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package javax.sound.midi;

A MetaMessage is a MidiMessage that is not meaningful to synthesizers, but that can be stored in a MIDI file and interpreted by a sequencer program. (See the discussion in the MidiMessage class description.) The Standard MIDI Files specification defines various types of meta-events, such as sequence number, lyric, cue point, and set tempo. There are also meta-events for such information as lyrics, copyrights, tempo indications, time and key signatures, markers, etc. For more information, see the Standard MIDI Files 1.0 specification, which is part of the Complete MIDI 1.0 Detailed Specification published by the MIDI Manufacturer's Association (http://www.midi.org).

When data is being transported using MIDI wire protocol, a ShortMessage with the status value 0xFF represents a system reset message. In MIDI files, this same status value denotes a MetaMessage. The types of meta-message are distinguished from each other by the first byte that follows the status byte 0xFF. The subsequent bytes are data bytes. As with system exclusive messages, there are an arbitrary number of data bytes, depending on the type of MetaMessage.

Author:David Rivas, Kara Kytle
See Also:
/** * A {@code MetaMessage} is a {@link MidiMessage} that is not meaningful to * synthesizers, but that can be stored in a MIDI file and interpreted by a * sequencer program. (See the discussion in the {@code MidiMessage} class * description.) The Standard MIDI Files specification defines various types of * meta-events, such as sequence number, lyric, cue point, and set tempo. There * are also meta-events for such information as lyrics, copyrights, tempo * indications, time and key signatures, markers, etc. For more information, see * the Standard MIDI Files 1.0 specification, which is part of the Complete MIDI * 1.0 Detailed Specification published by the MIDI Manufacturer's Association * (<a href = http://www.midi.org>http://www.midi.org</a>). * <p> * When data is being transported using MIDI wire protocol, a * {@link ShortMessage} with the status value {@code 0xFF} represents a system * reset message. In MIDI files, this same status value denotes a * {@code MetaMessage}. The types of meta-message are distinguished from each * other by the first byte that follows the status byte {@code 0xFF}. The * subsequent bytes are data bytes. As with system exclusive messages, there are * an arbitrary number of data bytes, depending on the type of * {@code MetaMessage}. * * @author David Rivas * @author Kara Kytle * @see MetaEventListener */
public class MetaMessage extends MidiMessage {
Status byte for MetaMessage (0xFF, or 255), which is used in MIDI files. It has the same value as ShortMessage.SYSTEM_RESET, which is used in the real-time "MIDI wire" protocol.
See Also:
/** * Status byte for {@code MetaMessage} (0xFF, or 255), which is used in MIDI * files. It has the same value as {@link ShortMessage#SYSTEM_RESET}, which * is used in the real-time "MIDI wire" protocol. * * @see MidiMessage#getStatus */
public static final int META = 0xFF; // 255
The length of the actual message in the data array. This is used to determine how many bytes of the data array is the message, and how many are the status byte, the type byte, and the variable-length-int describing the length of the message.
/** * The length of the actual message in the data array. This is used to * determine how many bytes of the data array is the message, and how many * are the status byte, the type byte, and the variable-length-int * describing the length of the message. */
private int dataLength = 0;
Constructs a new MetaMessage. The contents of the message are not set here; use setMessage to set them subsequently.
/** * Constructs a new {@code MetaMessage}. The contents of the message are not * set here; use {@link #setMessage(int, byte[], int) setMessage} to set * them subsequently. */
public MetaMessage() { // Default meta message data: just the META status byte value this(new byte[]{(byte) META, 0}); }
Constructs a new MetaMessage and sets the message parameters. The contents of the message can be changed by using the setMessage method.
Params:
  • type – meta-message type (must be less than 128)
  • data – the data bytes in the MIDI message
  • length – an amount of bytes in the data byte array; it should be non-negative and less than or equal to data.length
Throws:
See Also:
Since:1.7
/** * Constructs a new {@code MetaMessage} and sets the message parameters. The * contents of the message can be changed by using the {@code setMessage} * method. * * @param type meta-message type (must be less than 128) * @param data the data bytes in the MIDI message * @param length an amount of bytes in the {@code data} byte array; it * should be non-negative and less than or equal to * {@code data.length} * @throws InvalidMidiDataException if the parameter values do not specify a * valid MIDI meta message * @see #setMessage(int, byte[], int) * @see #getType() * @see #getData() * @since 1.7 */
public MetaMessage(int type, byte[] data, int length) throws InvalidMidiDataException { super(null); setMessage(type, data, length); // can throw InvalidMidiDataException }
Constructs a new MetaMessage.
Params:
  • data – an array of bytes containing the complete message. The message data may be changed using the setMessage method.
See Also:
/** * Constructs a new {@code MetaMessage}. * * @param data an array of bytes containing the complete message. The * message data may be changed using the {@code setMessage} method. * @see #setMessage */
protected MetaMessage(byte[] data) { super(data); //$$fb 2001-10-06: need to calculate dataLength. Fix for bug #4511796 if (data.length>=3) { dataLength=data.length-3; int pos=2; while (pos<data.length && (data[pos] & 0x80)!=0) { dataLength--; pos++; } } }
Sets the message parameters for a MetaMessage. Since only one status byte value, 0xFF, is allowed for meta-messages, it does not need to be specified here. Calls to getStatus return 0xFF for all meta-messages.

