javax.speech.synthesis
Class Voice

Object
  Voice

public class Voice
extends Object

Describes one output Voice of a speech Synthesizer.

Voice objects can be used in selection of synthesis engines through SynthesizerMode. From the SynthesizerProperties object (returned for a Synthesizer with the getSynthesizerProperties method), the current speaking Voice of a Synthesizer can be retrieved using the getVoice method and can be changed during operation with the setVoice method.

See Also:

Synthesizer, SynthesizerMode, getSynthesizerProperties, SynthesizerProperties, getVoice, setVoice

Field Summary

static int	AGE_CHILD Constant representing the Voice of a child.
static int	AGE_DONT_CARE Constant that will match with any age.
static int	AGE_MIDDLE_ADULT Constant representing the Voice of a middle-aged adult.
static int	AGE_OLDER_ADULT Constant representing the Voice of an older adult.
static int	AGE_SPECIFIC Constant flag to limit an age value to a single value.
static int	AGE_TEENAGER Constant representing the Voice of a teenager.
static int	AGE_YOUNGER_ADULT Constant representing the Voice of a younger adult.
static int	GENDER_DONT_CARE Ignore gender when performing a match of Voices.
static int	GENDER_FEMALE Female Voice.
static int	GENDER_MALE Male Voice.
static int	GENDER_NEUTRAL Neutral Voice that is neither male or female.
static int	VARIANT_DEFAULT The default variant for a Voice.
static int	VARIANT_DONT_CARE Ignore the variant when performing a match of Voices.

Constructor Summary

Voice()
Constructs a Voice with locale, name, gender, age, and variant set to "don't care" values.

Voice(SpeechLocale locale, String name, int gender, int age, int variant)
Constructs a Voice with locale, name, gender, age, and variant.

Method Summary

boolean	equals(Object obj) Returns true if and only if the parameter is not null and is a Voice with equal values.
int	getAge() Gets the Voice age.
int	getGender() Gets the Voice gender.
String	getName() Gets the Voice name.
SpeechLocale	getSpeechLocale() Gets the Voice SpeechLocale.
int	getVariant() Gets the Voice variant.
int	hashCode() Returns a hash code value for the object.
boolean	match(Voice require) Determines whether this Voice has all the features defined in the require object.
String	toString() Returns a String representation of this Voice.

Methods inherited from class Object

getClass, notify, notifyAll, wait, wait, wait

Field Detail

GENDER_DONT_CARE

public static final int GENDER_DONT_CARE

Ignore gender when performing a match of Voices. Synthesizers never provide a Voice with GENDER_DONT_CARE.

See Also:

match, getGender(), Constant Field Values

GENDER_FEMALE

public static final int GENDER_FEMALE

Female Voice.

See Also:

getGender, Constant Field Values

GENDER_MALE

public static final int GENDER_MALE

Male Voice.

See Also:

getGender, Constant Field Values

GENDER_NEUTRAL

public static final int GENDER_NEUTRAL

Neutral Voice that is neither male or female. Examples include artificial voices and robotic voices.

See Also:

getGender, Constant Field Values

AGE_DONT_CARE

public static final int AGE_DONT_CARE

Constant that will match with any age. Synthesizers never return a Voice with AGE_DONT_CARE.

See Also:

match, getAge, Constant Field Values

AGE_CHILD

public static final int AGE_CHILD

Constant representing the Voice of a child.

This value will match ages in the range of 0-12.

See Also:

match, getAge(), Constant Field Values

AGE_TEENAGER

public static final int AGE_TEENAGER

Constant representing the Voice of a teenager.

This value will match ages in the range of 13-19.

See Also:

match, getAge(), Constant Field Values

AGE_YOUNGER_ADULT

public static final int AGE_YOUNGER_ADULT

Constant representing the Voice of a younger adult.

This value will match ages in the range of 20-39.

See Also:

match, getAge(), Constant Field Values

AGE_MIDDLE_ADULT

public static final int AGE_MIDDLE_ADULT

Constant representing the Voice of a middle-aged adult.

This value will match ages in the range of 40-59.

See Also:

match, getAge(), Constant Field Values

AGE_OLDER_ADULT

public static final int AGE_OLDER_ADULT

Constant representing the Voice of an older adult.

This value will match ages starting from 60.

See Also:

match, getAge(), Constant Field Values

AGE_SPECIFIC

public static final int AGE_SPECIFIC

Constant flag to limit an age value to a single value.

An age value without this flag indicates a preferred age.

See Also:

match, getAge(), Constant Field Values

VARIANT_DONT_CARE

public static final int VARIANT_DONT_CARE

Ignore the variant when performing a match of Voices.

Synthesizers never provide a Voice with VARIANT_DONT_CARE. Variants returned from a Synthesizer begin with VARIANT_DEFAULT.

See Also:

match, getVariant, VARIANT_DEFAULT, Constant Field Values

VARIANT_DEFAULT

public static final int VARIANT_DEFAULT

The default variant for a Voice. Variants returned from a Synthesizer begin with VARIANT_DEFAULT.

