Media Computation in JES(Chapter 2)

DM Rasanjalee Himali

JES Functions

• Some JES functions (NOT Python)• A bunch of functions are pre-defined in JES for

sound and picture manipulations– pickAFile()– makePicture()– makeSound()– show()– play()

• Some of these functions accept input values

What to do to show a picture

• 1. Find a file with a picture.• 2. Pick it.• 3. Get the bytes from that file into memory

and label it as a type: “picture”• 4. Show the picture

pickAFile()

file = pickAFile() • Displays list of directories and

files in a window• Accept no inputs• Returns a string which is the

name of file that you picked• This does NOT load the file into

memory• Python is case sensitive:

– pickafile() or PickAFile() will not work!

• The pickAFile() function brings up a ‘file selector dialog’

• You’ll choose a file and hit the ‘Open’ button

• When you pick your file, the pickAFile() function notes the ‘path name/ address’ (as a string) of your file.

• We will stick to JPEG and WAV files to avoid too much complexity.

>>> print fileF:\UNG\Python\mediasources-py2ed\mediasources\beach.jpg

Full file name

Path seperator

Path to the file Base file name

File extension

File Extension Type Description

.jpg JPEG file Contains a picture

.Wav WAV file Contains sounds

Showing a Picture

• pickAFile() does not load file into the memory.• To load the file into the memory we should tell JES to

read the file and make a picture from it using function makePicture:

• makePicture requeres one parmeter: the file name.>>> pic = makePicture(file)Picture, filename F:\UNG\Python\mediasources-py2ed\mediasources\beach.jpg height 480 width 640

• Now we made a picture with hight 480 and width 640• How do we see the picture?

• To see the picture you made we need another function: show

• show takes a parameter : picture (referenced by pic in our example)>>>show(pic)

• To summarize, the code:>>>file = pickAFile()>>>pic = makePicture(file)>>>show(pic)

• Another way to do this is to do it all at once because output from one function can be used as input to another function:>>> show(makePicture(pickAFile)))

QUESTION

• What is the return type of function show?• Try printing:>>> print show(pic)none• The output is none, indicating that the

function does not return an output.• Functions in Python does not have to return a

value

Playing a Sound

• We can replicate the entire process of showing picture with sounds.– We still use pickAFile() to find the file and get its file

name. This time we pick a file with .wav extension.– makeSound(filename) creates and returns a sound

object, from the WAV file at the filename– play(sound) makes the sound play (but doesn’t wait

until it’s done). It takes file name as input.– blockingPlay(sound) waits for the sound to finish

• Here are the same steps we saw with making pictures, this time used to play sound:

>>>file = pickAFile()>>> print fileF:\UNG\Python\mediasources-py2ed\mediasources\helloWorld.wav>>> sound = makeSound(file)>>> print soundSound file: F:\UNG\Python\mediasources-py2ed\mediasources\

helloWorld.wav number of samples: 44033>>> play(sound)

QUESTION

• Download the mediasouce zip file at : http://coweb.cc.gatech.edu/mediaComp-teach#Python

• Extract it to a folder. This contains sample .jpg, .wav etc files you can work with.

• Try the previous code in both .wav and .jpg files

Naming values

• As we saw in previous examples, we name values/data using = operator (E.g. file, pic)

• Computers do not remember things unless we name them

• Creating a name for a value is called “defining a variable”

• A variable is a unit of data with an identifier, which is held in your computer's memory

• It can be changed by putting a new value into it or modifying the value that is already there.

• We can check the value of a variable using print:>>>myVariable = 12>>>print myVariable12>>>anotherVariable = 34.5>>>print anotherVariable34.5>>>myName = “Mark”>>>print mayNameMark

• We can use names more than once:>>>print myVariable12>>> myVariable = “Hello”>>> print myVariableHello

• The binding (or the association) between the names and the data only exists until – (a) the name gets assigned to something else OR– (b) you quit JES

QUESTION

• What is the output of the following?>>>myVariable = 12>>>print myVariable*448>>>myOtherVariable = “12”>>>print myOtherVariable12121212

• Data have encodings/types. How data act in expressions depend on their types. E.g. integer 12 and the string 12 act differently for multiplication.

Choosing Good Identifiers

• Identifiers are the names used to identify things in your code.

• An identifier is just a name label• So it could refer to more or less anything

including commands

Python Keywords

• The following words are the keywords, which form the basis of the Python language.

• You are not allowed to use these words to name your variables, because these are the core commands of Python.

Naming Rules

• Variable names must begin with either a letter or an underscore.

• Although they can contain numbers, they must not start with one.

• You should not use anything other than letters, numbers, or underscores to identify your variables.

• Python is generally case-sensitive, which means that lowercase and uppercase letters are treated as being different characters; therefore, myvariable, MYVARIABLE, and MyVariable are interpreted as completely different entities.

• We can assign names(i.e. variable names) to the results of a functions.