The type argument should be a valid value for the byte that follows the status byte in the MetaMessage. The data argument should contain all the subsequent bytes of the MetaMessage. In other words, the byte that specifies the type of MetaMessage is not considered a data byte.

Params:
  • type – meta-message type (must be less than 128)
  • data – the data bytes in the MIDI message
  • length – the number of bytes in the data byte array
Throws:
/** * Sets the message parameters for a {@code MetaMessage}. Since only one * status byte value, {@code 0xFF}, is allowed for meta-messages, it does * not need to be specified here. Calls to * {@link MidiMessage#getStatus getStatus} return {@code 0xFF} for all * meta-messages. * <p> * The {@code type} argument should be a valid value for the byte that * follows the status byte in the {@code MetaMessage}. The {@code data} * argument should contain all the subsequent bytes of the * {@code MetaMessage}. In other words, the byte that specifies the type of * {@code MetaMessage} is not considered a data byte. * * @param type meta-message type (must be less than 128) * @param data the data bytes in the MIDI message * @param length the number of bytes in the {@code data} byte array * @throws InvalidMidiDataException if the parameter values do not specify a * valid MIDI meta message */
public void setMessage(int type, byte[] data, int length) throws InvalidMidiDataException { if (type >= 128 || type < 0) { throw new InvalidMidiDataException("Invalid meta event with type " + type); } if ((length > 0 && length > data.length) || length < 0) { throw new InvalidMidiDataException("length out of bounds: "+length); } this.length = 2 + getVarIntLength(length) + length; this.dataLength = length; this.data = new byte[this.length]; this.data[0] = (byte) META; // status value for MetaMessages (meta events) this.data[1] = (byte) type; // MetaMessage type writeVarInt(this.data, 2, length); // write the length as a variable int if (length > 0) { System.arraycopy(data, 0, this.data, this.length - this.dataLength, this.dataLength); } }
Obtains the type of the MetaMessage.
Returns:an integer representing the MetaMessage type
/** * Obtains the type of the {@code MetaMessage}. * * @return an integer representing the {@code MetaMessage} type */
public int getType() { if (length>=2) { return data[1] & 0xFF; } return 0; }
Obtains a copy of the data for the meta message. The returned array of bytes does not include the status byte or the message length data. The length of the data for the meta message is the length of the array. Note that the length of the entire message includes the status byte and the meta message type byte, and therefore may be longer than the returned array.
See Also:
Returns:array containing the meta message data
/** * Obtains a copy of the data for the meta message. The returned array of * bytes does not include the status byte or the message length data. The * length of the data for the meta message is the length of the array. Note * that the length of the entire message includes the status byte and the * meta message type byte, and therefore may be longer than the returned * array. * * @return array containing the meta message data * @see MidiMessage#getLength */
public byte[] getData() { byte[] returnedArray = new byte[dataLength]; System.arraycopy(data, (length - dataLength), returnedArray, 0, dataLength); return returnedArray; }
Creates a new object of the same class and with the same contents as this object.
Returns:a clone of this instance
/** * Creates a new object of the same class and with the same contents as this * object. * * @return a clone of this instance */
@Override public Object clone() { byte[] newData = new byte[length]; System.arraycopy(data, 0, newData, 0, newData.length); return new MetaMessage(newData); } // HELPER METHODS private int getVarIntLength(long value) { int length = 0; do { value = value >> 7; length++; } while (value > 0); return length; } private static final long mask = 0x7F; private void writeVarInt(byte[] data, int off, long value) { int shift=63; // number of bitwise left-shifts of mask // first screen out leading zeros while ((shift > 0) && ((value & (mask << shift)) == 0)) shift-=7; // then write actual values while (shift > 0) { data[off++]=(byte) (((value & (mask << shift)) >> shift) | 0x80); shift-=7; } data[off] = (byte) (value & mask); } }