Module java.desktop
Package javax.sound.midi

Class MidiSystem

java.lang.Object
javax.sound.midi.MidiSystem
public class MidiSystem extends Object
The MidiSystem class provides access to the installed MIDI system resources, including devices such as synthesizers, sequencers, and MIDI input and output ports. A typical simple MIDI application might begin by invoking one or more MidiSystem methods to learn what devices are installed and to obtain the ones needed in that application.

The class also has methods for reading files, streams, and URLs that contain standard MIDI file data or soundbanks. You can query the MidiSystem for the format of a specified MIDI file.

You cannot instantiate a MidiSystem; all the methods are static.

Properties can be used to specify default MIDI devices. Both system properties and a properties file are considered. The "sound.properties" properties file is read from an implementation-specific location (typically it is the conf directory in the Java installation directory). The optional "javax.sound.config.file" system property can be used to specify the properties file that will be read as the initial configuration. If a property exists both as a system property and in the properties file, the system property takes precedence. If none is specified, a suitable default is chosen among the available devices. The syntax of the properties file is specified in Properties.load. The following table lists the available property keys and which methods consider them:

MIDI System Property Keys
Property Key Interface Affected Method
javax.sound.midi.Receiver Receiver getReceiver()
javax.sound.midi.Sequencer Sequencer getSequencer()
javax.sound.midi.Synthesizer Synthesizer getSynthesizer()
javax.sound.midi.Transmitter Transmitter getTransmitter()
The property value consists of the provider class name and the device name, separated by the hash mark ("#"). The provider class name is the fully-qualified name of a concrete MIDI device provider class. The device name is matched against the String returned by the getName method of MidiDevice.Info. Either the class name, or the device name may be omitted. If only the class name is specified, the trailing hash mark is optional.

If the provider class is specified, and it can be successfully retrieved from the installed providers, the list of MidiDevice.Info objects is retrieved from the provider. Otherwise, or when these devices do not provide a subsequent match, the list is retrieved from getMidiDeviceInfo() to contain all available MidiDevice.Info objects.

If a device name is specified, the resulting list of MidiDevice.Info objects is searched: the first one with a matching name, and whose MidiDevice implements the respective interface, will be returned. If no matching MidiDevice.Info object is found, or the device name is not specified, the first suitable device from the resulting list will be returned. For Sequencer and Synthesizer, a device is suitable if it implements the respective interface; whereas for Receiver and Transmitter, a device is suitable if it implements neither Sequencer nor Synthesizer and provides at least one Receiver or Transmitter, respectively.

For example, the property javax.sound.midi.Receiver with a value "com.sun.media.sound.MidiProvider#SunMIDI1" will have the following consequences when getReceiver is called: if the class com.sun.media.sound.MidiProvider exists in the list of installed MIDI device providers, the first Receiver device with name "SunMIDI1" will be returned. If it cannot be found, the first Receiver from that provider will be returned, regardless of name. If there is none, the first Receiver with name "SunMIDI1" in the list of all devices (as returned by getMidiDeviceInfo) will be returned, or, if not found, the first Receiver that can be found in the list of all devices is returned. If that fails, too, a MidiUnavailableException is thrown.