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IRIX Installation Tools & Overlays 1999 May
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SGI IRIX Installation Tools & Overlays 1999 May - Disc 2.iso
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dmedia_eoe
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ch05.z
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1999-04-19
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199 lines
- 1 -
5. _S_o_u_n_d_S_c_h_e_m_e
_s_o_u_n_d_s_c_h_e_m_e is an X-based server daemon which provides
high-level audio playback services for applications. Based
on the audio and audiofile libraries, _s_o_u_n_d_s_c_h_e_m_e mixes and
plays sounds on demand as requested by multiple client
programs using a single audio port. Each client may provide
an X resource file which specifies a palette of sound names
and the mappings of these names to soundfiles. Named sounds
are activated within applications using function calls from
the server's client library. The _s_o_u_n_d_s_c_h_e_m_e server is
started automatically at login from the Xsession file for
SGI's _I_R_I_X _I_n_t_e_r_a_c_t_i_v_e _D_e_s_k_t_o_p(_T_M) user environment.
A few sounds are assigned to system events (such as
launching applications, dropping file icons and searching
for items in the system). There are no interface tools at
this time for user customization of sounds. However,
knowledgeable users may edit *.soundfile resource items in
the client resource files to assign different soundfiles to
defined events. The system default client resource files
are located at the following path:
/usr/share/data/sounds/soundscheme/schemes
Soundfiles referenced within the system default resource
files should be placed at:
/usr/share/data/sounds/soundscheme/soundfiles
Soundfiles to be used by SoundScheme must be in AIFF-C
format and recorded at 44.1kHz sampling rate. The sound
server will ignore files that do not meet these
requirements.
In IRIX 6.4 and previous releases, root access was required
to create custom sounds. The user would have to edit the
_d_e_f_a_u_l_t_S_c_h_e_m_e._s_s client resource file, and the sound changes
affected the whole system for all users. In IRIX 6.5, users
familiar with X resource files can create custom sounds and
put them into effect only for their own login session, and
root access is not required.
The output level (volume) of SoundScheme sounds may not be
changed independently of the system-wide audio level.
Altering the system audio level via _a_p_a_n_e_l (audio control
panel) will affect the SoundScheme level as well.
The SoundScheme sounds may be disabled by using the _I_R_I_X
_I_n_t_e_r_a_c_t_i_v_e _D_e_s_k_t_o_p Sounds panel provided for customization
- 2 -
of the user's environment. This panel contains a Desktop
Sounds checkbox used to set the enabled or disabled status
for SoundScheme. Changed settings take immediate effect for
some applications; other applications won't pick up the
change until the next login. Note that this toggle does not
kill the soundscheme process itself, but rather shuts off
the desktop requests to SoundScheme. In IRIX 6.5, the user
can also use the Sounds panel to redirect SoundScheme sounds
to a different audio output device, such as the rear
analog-out jacks on an O2, instead of to the Default audio
output device, which is typically the headphones and
speakers.
To disable the SoundScheme server daemon from starting up at
all, use _c_h_k_c_o_n_f_i_g to set 'soundscheme off'. In this case,
the change will not take effect until the system is
restarted.
The version of SoundScheme included in the IRIX 6.4 release
is the same as the version included with the 5.3 release.
The IRIX 6.5 SoundScheme has changed since IRIX 6.4.
5.1 _C_h_a_n_g_e_s__a_n_d__A_d_d_i_t_i_o_n_s__t_o__I_R_I_X__6_._5__S_o_u_n_d_S_c_h_e_m_e
+o A possible security vulnerability was removed.
+o A new aaaalllllllloooowwwwOOOOvvvveeeerrrrllllaaaapppp resource will, if set to true for a
given sound, allow soundscheme to start playing the
sound again even if it is already playing. This was
introduced to allow dynamic audio feedback for the
"type to select" feature in the IRIX Interactive
Desktop.
+o The audio output device can now be changed dynamically.
+o In IRIX 6.5, SoundScheme accepts a ----aaaauuuuxxxx _f_i_l_e_n_a_m_e
command-line option that makes it load an auxiliary
scheme database to override sounds defined in the
/_u_s_r/_s_h_a_r_e/_d_a_t_a/_s_o_u_n_d_s/_s_o_u_n_d_s_c_h_e_m_e/_s_c_h_e_m_e_s/_d_e_f_a_u_l_t_S_c_h_e_m_e._s_s
soundscheme. This allows users to change sounds
without having root access.
To hear customized sounds, users who create their own
soundscheme must kill soundscheme, then restart it
- 3 -
using the ----aaaauuuuxxxx _f_i_l_e_n_a_m_e option where _f_i_l_e_n_a_m_e is the
name of their soundscheme. To have their sounds
remembered across logins, users can copy the
/_v_a_r/_X_1_1/_x_d_m/_X_s_e_s_s_i_o_n._d_t file to their home directory
as $_H_O_M_E/._x_s_e_s_s_i_o_n, then edit the copy and add the ----aaaauuuuxxxx
_f_i_l_e_n_a_m_e option to the ssssoooouuuunnnnddddsssscccchhhheeeemmmmeeee startup line. Users
must exercise caution, as the $_H_O_M_E/._x_e_s_s_i_o_n file will
run instead of the system /_v_a_r/_X_1_1/_x_d_m/_X_s_e_s_s_i_o_n._d_t
file, and errors in the $_H_O_M_E/._x_s_e_s_s_i_o_n file can
prevent the user from logging in at the console.
Here is an example personal soundscheme file:
****ssssoooouuuunnnnddddPPPPaaaalllleeeetttttttteeee:::: WWWWaaaarrrrnnnniiiinnnngggg
****WWWWaaaarrrrnnnniiiinnnngggg....ssssoooouuuunnnnddddffffiiiilllleeee:::: 00008888....ttttiiiinnnngggg....aaaaiiiiffffcccc
****WWWWaaaarrrrnnnniiiinnnngggg....llllaaaabbbbeeeellll:::: WWWWaaaarrrrnnnniiiinnnngggg
The above file, when used as an auxiliary soundscheme,
will cause a triangle sound to play when a new file
icon appears on the desktop instead of the default
piano sound. Other desktop sounds will remain
unaffected (ex., the sand shifting sound will still
play when the user moves an icon on the background).
+o These old SoundScheme message types which were
implemented previously as simple no-op placeholders are
now no longer supported: create, destroy, start, stop,
set, get, query, and enable.
+o The ssplay utility program now accepts a ----oooo command-
line option for setting and querying the current
SoundScheme audio output device.