
``wave`` --- Read and write WAV files
*************************************

The ``wave`` module provides a convenient interface to the WAV sound
format. It does not support compression/decompression, but it does
support mono/stereo.

The ``wave`` module defines the following function and exception:

wave.open(file[, mode])

   If *file* is a string, open the file by that name, other treat it
   as a seekable file-like object. *mode* can be any of

   ``'r'``, ``'rb'``
      Read only mode.

   ``'w'``, ``'wb'``
      Write only mode.

   Note that it does not allow read/write WAV files.

   A *mode* of ``'r'`` or ``'rb'`` returns a ``Wave_read`` object,
   while a *mode* of ``'w'`` or ``'wb'`` returns a ``Wave_write``
   object.  If *mode* is omitted and a file-like  object is passed as
   *file*, ``file.mode`` is used as the default value for *mode* (the
   ``'b'`` flag is still added if  necessary).

wave.openfp(file, mode)

   A synonym for ``open()``, maintained for backwards compatibility.

exception exception wave.Error

   An error raised when something is impossible because it violates
   the WAV specification or hits an implementation deficiency.


Wave_read Objects
=================

Wave_read objects, as returned by ``open()``, have the following
methods:

Wave_read.close()

   Close the stream, and make the instance unusable. This is called
   automatically on object collection.

Wave_read.getnchannels()

   Returns number of audio channels (``1`` for mono, ``2`` for
   stereo).

Wave_read.getsampwidth()

   Returns sample width in bytes.

Wave_read.getframerate()

   Returns sampling frequency.

Wave_read.getnframes()

   Returns number of audio frames.

Wave_read.getcomptype()

   Returns compression type (``'NONE'`` is the only supported type).

Wave_read.getcompname()

   Human-readable version of ``getcomptype()``. Usually ``'not
   compressed'`` parallels ``'NONE'``.

Wave_read.getparams()

   Returns a tuple ``(nchannels, sampwidth, framerate, nframes,
   comptype, compname)``, equivalent to output of the ``get*()``
   methods.

Wave_read.readframes(n)

   Reads and returns at most *n* frames of audio, as a string of
   bytes.

Wave_read.rewind()

   Rewind the file pointer to the beginning of the audio stream.

The following two methods are defined for compatibility with the
``aifc`` module, and don't do anything interesting.

Wave_read.getmarkers()

   Returns ``None``.

Wave_read.getmark(id)

   Raise an error.

The following two methods define a term "position" which is compatible
between them, and is otherwise implementation dependent.

Wave_read.setpos(pos)

   Set the file pointer to the specified position.

Wave_read.tell()

   Return current file pointer position.


Wave_write Objects
==================

Wave_write objects, as returned by ``open()``, have the following
methods:

Wave_write.close()

   Make sure *nframes* is correct, and close the file. This method is
   called upon deletion.

Wave_write.setnchannels(n)

   Set the number of channels.

Wave_write.setsampwidth(n)

   Set the sample width to *n* bytes.

Wave_write.setframerate(n)

   Set the frame rate to *n*.

Wave_write.setnframes(n)

   Set the number of frames to *n*. This will be changed later if more
   frames are written.

Wave_write.setcomptype(type, name)

   Set the compression type and description. At the moment, only
   compression type ``NONE`` is supported, meaning no compression.

Wave_write.setparams(tuple)

   The *tuple* should be ``(nchannels, sampwidth, framerate, nframes,
   comptype, compname)``, with values valid for the ``set*()``
   methods.  Sets all parameters.

Wave_write.tell()

   Return current position in the file, with the same disclaimer for
   the ``Wave_read.tell()`` and ``Wave_read.setpos()`` methods.

Wave_write.writeframesraw(data)

   Write audio frames, without correcting *nframes*.

Wave_write.writeframes(data)

   Write audio frames and make sure *nframes* is correct.

Note that it is invalid to set any parameters after calling
``writeframes()`` or ``writeframesraw()``, and any attempt to do so
will raise ``wave.Error``.
