2 This is a list of API changes in SDL's version history.
7 Added SDL_BUTTON_WHEELUP (4) and SDL_BUTTON_WHEELDOWN (5)
9 Added SDL_GL_STEREO for stereoscopic OpenGL contexts
12 Added SDL_VIDEOEXPOSE event to signal that the screen needs to
13 be redrawn. This is currently only delivered to OpenGL windows
14 on X11, though it may be delivered in the future when the video
15 memory is lost under DirectX.
18 You can pass SDL_NOFRAME to SDL_VideoMode() to create a window
19 that has no title bar or frame decoration. Fullscreen video
20 modes automatically have this flag set.
22 Added a function to query the clipping rectangle for a surface:
23 void SDL_GetClipRect(SDL_Surface *surface, SDL_Rect *rect)
25 Added a function to query the current event filter:
26 SDL_EventFilter SDL_GetEventFilter(void)
28 If you pass -1 to SDL_ShowCursor(), it won't change the current
29 cursor visibility state, but will still return it.
31 SDL_LockSurface() and SDL_UnlockSurface() are recursive, meaning
32 you can nest them as deep as you want, as long as each lock call
33 has a matching unlock call. The surface remains locked until the
34 last matching unlock call.
36 Note that you may not blit to or from a locked surface.
39 The SDL_SetGammaRamp() and SDL_GetGammaRamp() functions now take
40 arrays of Uint16 values instead of Uint8 values. For the most part,
41 you can just take your old values and shift them up 8 bits to get
42 new correct values for your gamma ramps.
44 You can pass SDL_RLEACCEL in flags passed to SDL_ConvertSurface()
45 and SDL will try to RLE accelerate colorkey and alpha blits in the
49 Added a function to return the thread ID of a specific thread:
50 Uint32 SDL_GetThreadID(SDL_Thread *thread)
51 If 'thread' is NULL, this function returns the id for this thread.
54 The YUV overlay structure has been changed to use an array of
55 pitches and pixels representing the planes of a YUV image, to
56 better enable hardware acceleration. The YV12 and IYUV formats
57 each have three planes, corresponding to the Y, U, and V portions
58 of the image, while packed pixel YUV formats just have one plane.
60 For palettized mode (8bpp), the screen colormap is now split in
61 a physical and a logical palette. The physical palette determines
62 what colours the screen pixels will get when displayed, and the
63 logical palette controls the mapping from blits to/from the screen.
64 A new function, SDL_SetPalette() has been added to change
65 logical and physical palettes separately. SDL_SetColors() works
66 just as before, and is equivalent to calling SDL_SetPalette() with
67 a flag argument of (SDL_LOGPAL|SDL_PHYSPAL).
69 SDL_BlitSurface() no longer modifies the source rectangle, only the
70 destination rectangle. The width/height members of the destination
71 rectangle are ignored, only the position is used.
73 The old source clipping function SDL_SetClipping() has been replaced
74 with a more useful function to set the destination clipping rectangle:
75 SDL_bool SDL_SetClipRect(SDL_Surface *surface, SDL_Rect *rect)
77 Added a function to see what subsystems have been initialized:
78 Uint32 SDL_WasInit(Uint32 flags)
80 The Big Alpha Flip: SDL now treats alpha as opacity like everybody
81 else, and not as transparency:
83 A new cpp symbol: SDL_ALPHA_OPAQUE is defined as 255
84 A new cpp symbol: SDL_ALPHA_TRANSPARENT is defined as 0
85 Values between 0 and 255 vary from fully transparent to fully opaque.
88 SDL_DisplayFormatAlpha()
89 Returns a surface converted to a format with alpha-channel
90 that can be blit efficiently to the screen. (In other words,
91 like SDL_DisplayFormat() but the resulting surface has
92 an alpha channel.) This is useful for surfaces with alpha.
94 Works as SDL_MapRGB() but takes an additional alpha parameter.
96 Works as SDL_GetRGB() but also returns the alpha value
97 (SDL_ALPHA_OPAQUE for formats without an alpha channel)
99 Both SDL_GetRGB() and SDL_GetRGBA() now always return values in
100 the [0..255] interval. Previously, SDL_GetRGB() would return
101 (0xf8, 0xfc, 0xf8) for a completely white pixel in RGB565 format.
