midiOutShortMsg

The midiOutShortMsg function sends a short MIDI message to the specified MIDI output device.

MMRESULT midiOutShortMsg(
  HMIDIOUT hmo,  
  DWORD dwMsg    
);

Parameters

hmo

Handle to the MIDI output device. This parameter can also be the handle of a MIDI stream cast to HMIDIOUT.

dwMsg

MIDI message. The message is packed into a DWORD value with the first byte of the message in the low-order byte. The message is packed into this parameter as follows.

Word Byte Usage
High High-order Not used.
Low-order The second byte of MIDI data (when needed).
Low High-order The first byte of MIDI data (when needed).
Low-order The MIDI status.

The two MIDI data bytes are optional, depending on the MIDI status byte. When a series of messages have the same status byte, the status byte can be omitted from messages after the first one in the series, creating a running status. Pack a message for running status as follows:

Word Byte Usage
High High-order Not used.
Low-order Not used.
Low High-order The second byte of MIDI data (when needed).
Low-order The first byte of MIDI data.

Return Values

Returns MMSYSERR_NOERROR if successful or an error otherwise. Possible error values include the following:

Value Description
MIDIERR_BADOPENMODE The application sent a message without a status byte to a stream handle.
MIDIERR_NOTREADY The hardware is busy with other data.
MMSYSERR_INVALHANDLE The specified device handle is invalid.

Remarks

This function is used to send any MIDI message except for system-exclusive or stream messages.

This function might not return until the message has been sent to the output device. You can send short messages while streams are playing on the same device (although you cannot use a running status in this case).

Requirements

**  Windows NT/2000/XP:** Included in Windows NT 3.1 and later.
**  Windows 95/98/Me:** Included in Windows 95 and later.
**  Header:** Declared in Mmsystem.h; include Windows.h.
**  Library:** Use Winmm.lib.

See Also

Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI), MIDI Functions