Audio Level Meter

[xchris]

Hello

I'm new to programming and I'm trying to make a java application that will "hear" (not record necessarily) the sound and display how loud is.I'm thinking of converting the sound recordings to numbers,so I can see the difference on the sound levels.I got this code and I added the "getLevel()" method,which returns the amplitude of the current recording,but it's returning -1 everytime.I guess I'm not using it properly. Any ideas how I must call this method?I have to deliver my project in a week,so any help will be much appreciated!

public class Capture extends JFrame {

	  protected boolean running;
	  ByteArrayOutputStream out;

	  public Capture() {
	    super("Capture Sound Demo");
	    setDefaultCloseOperation(EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
	    Container content = getContentPane();

	    final JButton capture = new JButton("Capture");
	    final JButton stop = new JButton("Stop");
	    final JButton play = new JButton("Play");

	    capture.setEnabled(true);
	    stop.setEnabled(false);
	    play.setEnabled(false);

	    ActionListener captureListener = 
	        new ActionListener() {
	      public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
	        capture.setEnabled(false);
	        stop.setEnabled(true);
	        play.setEnabled(false);
	        captureAudio();
	      }
	    };
	    capture.addActionListener(captureListener);
	    content.add(capture, BorderLayout.NORTH);

	    ActionListener stopListener = 
	        new ActionListener() {
	      public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
	        capture.setEnabled(true);
	        stop.setEnabled(false);
	        play.setEnabled(true);
	        running = false;
	      }
	    };
	    stop.addActionListener(stopListener);
	    content.add(stop, BorderLayout.CENTER);

	    ActionListener playListener = 
	        new ActionListener() {
	      public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
	        playAudio();
	      }
	    };
	    play.addActionListener(playListener);
	    content.add(play, BorderLayout.SOUTH);
	  }

	  private void captureAudio() {
	    try {
	      final AudioFormat format = getFormat();
	      DataLine.Info info = new DataLine.Info(
	        TargetDataLine.class, format);
	      final TargetDataLine line = (TargetDataLine)
	        AudioSystem.getLine(info);
	      line.open(format);
	      line.start();
	      
	      Runnable runner = new Runnable() {
	        int bufferSize = (int)format.getSampleRate() 
	          * format.getFrameSize();
	        byte buffer[] = new byte[bufferSize];
	 
	        public void run() {
	          out = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
	          running = true;
	          try {
	            while (running) {
	              int count = 
	                line.read(buffer, 0, buffer.length);
	              if (count > 0) {
	                out.write(buffer, 0, count);
	               
	                System.out.println(line.getLevel());  // |-this is what i added-|
	              }
	            }
	            out.close();
	          } catch (IOException e) {
	            System.err.println("I/O problems: " + e);
	            System.exit(-1);
	          }
	        }
	      };
	      Thread captureThread = new Thread(runner);
	      captureThread.start();
	    } catch (LineUnavailableException e) {
	      System.err.println("Line unavailable: " + e);
	      System.exit(-2);
	    }
	  }

	  private void playAudio() {
	    try {
	      byte audio[] = out.toByteArray();
	      InputStream input = 
	        new ByteArrayInputStream(audio);
	      final AudioFormat format = getFormat();
	      final AudioInputStream ais = 
	        new AudioInputStream(input, format, 
	        audio.length / format.getFrameSize());
	      DataLine.Info info = new DataLine.Info(
	        SourceDataLine.class, format);
	      final SourceDataLine line = (SourceDataLine)
	        AudioSystem.getLine(info);
	      line.open(format);
	      line.start();
	      
	      Runnable runner = new Runnable() {
	        int bufferSize = (int) format.getSampleRate() 
	          * format.getFrameSize();
	        byte buffer[] = new byte[bufferSize];
	 
	        public void run() {
	          try {
	            int count;
	            while ((count = ais.read(
	                buffer, 0, buffer.length)) != -1) {
	              if (count > 0) {
	                line.write(buffer, 0, count);
	              }
	            }
	            
	            line.drain();
	            line.close();
	            
	          } catch (IOException e) {
	            System.err.println("I/O problems: " + e);
	            System.exit(-3);
	          }
	        }
	      };
	      Thread playThread = new Thread(runner);
	      playThread.start();
	    } catch (LineUnavailableException e) {
	      System.err.println("Line unavailable: " + e);
	      System.exit(-4);
	    } 
	  }

	  private AudioFormat getFormat() {
	    float sampleRate = 8000;
	    int sampleSizeInBits = 8;
	    int channels = 1;
	    boolean signed = true;
	    boolean bigEndian = true;
	    return new AudioFormat(sampleRate, 
	      sampleSizeInBits, channels, signed, bigEndian);
	  }
	  
	  @SuppressWarnings("deprecation")
	public static void main(String args[]) {
	    JFrame frame = new Capture();
	    frame.pack();
	    frame.show();
	  }	  
}

[xchris]

Ok,I managed to make it capture audio and print on a xls file the timestamp and the value of the current sample,but there is a problem : even I've put some spaces between the time and the value and it seems that they are in different columns,they are actualy on the same column of the xls,it's just expanded and covers the next column (I can put a print screen if you don't understand).How can I make it print the data of time and amplitude in two different columns?Here's my code of the class which creates the file and saves the data on xls :

package soundRecording;

import java.io.File;
import java.util.Formatter;


public class Save {
	
	static Formatter y;

	public static void createFile() {
	
		Date thedate = new Date();
		final String folder = thedate.curDate();
		final String fileName = thedate.curTime();
	
	try {
		String name = "Time_"+fileName+".csv";
		y = new Formatter(name);
		File nof = new File(name);
		nof.createNewFile();
		System.out.println("A new file was created.");
	}
	catch(Exception e) {
		System.out.println("There was an error.");
		}
	}
	
	public void addValues(byte audio) {
		Date d = new Date();
		y.format("%s    " + "  %s%n",d.curTime(), audio);
	}
	
	public void closeFile() {
		y.close();
	}
}