102 (N.B.: This is broken for bit fields < 3 bits.)
104 SDL_MapRGB() returns pixels in which the alpha channel is set opaque.
106 SDL_SetAlpha() can now be used for both setting the per-surface
107 alpha, using the new way of thinking of alpha, and also to enable
108 and disable per-pixel alpha blending for surfaces with an alpha
110 To disable alpha blending:
111 SDL_SetAlpha(surface, 0, 0);
112 To re-enable alpha blending:
113 SDL_SetAlpha(surface, SDL_SRCALPHA, 0);
114 Surfaces with an alpha channel have blending enabled by default.
116 SDL_SetAlpha() now accepts SDL_RLEACCEL as a flag, which requests
117 RLE acceleration of blits, just as like with SDL_SetColorKey().
118 This flag can be set for both surfaces with an alpha channel
119 and surfaces with an alpha value set by SDL_SetAlpha().
120 As always, RLE surfaces must be locked before pixel access is
121 allowed, and unlocked before any other SDL operations are done
124 The blit semantics for surfaces with and without alpha and colorkey
125 have now been defined:
129 alpha-blend (using alpha-channel).
130 SDL_SRCCOLORKEY ignored.
131 SDL_SRCALPHA not set:
133 if SDL_SRCCOLORKEY set, only copy the pixels matching the
134 RGB values of the source colour key, ignoring alpha in the
139 alpha-blend (using the source per-surface alpha value);
140 set destination alpha to opaque.
141 SDL_SRCALPHA not set:
142 copy RGB, set destination alpha to opaque.
144 if SDL_SRCCOLORKEY set, only copy the pixels matching the
149 alpha-blend (using the source alpha channel) the RGB values;
150 leave destination alpha untouched. [Note: is this correct?]
151 SDL_SRCCOLORKEY ignored.
152 SDL_SRCALPHA not set:
153 copy all of RGBA to the destination.
154 if SDL_SRCCOLORKEY set, only copy the pixels matching the
155 RGB values of the source colour key, ignoring alpha in the
160 alpha-blend (using the source per-surface alpha value).
161 SDL_SRCALPHA not set:
164 if SDL_SRCCOLORKEY set, only copy the pixels matching the
167 As a special case, blits from surfaces with per-surface alpha
168 value of 128 (50% transparency) are optimised and much faster
169 than other alpha values. This does not apply to surfaces with
170 alpha channels (per-pixel alpha).
172 New functions for manipulating the gamma of the display have
174 int SDL_SetGamma(float red, float green, float blue);
175 int SDL_SetGammaRamp(Uint8 *red, Uint8 *green, Uint8 *blue);
176 int SDL_GetGammaRamp(Uint8 *red, Uint8 *green, Uint8 *blue);
177 Gamma ramps are tables with 256 entries which map the screen color
178 components into actually displayed colors. For an example of
179 implementing gamma correction and gamma fades, see test/testgamma.c
180 Gamma control is not supported on all hardware.
183 The size of the SDL_CDtrack structure changed from 8 to 12 bytes
184 as the size of the length member was extended to 32 bits.
186 You can now use SDL for 2D blitting with a GL mode by passing the
187 SDL_OPENGLBLIT flag to SDL_SetVideoMode(). You can specify 16 or
188 32 bpp, and the data in the framebuffer is put into the GL scene
189 when you call SDL_UpdateRects(), and the scene will be visible
190 when you call SDL_GL_SwapBuffers().
192 Run the "testgl" test program with the -logo command line option
193 to see an example of this blending of 2D and 3D in SDL.
196 Added SDL_FreeRW() to the API, to complement SDL_AllocRW()
198 Added resizable window support - just add SDL_RESIZABLE to the
199 SDL_SetVideoMode() flags, and then wait for SDL_VIDEORESIZE events.
200 See SDL_events.h for details on the new SDL_ResizeEvent structure.
202 Added condition variable support, based on mutexes and semaphores.
209 The new function prototypes are in SDL_mutex.h
211 Added counting semaphore support, based on the mutex primitive.
212 SDL_CreateSemaphore()
213 SDL_DestroySemaphore()
219 The new function prototypes are in SDL_mutex.h
221 Added support for asynchronous blitting. To take advantage of this,
222 you must set the SDL_ASYNCBLIT flag when setting the video mode and
223 creating surfaces that you want accelerated in this way. You must
224 lock surfaces that have this flag set, and the lock will block until
225 any queued blits have completed.
