Question

I am using the following code to play a sound file using the java sound API.

    Clip clip = AudioSystem.getClip();     AudioInputStream inputStream = AudioSystem.getAudioInputStream(stream);     clip.open(inputStream);     clip.start(); 

The method call to the Clip.start() method returns immediately, and the system playbacks the sound file in a background thread. I want my method to pause until the playback has completed.

Is there any nice way to do it?

EDIT: For everyone interested in my final solution, based on the answer from Uri, I used the code below:

private final BlockingQueue<URL> queue = new ArrayBlockingQueue<URL>(1);  public void playSoundStream(InputStream stream) {     Clip clip = AudioSystem.getClip();     AudioInputStream inputStream = AudioSystem.getAudioInputStream(stream);     clip.open(inputStream);     clip.start();     LineListener listener = new LineListener() {         public void update(LineEvent event) {                 if (event.getType() != Type.STOP) {                     return;                 }                  try {                     queue.take();                 } catch (InterruptedException e) {                     //ignore this                 }         }     }; clip.addLineListener(listener ); } 

Answer 1

A sound clip is a type or Line and therefore supports Line listeners.

If you use addLineListener, you should get events when play starts and stops; if you’re not in a loop, you should get a stop when the clip ends. However, as with any events, there might be a lag before the actual end of playback and the stopping.

Making the method wait is slightly trickier. You can either busy-wait on it (not a good idea) or use other synchronization mechanisms. I think there is a pattern (not sure about it) for waiting on a long operation to throw a completion event, but that’s a general question you may want to post separately to SO.