See Also:

getVariant, Constant Field Values

Constructor Detail

Voice

public Voice()

Constructs a Voice with locale, name, gender, age, and variant set to "don't care" values.

See Also:

Voice(SpeechLocale, String, int, int, int)

Voice

public Voice(SpeechLocale locale,
             String name,
             int gender,
             int age,
             int variant)
      throws IllegalArgumentException

Constructs a Voice with locale, name, gender, age, and variant.

The getGender method describes valid gender values. The getAge method describes valid age values. The variant must be a positive integer or VARIANT_DONT_CARE.

Parameters:

locale - SpeechLocale of the Voice

name - name of the Voice

gender - gender of the Voice

age - age of the Voice

variant - variant of the Voice

Throws:

IllegalArgumentException - if an invalid parameter value is supplied

See Also:

getSpeechLocale, getName, getGender, getAge, getVariant, Voice()

Method Detail

equals

public boolean equals(Object obj)

Returns true if and only if the parameter is not null and is a Voice with equal values.

Overrides:

equals in class Object

Parameters:

obj - a Voice object to compare

Returns:

true if the Voice objects compare

getAge

public int getAge()

Gets the Voice age.

A Voice from a Synthesizer instance returns one of the age range constants or an age value limited to a specific value with the AGE_SPECIFIC flag.

A Voice created programmatically may return one of the following:

• An age value that represents a preferred age
• An age value with the AGE_SPECIFIC flag representing a specific age
• A combination of OR'ed values from the age range constants

In all cases, an age value is a non-negative integer representing an age in years. The maximum value of age is Short.MAX_VALUE. An age value may not be combined with age range constants, but may be combined with the AGE_SPECIFIC flag.

Returns:

the preferred age, a specific age, or age ranges of the Voice

See Also:

match, AGE_DONT_CARE, AGE_CHILD, AGE_TEENAGER, AGE_YOUNGER_ADULT, AGE_MIDDLE_ADULT, AGE_OLDER_ADULT, AGE_SPECIFIC

getGender

public int getGender()

Gets the Voice gender.

Gender values may be OR'ed to select or match a Voice.

A Voice from a Synthesizer instance returns a specific gender constant.

Returns:

the gender of this voice

See Also:

match, GENDER_DONT_CARE, GENDER_MALE, GENDER_FEMALE, GENDER_NEUTRAL

getVariant

public int getVariant()

Gets the Voice variant. This can indicate a variation between otherwise identical Voice characteristics. For example, if there are two male child voices then the variant can be used to select the second one.

If the variant does not matter during Voice selection, use VARIANT_DONT_CARE. This value will match any other variant value.

A Voice from a Synthesizer instance returns a specific positive integer. Variant values begin with VARIANT_DEFAULT.

Returns:

the Voice variant

See Also:

match, VARIANT_DEFAULT, VARIANT_DONT_CARE

getName

public String getName()

Gets the Voice name. May return null.

A null or "" String in Voice match means don't care.

Returns:

the name of this voice

See Also:

match

hashCode

public int hashCode()

Returns a hash code value for the object. This method is supported for the benefit of hashtables.

Overrides:

hashCode in class Object

Returns:

a hash code value for the object

getSpeechLocale

public SpeechLocale getSpeechLocale()

Gets the Voice SpeechLocale. The SpeechLocale includes the language, country, and variant (for the language).

May return null. A null for Voice match means don't care.

Returns:

the SpeechLocale for this Voice

See Also:

match

match

public boolean match(Voice require)

Determines whether this Voice has all the features defined in the require object. Strings in require which are null are ignored. All String comparisons are exact matches (case-sensitive). A null SpeechLocale in the require object is ignored. Otherwise, all non-null Strings in the require SpeechLocale must match.

GENDER_DONT_CARE, AGE_DONT_CARE, and VARIANT_DONT_CARE values in the require object are ignored.

Gender constant values may be OR'ed in the require object to match. The getGender method lists the gender constants.

The age value of the require object may be

• a preferred age value - matches anything, but affects ordering
• a specific age value flagged with AGE_SPECIFIC - matches only that age
• a combination of OR'ed values from the age range constants - matches an age value in range or a matching age range constant

The getAge method lists the age range constants.

Variant values in the require object other than VARIANT_DONT_CARE must be equal to match.

The following example shows how to test for a male and/or neutral Voice:

 Voice aVoice = ...;
 Voice maleishVoice =
     new Voice(null, null, Voice.GENDER_MALE | Voice.GENDER_NEUTRAL,
               Voice.AGE_DONT_CARE, Voice.VARIANT_DONT_CARE);
 if (aVoice.match(maleishVoice)) ...
 

Parameters:

require - the required features to match this Voice

Returns:

true if all the required features match

See Also:

GENDER_DONT_CARE, AGE_DONT_CARE, AGE_SPECIFIC, VARIANT_DONT_CARE, getGender, getAge, getVariant

toString

public String toString()

Returns a String representation of this Voice.

Overrides:

toString in class Object

Returns:

a String representation of this Voice