• E.g.>>> file = pickAFile()>>> print fileF:\UNG\Python\mediasources-py2ed\mediasources\barbara.jpg>>>pic = makePicture(file)>>> print picPicture, filename F:\UNG\Python\mediasources-py2ed\mediasources\barbara.jpg height 294 width 222

• Note: its not necessary to use print every time we execute something.

variables

Making a program

• Defining functions:– Just like naming values, we can name programs.– We can name a series of commands and use the

name to whenever we want the commands to be executed.

– In Python, the name we define is called a function.

– A program in Python is a collection of functions that perform a useful task

• You need to use the keyword def to define a new function.

• Syntax:def <functionName> ( <input list seperated by commas>):

• Then we create a collection of commands by defining a block:– The list of commands to be executed when function

is called are listed after this line one after the other (indented to show they belong to this function)

Saving and Executing Your Programs

• The interactive interpreter makes it possible to test solutions and to experiment with the language in real time.

• However, everything you write in the interactive interpreter is lost when you quit.

• What you really want to do is write programs that both you and other people can run.

• First, you need a text editor. If you are already using JES, you’re in luck: JES provides a nice text editor area for you to write our programs.

• Simply create a new editor window with File New ➤Program. Whew!

• In CSCI1301 you’ll put your instructions in the definition of a function when writing programs.

• Now select File Save ➤Program As to save your program (which is, in fact, a plain text file).

• Be sure to put it somewhere

where you can find it later on.

• Give your file any reasonable name, such as hello.py. The .py ending is important.

• Got that? Don’t close the window with your program in it. If you did, just open it again (File

Open Program). ➤• Now you need to load

by pressing button “Load Program” .

• You can execute/run your program by calling the method hello in command window:

• Sometimes, you’ll have a clear purpose for the function, in which case you can name the function accordingly, like “triArea()” or “reverseText()”, but for experimenting or other general purposes, you can call it “main()”, as in “main function”.

• E.g. def main():

print "Hello world!"

• Notice also that the print statement is indented. def main():

print "Hello world!"• In Python, indenting specifies the “scope” of different

chunks of your code. • Consider it this way: everything indented after a first,

unindented (or less indented) line ‘belongs’ to that line. • So above, the print statement belongs to the definition of

the function called ‘main()’. • If you wanted ‘main()’ to accomplish multiple things, they’d

all have the same amount of indent as the print statement.

QUESTION

• Write a program showPicture.py to allow user to pick a picture and show it. Call the function that does this pickAndShow.

• Answer:def pickAndShow():

myFile = pickAFile()myPict = makePicture(myFile)show(myPict)

Box indicates a block in programYou will know your indentation is Right when all the commands you expect to be in the block is in the box

• Now save your program and load it using the “Load Program” button.

• Now you can call it in your command area:

• We can similarly define our second program to pick and play sound.

The Most Common JES Bug:Forgetting to Load

Your function does NOT exist for JES until you load itBefore you load it, the

program is just a bunch of characters.

Loading encodes it as an executable function

Save and Save AsYou must Save before

LoadingYou must Load before you

can use your function

An “Unloaded” function doesn’t exist yet.

What if you forget your variable names? showVars()

QUESTION

• Write a program playSound.py to allow user to pick a sound and play it. Call the function that does this pickAndPlay.

• Answer:def pickAndPlay():

myFile = pickAFile()mySound = makeSound(myFile)play(mySound)

Show a specific picture

def showPicture():myFile = “c:/mediasources/barbara.jpg”myPict = makePicture(myFile)show(myPict)

What to do about Windows filenames?

• Python doesn’t like you to use “\” in filenames,like “C:\mediasources\barbara.jpg”

• What to do?– Option #1: Put r in front of Windows filenames:

r“C:\mediasources\pic.jpg”– Option #2: Use forward slashes. Python will

translate it for you:“C:/mediasources/pic.jpg”

A function that takes input

def playNamed(myfile): mysound = makeSound(myfile) play(mysound)

def showNamed(myfile): mypict = makePicture(myfile) show(mypict)

What functions do you need? What should be their input?

In general, have enough to do what you want, easily, understandably, and in the fewest commands.

We’ll talk more about what that means later.

How do you call such a function?

QUESTION

• Write a program with a function playAndShow that plays a sound and shows a picture at the same time. The file names for sound file and picture files should be input parameters to the function

def plaAndShow(sFile, pFile)mySound = makeSound(sFile)myPict = makePicture(pFile)play(mSound)show(myPict)

What can go wrong?

• Did you use the exact same names (case, spelling)?

• All the lines in the block must be indented,and indented the same amount.

• Variables in the command area don’t exist in your functions, and variables in your functions don’t exist in the command area.

• The computer can’t read your mind.– It will only do exactly what you tell it to do.

MOST IMPORTANT THING TO DO TO PASS THIS CLASS!

• DO THE EXAMPLES!• Try them out for yourself. Try to replicate

them. Understand them– EVERY WEEK, TYPE IN AT LEAST TWO OF THE EXAMPLES FROM CLASS

• To understand a program means that you know why each line is there.

• You will encounter all the simple-but-confusing errors early—BEFORE you are rushing to get homework done!!