227 Added YUV video overlay support.
228 The supported YUV formats are: YV12, IYUV, YUY2, UYVY, and YVYU.
229 This function creates an overlay surface:
230 SDL_CreateYUVOverlay()
231 You must lock and unlock the overlay to get access to the data:
232 SDL_LockYUVOverlay() SDL_UnlockYUVOverlay()
233 You can then display the overlay:
234 SDL_DisplayYUVOverlay()
235 You must free the overlay when you are done using it:
237 See SDL_video.h for the full function prototypes.
239 The joystick hat position constants have been changed:
240 Old constant New constant
241 ------------ ------------
251 The new constants are bitmasks, so you can check for the
252 individual axes like this:
253 if ( hat_position & SDL_HAT_UP ) {
255 and you'll catch left-up, up, and right-up.
258 Added multiple timer support:
259 SDL_AddTimer() and SDL_RemoveTimer()
261 SDL_WM_SetIcon() now respects the icon colorkey if mask is NULL.
264 Added initial OpenGL support.
265 First set GL attributes (such as RGB depth, alpha depth, etc.)
266 SDL_GL_SetAttribute()
267 Then call SDL_SetVideoMode() with the SDL_OPENGL flag.
268 Perform all of your normal GL drawing.
269 Finally swap the buffers with the new SDL function:
271 See the new 'testgl' test program for an example of using GL with SDL.
273 You can load GL extension functions by using the function:
274 SDL_GL_LoadProcAddress()
276 Added functions to initialize and cleanup specific SDL subsystems:
277 SDL_InitSubSystem() and SDL_QuitSubSystem()
279 Added user-defined event type:
286 This structure is in the "user" member of an SDL_Event.
288 Added a function to push events into the event queue:
291 Example of using the new SDL user-defined events:
295 event.type = SDL_USEREVENT;
296 event.user.code = my_event_code;
297 event.user.data1 = significant_data;
298 event.user.data2 = 0;
299 SDL_PushEvent(&event);
302 Added a function to get mouse deltas since last query:
303 SDL_GetRelativeMouseState()
305 Added a boolean datatype to SDL_types.h:
306 SDL_bool = { SDL_TRUE, SDL_FALSE }
308 Added a function to get the current audio status:
315 Added an AAlib driver (ASCII Art) - by Stephane Peter.
318 The input grab state is reset after each call to SDL_SetVideoMode().
319 The input is grabbed by default in fullscreen mode, and ungrabbed in
320 windowed mode. If you want to set input grab to a particular value,
321 you should set it after each call to SDL_SetVideoMode().
324 Exposed SDL_AudioInit(), SDL_VideoInit()
325 Added SDL_AudioDriverName() and SDL_VideoDriverName()
327 Added new window manager function:
328 SDL_WM_ToggleFullScreen()
329 This is currently implemented only on Linux
331 The ALT-ENTER code has been removed - it's not appropriate for a
332 lib to bind keys when they aren't even emergency escape sequences.
334 ALT-ENTER functionality can be implemented with the following code:
336 int Handle_AltEnter(const SDL_Event *event)
338 if ( event->type == SDL_KEYDOWN ) {
339 if ( (event->key.keysym.sym == SDLK_RETURN) &&
340 (event->key.keysym.mod & KMOD_ALT) ) {
341 SDL_WM_ToggleFullScreen(SDL_GetVideoSurface());
347 SDL_SetEventFilter(Handle_AltEnter);
350 Under X11, if you grab the input and hide the mouse cursor,
351 the mouse will go into a "relative motion" mode where you
352 will always get relative motion events no matter how far in
353 each direction you move the mouse - relative motion is not
354 bounded by the edges of the window (though the absolute values
355 of the mouse positions are clamped by the size of the window).
356 The SVGAlib, framebuffer console, and DirectInput drivers all
357 have this behavior naturally, and the GDI and BWindow drivers
358 never go into "relative motion" mode.
