What is winsound.PlaySound() in Python 3?

Overview

The winsound module in Python 3 provides an interface to interact with the sound playing machinery in Windows. The PlaySound function plays or stops a given WAV sound file. The syntax of the PlaySound function is as follows:

winsound.PlaySound(sound, flags)

Parameters

sound is an object that specifies the soundThis can be a file name, a built-in sound name, or a sound-like object in memory that is to be played. The following table summarizes the built-in sounds in every Windows platform:

`sound` string	Corresponding control panel sound
`'SystemAsterisk'`	Asterisk
`'SystemExclamation'`	Exclamation
`'SystemExit'`	Exit Windows
`'SystemHand'`	Critical stop
`'SystemQuestion'`	Question

Note: If a built-in sound is passed, then flags must include the winsound.SND_ALIAS flag.

flags is a parameter that takes in winsound.SND_ flags. These flags provide additional commands to the play sound function. The following table summarizes the different flags and their usage:

Flag	Usage
`winsound.SND_FILENAME`	Specifies that the `sound` parameter given is a WAV file name.
`winsound.SND_ALIAS`	Specifies that the `sound` parameter given is a built-in sound. If the built-in sound does not exists, the default system sound is played, unless `winsound.SND_NODEFAULT` is specified.
`winsound.SND_LOOP`	Specifies that the sound must be played repeatedly. This is a blocking call; in order to play the sound in a loop in the background, `winsound.SND.ASYNC` must be specified.
`winsound.SND_MEMORY`	Specifies that the `sound` is a byte-like object that contains data in WAV format. Using this flag together with `winsound.SND_ASYNC` will raise a `RuntimeError`.
`winsound.SND_PURGE`	Specifies that all instances of the given `sound` must be stopped. This flag is not supported on modern Windows platforms.
`winsound.SND_ASYNC`	Specifies that the function should return immediately, allowing for the sound to play in the background.
`winsound.SND_NODEFAULT`	Specifies that if the specified `sound` is not found, the system default sound must not be played.
`winsound.SND_NOSTOP`	Specifies that sounds currently playing must not be interrupted.
`winsound.SND_NOWAIT`	Specifies that the function must return if the sound driver is busy. This flag is not supported on modern Windows platforms.

Return value

PlaySound returns None.

Example

The following code provides an example of how to use the PlaySound function:

In the example above, in the first PlaySound function call, the Critical Stop built-in sound is played. In the second PlaySound function call, the default built-in sound is played, since abcd is not a built-in sound in Windows. The last PlaySound function call passes the name of the sound file as the sound argument. To specify that the passed sound argument is the name of a sound file, the winsound.SND_FILENAME flag is used. Therefore, if the Fire_Alarm.WAV file exists, it will be played; otherwise, a beep sound will be played.

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