Using the WAVEFORMATEX Structure

For PCM audio data on no more than two channels and with 8-bit or 16-bit samples, use the WAVEFORMATEX structure to specify the data format.

The following example shows how to set up a WAVEFORMATEX structure for 11.025 kilohertz (kHz) 8-bit mono and for 44.1 kHz 16-bit stereo. After setting up WAVEFORMATEX, the example calls the IsFormatSupported function to verify that the PCM waveform output device supports the format. The source code for IsFormatSupported is shown in an example in Determining Nonstandard Format Support.

UINT wReturn; 
WAVEFORMATEX pcmWaveFormat; 
 
// Set up WAVEFORMATEX for 11 kHz 8-bit mono. 
 
pcmWaveFormat.wFormatTag = WAVE_FORMAT_PCM; 
pcmWaveFormat.nChannels = 1; 
pcmWaveFormat.nSamplesPerSec = 11025L; 
pcmWaveFormat.nAvgBytesPerSec = 11025L; 
pcmWaveFormat.nBlockAlign = 1; 
pcmWaveFormat.wBitsPerSample = 8; 
pcmWaveFormat.cbSize = 0;
 
// See if format is supported by any device in system. 
 
wReturn = IsFormatSupported(&pcmWaveFormat, WAVE_MAPPER); 
 
// Report results. 
 
if (wReturn == 0) 
     MessageBox(hMainWnd, "11 kHz 8-bit mono is supported.", 
       "", MB_ICONINFORMATION); 
else if (wReturn == WAVERR_BADFORMAT) 
     MessageBox(hMainWnd, "11 kHz 8-bit mono NOT supported.", 
       "", MB_ICONINFORMATION); 
else 
     MessageBox(hMainWnd, "Error opening waveform device.", 
       "Error", MB_ICONEXCLAMATION); 
 
// Set up WAVEFORMATEX for 44.1 kHz 16-bit stereo. 
 
pcmWaveFormat.wFormatTag = WAVE_FORMAT_PCM; 
pcmWaveFormat.nChannels = 2; 
pcmWaveFormat.nSamplesPerSec = 44100L; 
pcmWaveFormat.nAvgBytesPerSec = 176400L; 
pcmWaveFormat.nBlockAlign = 4; 
pcmWaveFormat.wBitsPerSample = 16; 
pcmWaveFormat.cbSize = 0;
 
// See if format is supported by any device in the system. 
 
wReturn = IsFormatSupported(&pcmWaveFormat, WAVE_MAPPER); 
 
// Report results. 
 
if (wReturn == 0) 
    MessageBox(hMainWnd, "44.1 kHz 16-bit stereo is supported.", 
      "", MB_ICONINFORMATION); 
else if (wReturn == WAVERR_BADFORMAT) 
    MessageBox(hMainWnd, "44.1 kHz 16-bit stereo NOT supported.", 
      "", MB_ICONINFORMATION); 
else 
    MessageBox(hMainWnd, "Error opening waveform device.", 
      "Error", MB_ICONEXCLAMATION);