Develop Reference

How to stream music in C# with PostgreSQL

I am trying to recreate some features of Spotify in C# using the PostgreSQL database.
The reason is simple, I want to gain more knowledge, and I think this is a good challenge.
But I ran into an obstacle that I've been standing for days. Spotify he doesn't download the music, he does her streaming, plays the music while it's downloaded.
However, I can't do this in C#, I'm using the PostgreSQL database.
I'm well locked in this part, I tried several implementations, but I think I'm not on the right track, and on the internet I imagine I'm looking wrong, otherwise I would have found it.
Do you have any guidance for this streaming process in C#? I've tried to read the large_object bytes from PostgreSQL, but couldn't.
Any suggestions or guides about the process are welcome.

You start by getting the file into the database or its network location into the database, whichever gives you better performance; Then start with creating an implementation of a bytestream. You want to be transmitting raw data to c#.
you then build a real time interpreter that takes in using your file format, one byte at a time, and plays the value associated with that section. does that make sense? this is simple to do with many libraries and the brunt of it is just figuring those out.
You seem like you've PROBABLY got that first part down, and are instead having issues with the database. A lot of things we did at my last company involved saving file network locations and indexing files on disk. You might be able to instead point your streamer to a file locally using a server, and instead transmit data from one point to another in that manner instead.
You seem more than capable of doing this just judging by your speech. I hope this comment was helpful, and if it was not I apologize as well. I would be interested in seeing your finished result.
for clarification here would be that workflow:
request for a song listed in table dbo.Songs
matches that song onto dbo.songlocation
streams from dbo.songlocation.location from the filename dbo.songlocation.songname = dbo.song.name and verified directory returns true
enjoyment of that music

Obtain the current audio playback stream

So, I need to obtain the current audio playback that is happening on my pc programatically in real time. This includes all the audio(you can check this in the playback devices tab of the Sound settings). I need it because I'm doing an analysis over the stream which I then put into use in another software. Until now, I've used the 'StereoMix' option, which actually relay's the current audio as an input(something like an internal microphone). However, I can't use this method when I connect external speakers to my pc(through HDMI, PC/AUX works though).
Is there some way to obtain the audio stream no matter if external speakers are connected or not.
The programming language does not matter in the current case, everything is fine with me. However, I prefer if there is a C# / Processing solution.
EDIT:
Here's the technique(and method) I currently use to obtain the audio in http://code.compartmental.net/minim/minim_method_getlinein.html. The library/code is related to Processing: https://processing.org/.

Basically, NAudio would be a good place to look for a prospective solution. Its not quite clear what you intend to do with the audio such as if you're recording/dumping data, or simply analyzing live-data so I'm thinking NAudio is going to have something such as you're looking for, as far as getting your hands on live-data.
NAudio has an FFT, but not quite robust in the area of analysis as the JS-libs you may be accustomed to ;)
http://naudio.codeplex.com/
https://github.com/naudio/NAudio
There are plenty of examples provided to get you started, and many in the wild.
Though its pretty outdated and the API may or not look slightly different (in regard to...), the following video may provide a nice relaxing quick-start to help familiarize you with this lib.
C# Audio Tutorial 6 - Audio Loopback using NAudio

Writing to a microphone's output buffer

I'm wanting to create a fun little project to function as a Skype sound-board. That is to say, if you press a hotkey (say, NumPad 1), the sound-board plays a pre-determined WAV file over the call. Really only to be used for stupid in-jokes and other silliness with friends.
The way I envision handling this problem is writing to the microphone's output buffer. However, I cannot find any ideas on how to do this. I found this question regarding general audio handling, but the output examples for nAudio are rather generic and don't handle writing to a specific device.
Ideally, I want to get the default audio input device for the system (so the default microphone) and then write the WAV data to the buffer it's using for transmission.
The first problem appears to be tenable with the XNA framework and its Microphone object. It has a Default static method that should get me what I need. But the Microphone object itself doesn't have an obvious way to write to the buffer, which leaves me a little stuck.
Are there any ideas on how to do this? Am I running down the wrong path? Is the Microphone object even the correct thing to use here?

VoiceXML - Recognize DTMF in Recording

I've been doing IVR work for a while, but we have a case where I'd love some expertise/feedback:
Is it possible to record a message where the user could press a DTMF tone to indicate a pause where we would insert our own sound? In this scenario, the user would record something like: "Good Morning, [DTMF], please call the office at [DTMF] to reconcile your account.".
Not sure whether we would chop the resulting WAV file into pieces to insert our variables, or do some post-processing before sending out our message.
Does anyone have any experience with something like this?
Thanks
Jim Stanley
Blackboard Connect

In VoiceXML you would use a record element to record a message from a user. The record element has an attribute call dtmfterm which if set to true (default setting) will terminate recording. If this attribute is set to false then recording is terminated when maxtime setting is reached or silence for the duration of finalsilence is reached. Having dtmfterm set to false will just result in the DTMF being part of the recording. Setting dtmfterm to true will result in the recording being terminated.
I have created applications that use caller created recordings but never one that manipulates the recordings like in your requirements. What you may be able to do is concatenate recordings together. Here is a QA that shows how to concatenate wav recordings using C#.
What you will have to experiment with is whether you can catch which DTMF key was pressed by using grammars. The spec eludes to this but it may be somewhat specific to the VoiceXML IVR platform that you are using. If you know what DTMF key was used then you can instruct the user to press * to insert silence and # to terminate recording. Both will terminate a recording but the logic in your VoiceXML will go right back into recording again if the * is pressed and stop the recording process completely if the # is pressed. Then you would use the concatenation to string these recording together and use a wav file with pre-recorded silence in the concatenation process that is inserted between the users recorded snippets.
From the tags it looks like you are using C# and MVC for your VoiceXML application. There is an open source project called VoiceModel that makes it easier to develop VoiceXML applications using ASP.NET MVC 4. You can read about how it handles recording in this environment here.

