
``sndhdr`` --- Determine type of sound file
*******************************************

The ``sndhdr`` provides utility functions which attempt to determine
the type of sound data which is in a file.  When these functions are
able to determine what type of sound data is stored in a file, they
return a tuple ``(type, sampling_rate, channels, frames,
bits_per_sample)``.  The value for *type* indicates the data type and
will be one of the strings ``'aifc'``, ``'aiff'``, ``'au'``,
``'hcom'``, ``'sndr'``, ``'sndt'``, ``'voc'``, ``'wav'``, ``'8svx'``,
``'sb'``, ``'ub'``, or ``'ul'``.  The *sampling_rate* will be either
the actual value or ``0`` if unknown or difficult to decode.
Similarly, *channels* will be either the number of channels or ``0``
if it cannot be determined or if the value is difficult to decode.
The value for *frames* will be either the number of frames or ``-1``.
The last item in the tuple, *bits_per_sample*, will either be the
sample size in bits or ``'A'`` for A-LAW or ``'U'`` for u-LAW.

sndhdr.what(filename)

   Determines the type of sound data stored in the file *filename*
   using ``whathdr()``.  If it succeeds, returns a tuple as described
   above, otherwise ``None`` is returned.

sndhdr.whathdr(filename)

   Determines the type of sound data stored in a file based on the
   file  header. The name of the file is given by *filename*.  This
   function returns a tuple as described above on success, or
   ``None``.
