Sound File Read (SGL) VI
- Updated2025-07-30
- 3 minute(s) read
Reads data from a .wav file into an array of waveforms. You must manually select the polymorphic instance you want to use.
(Windows) You must have DirectX 8.0 or later to use this VI.

Inputs/Outputs
number of samples/ch (-1: all)
—
number of samples/ch specifies the number of samples per channel to read from the file. -1 specifies all samples.
sound file refnum
—
sound file refnum is the reference to the sound file. You generate sound file refnum with the Sound File Open VI.
position mode
—
position mode, together with position offset, specifies where the read operation begins. Absolute starts the operation at the beginning of the file plus position offset, so the offset is relative to the beginning of the file. Relative starts the operation at the current location of the file mark plus position offset. The default is Relative.
position offset
—
position offset specifies how far from the location specified by position mode to start reading. You express position offset in units of samples. The default is 0.
error in (no error)
—
error in describes error conditions that occur before this node runs. This input provides standard error in functionality.
sound file refnum out
—
sound file refnum out is the reference to the sound file originally passed in the sound file refnum parameter.
data
—
data reads any sound data from the file. For multi-channel sound data, data is an array of waveforms where each element of the array is a single channel.
offset
—
offset indicates the new location of the file mark relative to the beginning of the file, in units of samples. The default is 0.
error out
—
error out contains error information. This output provides standard error out functionality.
end of file?
—
end of file? returns TRUE when the VI reaches the end of the file. |
Examples
Refer to the following example files included with LabVIEW.
- labview\examples\Graphics and Sound\Sound\Sound File to Sound Output.vi
number of samples/ch (-1: all)
—
sound file refnum
—
position mode
—
error in (no error)
—
sound file refnum out
—
data
—
offset
—
error out
—
end of file?
—