If you want to insert a pause and want to stay within the UI tag , So far how much work I had in IVR, the only dtmf with which we could stay within the UI is * and we would return a grammar "REPEAT" on pressing '*' , in the UI condition tag for REPEAT , you would add the silence (pause) wav file.
The recording part , we used osdmtype = record which mapped to an xslt which helped in the recording and recognising Customer's answer yes/no.
But nevertheless I'm bit confused on the requirement exactly , would need more details.
Sorry can't add comments as don't have enough Rep.
You can mail me or i can add more answers here.

How to Save Controls that are inside a form

Hi this question or problem i have its very hard i have search and ask in the university and i have no idea how to make this happen, or even if it is possible.
Here we go...
I am making a photo or image editor with the variation of letting the user to insert buttons in top of the edited image(this buttons when clicked plays an audio file) all of this works so far.
BUT at the end when the user finish his work i need him to save it, so it can be send and view by others.
Now I think I know how to save an edited image but that dose not contain the buttons (controls) .... its like when we save a file at power point and we send it to others they contain audio and the image. Hope fully you guys understand if so can any one point me in a direction to do this or show me how if possible.
( Some people told me to use meta-data others the manifest file but I am so confuse).
too bad i cant post pictures of the work until i get 10 points......
Thanks For the first four quick response and sorry mistake of not telling that I am working on C# 3.5 .Net and in Windows Form app.
It seems you all quite understand what i am trying to do here. I will post the picture thanks to the points i receive from TheVillageIdiot. and about the XML I have never ever used that before ill try my best to understand you guys but if any one can show me an example two or were to read ( dose xml works on Windows form app.?) Here is ...( sorry if the picture its too big) an example of what the program it's doing so far that black transparent box its the MouseOverBackColor... when clicked it loads a player that plays x_x the sound. Its like tagging but with audio.
I really need help i reached my limit don't know were to look and the time is killing me.
HI I am back again this time with a simple sample of what i need to learn how to save the dinamic buttonarray
Today is 10/11/10 (i made a acount with !##$%share to share the sample with you guys i hope this dosent bother any one here) here is the Link . i will explain again what i need to do and i have no idea or code on how to do it.Imagine a person that uses the program and create like 5 buttons any were in the form , it needs to be save so he can send it to others that have the same program, this way others can view the buttons the user created.
hopefully you guys can help me out with a simple example i really neeed some sample working code. Note: I am working on windows form app WFA C# 3.5 .net M.V.studio2010 (the file I gave above has a backup with a 2008 vercion) thanx in advance.

Similar to jim's answer, I would suggest having an archive of some sort (ZIP or otherwise) containing all the media necessary.
Store the images and sounds files by name or checksum in the archive and keep the meta-data (button positions, names, what media they use, etc, we'll call it the definition file) in a file also stored in the archive. You may be able to use XML to make that human-readable.
The entire package will then be simple to distribute and use, as everything will be contained in the archive. Your application simply needs to scan for archives, check each archive for a valid definition file, and load the ones that are needed.
Edit: Going from the screenshot you posted and my understanding of the problem, I'm going to suggest the following:
When a user creates a button (defined as a rectangular area or "hotspot"), open a dialogue asking for a sound file to associate. Then, store the top-left and bottom-right corners of the button and the filename in a XML file, something like this:
<Button name="myButton!">
<Position top="128" left="128" />
<Size height="200" width="200" />
<Audio filename="something.mp3" />
</Button>
Now, when compiling a plugin, create a ZIP archive. Inside, place the XML file and all the audio files you need.
When loading a plugin, read the XML file first and find the audio file (assume all audio files are in the same archive as the XML file). Then create the button and add the audio filename as, say, its Tag property. Assign all buttons one generic OnClick event, and in the OnClick event, play the audio file given by the current object's Tag.
If you don't understand what I mean, I'll try to elaborate further. I think that method should work neatly and be pretty simple to work with. :)

One solution: Create a ZIP file that contains both audio and images.

Basically, you've got two things you want to save.
The edited image, and then the locations of the buttons and their actions.
You've got the image-saving part happening, so now you need to save the other information. This can be considered "metadata", and you can save it in some format that you invent, such that it allows you to load it back. Typically it would be easiest to do this via XML Serialization. So look into that.

Assuming you are writing a stand-alone application and no web - application.
If you are adding the Button as a .NET component (new Button()) there is no way to do that unless you supply your own player software with it.
If you want to supply your own player, create a (seperate) file with the info about the button and read the file and then re-create the button.
(Be aware though that all the resources - jpeg, mp3) also have to be available at the target PC) Alternatively, pack all you info into one file (jpeg, button infos, mp3's) and save that file.
hth
Mario

You have two choices
Create your own format and then make a player app that read it and play the results
Find some format that supports your features and create that kind of file. This works well if you expect others to have a player.
For #2, here are some formats that could support what you want to do
Flash
PDF
Compiled HTML Arhive -- need IE to play http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MHTML
EXE -- create code with resources and compile it -- basically your player + resources
PowerPoint