361 Added a function to enable keyboard repeat:
362 SDL_EnableKeyRepeat()
364 Added a function to grab the mouse and keyboard input
367 Added a function to iconify the window.
368 SDL_WM_IconifyWindow()
369 If this function succeeds, the application will receive an event
370 signaling SDL_APPACTIVE event
373 Added constants to SDL_audio.h for 16-bit native byte ordering:
374 AUDIO_U16SYS, AUDIO_S16SYS
382 A new function SDL_GetVideoSurface() has been added, and returns
383 a pointer to the current display surface.
385 SDL_AllocSurface() has been renamed SDL_CreateRGBSurface(), and
386 a new function SDL_CreateRGBSurfaceFrom() has been added to allow
387 creating an SDL surface from an existing pixel data buffer.
389 Added SDL_GetRGB() to the headers and documentation.
392 SDL_SetLibraryPath() is no longer meaningful, and has been removed.
395 A new flag for SDL_Init(), SDL_INIT_NOPARACHUTE, prevents SDL from
396 installing fatal signal handlers on operating systems that support
402 SDL_CreateColorCursor() has been removed. Color cursors should
403 be implemented as sprites, blitted by the application when the
404 cursor moves. To get smooth color cursor updates when the app
405 is busy, pass the SDL_INIT_EVENTTHREAD flag to SDL_Init(). This
406 allows you to handle the mouse motion in another thread from an
407 event filter function, but is currently only supported by Linux
408 and BeOS. Note that you'll have to protect the display surface
409 from multi-threaded access by using mutexes if you do this.
411 Thread-safe surface support has been removed from SDL.
412 This makes blitting somewhat faster, by removing SDL_MiddleBlit().
413 Code that used SDL_MiddleBlit() should use SDL_LowerBlit() instead.
414 You can make your surfaces thread-safe by allocating your own
415 mutex and making lock/unlock calls around accesses to your surface.
418 SDL_GetMouseState() now takes pointers to int rather than Uint16.
420 If you set the SDL_WINDOWID environment variable under UNIX X11,
421 SDL will use that as the main window instead of creating it's own.
422 This is an unsupported extension to SDL, and not portable at all.
425 Added a function SDL_SetLibraryPath() which can be used to specify
426 the directory containing the SDL dynamic libraries. This is useful
427 for commercial applications which ship with particular versions
428 of the libraries, and for security on multi-user systems.
429 If this function is not used, the default system directories are
430 searched using the native dynamic object loading mechanism.
432 In order to support C linkage under Visual C++, you must declare
433 main() without any return type:
434 main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
435 /* Do the program... */
438 C++ programs should also return a value if compiled under VC++.
440 The blit_endian member of the SDL_VideoInfo struct has been removed.
442 SDL_SymToASCII() has been replaced with SDL_GetKeyName(), so there
443 is now no longer any function to translate a keysym to a character.
445 The SDL_keysym structure has been extended with a 'scancode' and
446 'unicode' member. The 'scancode' is a hardware specific scancode
447 for the key that was pressed, and may be 0. The 'unicode' member
448 is a 16-bit UNICODE translation of the key that was pressed along
449 with any modifiers or compose keys that have been pressed.
450 If no UNICODE translation exists for the key, 'unicode' will be 0.
452 Added a function SDL_EnableUNICODE() to enable/disable UNICODE
453 translation of character keypresses. Translation defaults off.
455 To convert existing code to use the new API, change code which
456 uses SDL_SymToASCII() to get the keyname to use SDL_GetKeyName(),
457 and change code which uses it to get the ASCII value of a sym to
458 use the 'unicode' member of the event keysym.
461 There is partial support for 64-bit datatypes. I don't recommend
462 you use this if you have a choice, because 64-bit datatypes are not
463 supported on many platforms. On platforms for which it is supported,
464 the SDL_HAS_64BIT_TYPE C preprocessor define will be enabled, and
465 you can use the Uint64 and Sint64 datatypes.
