Runtime Error - JSAPI HelloWorld Program

Question

While running basic HelloWorld program using JSAPI, it is showing error "java.lang.NullPointerException at HelloWorld.main(HelloWorld.java:11)"

Following is the code:

import javax.speech.*;
import javax.speech.synthesis.*;
import java.util.Locale;

public class HelloWorld {
    public static void main(String args[]) {
    try {
        // Create a synthesizer for English
        Synthesizer synth = Central.createSynthesizer(new SynthesizerModeDesc(Locale.ENGLISH));
        // Get it ready to speak
        synth.allocate();
        synth.resume();
        // Speak the "Hello world" string
        synth.speakPlainText("Hello, world!", null);
        // Wait till speaking is done
        synth.waitEngineState(Synthesizer.QUEUE_EMPTY);
        // Clean up
        synth.deallocate();
    } catch (Exception e) {
        e.printStackTrace();
    }
}
}

Edit: I edit my program:

import javax.speech.*;
import javax.speech.synthesis.*;
import java.util.Locale;

public class HelloWorld {
public static void main(String args[]) {
    try {
        // Create a synthesizer for English
        SynthesizerModeDesc modeDesc = new SynthesizerModeDesc(null,"general",Locale.US,null,null);
        System.out.println(modeDesc);
        Synthesizer synth = Central.createSynthesizer(modeDesc);
        //Synthesizer synth = Central.createSynthesizer(null);
        // Get it ready to speak
        System.out.println(synth);
        synth.allocate();
        synth.resume();
        // Speak the "Hello world" string
        synth.speakPlainText("Hello, world!", null);
        // Wait till speaking is done
            synth.waitEngineState(Synthesizer.QUEUE_EMPTY);
        // Clean up
        synth.deallocate();
    } catch (Exception e) {
        e.printStackTrace();
    }
}
}

and it is giving output:

javax.speech.synthesis.SynthesizerModeDesc@9304b1
null
java.lang.NullPointerException
    at HelloWorld.main(HelloWorld.java:15)

It seems that SynthesizerModeDesc is working fine but it is not detecting any engine as i tried passing null also to the function Central.createSynthesizer (i.e get default engine) but still it is returning null. I checked number of engines it is detecting, but it shows 0.

Please help me !! :(

Yes, it is the full stacktrace. – roshan_iiita Feb 05 '12 at 05:33 — roshan_iiita, Feb 05 '12 at 05:33

Brian Roach · Answer 1 · 2012-02-04T21:39:06.827

2

From the javadocs for Central.createSynthesizer:

Returns: a Synthesizer matching the required properties or null if none is available

Apparently, there's none available. Perhaps trying Locale.US might produce a valid SynthesizerModeDesc

Edit in response to comment: Seriously, I've never used this thing ... but I'm actually reading the javadocs as we go along here. The constructor you're using (new SynthesizerModeDesc(Locale.ENGLISH)) says,

"Construct an EngineModeDesc for a locale. The engine name, mode name and running are set to null".

That doesn't sound good from a "And then I want to use it" perspective. There's another constructor that allows you to set those options, and methods to set them as well.

edited Feb 04 '12 at 21:39

answered Feb 04 '12 at 21:14

Brian Roach

72,790
10
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Sorry, it is showing the same error after writing either "Locale.US" or "Locale.getDefault()" – roshan_iiita Feb 04 '12 at 21:23
See latest edit. Seriously, the javadocs aren't horribly obtuse. – Brian Roach Feb 04 '12 at 21:28
I went through javadoc but still the problem continued. See latest edit. – roshan_iiita Feb 05 '12 at 05:34
My problem is I don't know the lib responsible of javax.speech.Central for add it in my project. any one could help me please? – Abderrahim Jan 05 '17 at 17:12

Peter Svensson · Answer 2 · 2012-02-05T21:08:54.983

1

Seems to be a solution discussed here

Synthesizer synth = Central.createSynthesizer(
new SynthesizerModeDesc(
null, // engine name
"general", // mode name
Locale.US, // locale
null, // running
null) // voice
);

Are you sure you've done this "By the way I assume you are using freetts and have copied the "speech.properties" file to your directory of jdk" ?

edited Feb 05 '12 at 21:08

answered Feb 05 '12 at 18:53

Peter Svensson

5,941
1
29
31

Your answer would be better if you'd explain the solution and link to the source. – Navarr Feb 05 '12 at 18:57
True that! I'm on my iPhone so typing long explanations kind of suck. – Peter Svensson Feb 05 '12 at 19:46
Again the same error. At first, i was not using freetts or sphinx but not i tried on sphinx also but still it is showing the same error. – roshan_iiita Feb 15 '12 at 07:07

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Sep 10 '13 at 22:05

you have to make sure you include 'jsapi.jar', 'freetts.jar', and 'jreetts-jsapi10.jar' into your build path. if you dont have those in your freetts directory you have to go into the lib subdirectory and launch jsapi.exe. and also make sure you have 'speech.properties' copied into your C:Users/"yourUserNameHere" directory. hope that helps

Runtime Error - JSAPI HelloWorld Program

3 Answers3