51);
            this.Controls.Add(this.stopPlayingButton);
            this.Controls.Add(this.playLoopingButton);
            this.Name = "Form1";
            this.Text = "Form1";
            this.ResumeLayout(false);

        }

        #endregion

        private System.Windows.Forms.Button playLoopingButton;
        private System.Windows.Forms.Button stopPlayingButton;
    }

    static class Program
    {
        /// <summary>
        /// The main entry point for the application.
        /// </summary>
        [STAThread]
        static void Main()
        {
            Application.EnableVisualStyles();
            Application.Run(new Form1());
        }
    }
}

Compiling the Code

This example requires:

  • References to the System and System.Windows.Forms assemblies.

  • That you replace the file name "c:\Windows\Media\chimes.wav" with a valid file name.

For information about building this example from the command line for Visual Basic or Visual C#, see Building from the Command Line (Visual Basic) or Command-Line Building. You can also build this example in Visual Studio by pasting the code into a new project. How to: Compile and Run a Complete Windows Forms Code Example Using Visual Studio
How to: Compile and Run a Complete Windows Forms Code Example Using Visual Studio
How to: Compile and Run a Complete Windows Forms Code Example Using Visual Studio
How to: Compile and Run a Complete Windows Forms Code Example Using Visual Studio

Robust Programming

File operations should be enclosed within appropriate exception-handling blocks.

The following conditions may cause an exception:

Security

Do not make decisions about the contents of the file based on the name of the file. For example, the file Form1.vb may not be a Visual Basic source file. Verify all inputs before using the data in your application.

See Also

Tasks

How to: Play a Sound from a Windows Form

Reference

SoundPlayer Class Overview
PlayLooping