467 Added functions to SDL_endian.h to support 64-bit datatypes:
468 SDL_SwapLE64(), SDL_SwapBE64(),
469 SDL_ReadLE64(), SDL_ReadBE64(), SDL_WriteLE64(), SDL_WriteBE64()
471 A new member "len_ratio" has been added to the SDL_AudioCVT structure,
472 and allows you to determine either the original buffer length or the
473 converted buffer length, given the other.
475 A new function SDL_FreeWAV() has been added to the API to free data
476 allocated by SDL_LoadWAV_RW(). This is necessary under Win32 since
477 the gcc compiled DLL uses a different heap than VC++ compiled apps.
479 SDL now has initial support for international keyboards using the
481 If a particular mapping is desired, you can set the DEFAULT_KEYBOARD
482 compile-time variable, or you can set the environment variable
483 "SDL_KEYBOARD" to a string identifying the keyboard mapping you desire.
484 The valid values for these variables can be found in SDL_keyboard.c
486 Full support for German and French keyboards under X11 is implemented.
489 The THREADED_EVENTS compile-time define has been replaced with the
490 SDL_INIT_EVENTTHREAD flag. If this flag is passed to SDL_Init(),
491 SDL will create a separate thread to perform input event handling.
492 If this flag is passed to SDL_Init(), and the OS doesn't support
493 event handling in a separate thread, SDL_Init() will fail.
494 Be sure to add calls to SDL_Delay() in your main thread to allow
495 the OS to schedule your event thread, or it may starve, leading
496 to slow event delivery and/or dropped events.
497 Currently MacOS and Win32 do not support this flag, while BeOS
498 and Linux do support it. I recommend that your application only
499 use this flag if absolutely necessary.
501 The SDL thread function passed to SDL_CreateThread() now returns a
502 status. This status can be retrieved by passing a non-NULL pointer
503 as the 'status' argument to SDL_WaitThread().
505 The volume parameter to SDL_MixAudio() has been increased in range
506 from (0-8) to (0-128)
508 SDL now has a data source abstraction which can encompass a file,
509 an area of memory, or any custom object you can envision. It uses
510 these abstractions, SDL_RWops, in the endian read/write functions,
511 and the built-in WAV and BMP file loaders. This means you can load
512 WAV chunks from memory mapped files, compressed archives, network
513 pipes, or anything else that has a data read abstraction.
515 There are three built-in data source abstractions:
516 SDL_RWFromFile(), SDL_RWFromFP(), SDL_RWFromMem()
517 along with a generic data source allocation function:
519 These data sources can be used like stdio file pointers with the
520 following convenience functions:
521 SDL_RWseek(), SDL_RWread(), SDL_RWwrite(), SDL_RWclose()
522 These functions are defined in the new header file "SDL_rwops.h"
524 The endian swapping functions have been turned into macros for speed
525 and SDL_CalculateEndian() has been removed. SDL_endian.h now defines
526 SDL_BYTEORDER as either SDL_BIG_ENDIAN or SDL_LIL_ENDIAN depending on
527 the endianness of the host system.
529 The endian read/write functions now take an SDL_RWops pointer
530 instead of a stdio FILE pointer, to support the new data source
533 The SDL_*LoadWAV() functions have been replaced with a single
534 SDL_LoadWAV_RW() function that takes a SDL_RWops pointer as it's
535 first parameter, and a flag whether or not to automatically
536 free it as the second parameter. SDL_LoadWAV() is a macro for
537 backward compatibility and convenience:
538 SDL_LoadWAV_RW(SDL_RWFromFile("sample.wav", "rb"), 1, ...);
540 The SDL_*LoadBMP()/SDL_*SaveBMP() functions have each been replaced
541 with a single function that takes a SDL_RWops pointer as it's
542 first parameter, and a flag whether or not to automatically
543 free it as the second parameter. SDL_LoadBMP() and SDL_SaveBMP()
544 are macros for backward compatibility and convenience:
545 SDL_LoadBMP_RW(SDL_RWFromFile("sample.bmp", "rb"), 1, ...);
546 SDL_SaveBMP_RW(SDL_RWFromFile("sample.bmp", "wb"), 1, ...);
547 Note that these functions use SDL_RWseek() extensively, and should
548 not be used on pipes or other non-seekable data sources.
551 The Linux SDL_SysWMInfo and SDL_SysWMMsg structures have been
552 extended to support multiple types of display drivers, as well as
553 safe access to the X11 display when THREADED_EVENTS is enabled.
554 The new structures are documented in the SDL_syswm.h header file.
556 Thanks to John Elliott <jce@seasip.demon.co.uk>, the UK keyboard
557 should now work properly, as well as the "Windows" keys on US
560 The Linux CD-ROM code now reads the CD-ROM devices from /etc/fstab
561 instead of trying to open each block device on the system.
562 The CD must be listed in /etc/fstab as using the iso9660 filesystem.
564 On Linux, if you define THREADED_EVENTS at compile time, a separate
565 thread will be spawned to gather X events asynchronously from the
566 graphics updates. This hasn't been extensively tested, but it does
567 provide a means of handling keyboard and mouse input in a separate
568 thread from the graphics thread. (This is now enabled by default.)
570 A special access function SDL_PeepEvents() allows you to manipulate
571 the event queue in a thread-safe manner, including peeking at events,
572 removing events of a specified type, and adding new events of arbitrary
573 type to the queue (use the new 'user' member of the SDL_Event type).
575 If you use SDL_PeepEvents() to gather events, then the main graphics
576 thread needs to call SDL_PumpEvents() periodically to drive the event
577 loop and generate input events. This is not necessary if SDL has been
578 compiled with THREADED_EVENTS defined, but doesn't hurt.
580 A new function SDL_ThreadID() returns the identifier associated with
584 The AUDIO_STEREO format flag has been replaced with a new 'channels'
585 member of the SDL_AudioSpec structure. The channels are 1 for mono
586 audio, and 2 for stereo audio. In the future more channels may be
587 supported for 3D surround sound.
589 The SDL_MixAudio() function now takes an additional volume parameter,
590 which should be set to SDL_MIX_MAXVOLUME for compatibility with the
593 The CD-ROM functions which take a 'cdrom' parameter can now be
594 passed NULL, and will act on the last successfully opened CD-ROM.
597 No changes, bugfixes only.
600 No changes, bugfixes only.
603 Added a fast rectangle fill function: SDL_FillRect()
605 Addition of a useful function for getting info on the video hardware:
606 const SDL_VideoInfo *SDL_GetVideoInfo(void)
607 This function replaces SDL_GetDisplayFormat().
609 Initial support for double-buffering:
610 Use the SDL_DOUBLEBUF flag in SDL_SetVideoMode()
611 Update the screen with a new function: SDL_Flip()
613 SDL_AllocSurface() takes two new flags:
614 SDL_SRCCOLORKEY means that the surface will be used for colorkey blits
615 and if the hardware supports hardware acceleration of colorkey blits
616 between two surfaces in video memory, to place the surface in video
617 memory if possible, otherwise it will be placed in system memory.
618 SDL_SRCALPHA means that the surface will be used for alpha blits and
619 if the hardware supports hardware acceleration of alpha blits between
620 two surfaces in video memory, to place the surface in video memory
621 if possible, otherwise it will be placed in system memory.
622 SDL_HWSURFACE now means that the surface will be created with the
623 same format as the display surface, since having surfaces in video
624 memory is only useful for fast blitting to the screen, and you can't
625 blit surfaces with different surface formats in video memory.
628 You can now pass a NULL mask to SDL_WM_SetIcon(), and it will assume
629 that the icon consists of the entire image.
631 SDL_LowerBlit() is back -- but don't use it on the display surface.
632 It is exactly the same as SDL_MiddleBlit(), but doesn't check for
635 Added SDL_FPLoadBMP(), SDL_FPSaveBMP(), SDL_FPLoadWAV(), which take
636 a FILE pointer instead of a file name.
638 Added CD-ROM audio control API:
652 No changes, bugfixes only.
655 Mouse motion event now includes relative motion information:
656 Sint16 event->motion.xrel, Sint16 event->motion.yrel
658 X11 keyrepeat handling can be disabled by defining IGNORE_X_KEYREPEAT
659 (Add -DIGNORE_X_KEYREPEAT to CFLAGS line in obj/x11Makefile)
662 No changes, bugfixes only.
665 Removed SDL_MapSurface() and SDL_UnmapSurface() -- surfaces are now
666 automatically mapped on blit.