SDL offers an API for examining and manipulating the system's filesystem. More...

Classes
struct	SDL::Path
	Convenience representation of a path under SDL. More...

struct	SDL::PathInfo
	Information about a path on the filesystem. More...

Typedefs
using	SDL::Folder = SDL_Folder
	The type of the OS-provided default folder for a specific purpose.

using	SDL::PathType = SDL_PathType
	Types of filesystem entries.

using	SDL::GlobFlags = Uint32
	Flags for path matching.

using	SDL::EnumerationResult = SDL_EnumerationResult
	Possible results from an enumeration callback.

using	SDL::EnumerateDirectoryCallback = SDL_EnumerateDirectoryCallback
	Callback for directory enumeration.

using	SDL::EnumerateDirectoryCB = std::function< EnumerationResult(const char dirname, const char fname)>
	Callback for directory enumeration.

Functions
const char *	SDL::GetBasePath ()
	Get the directory where the application was run from.

Path	SDL::GetPrefPath (StringParam org, StringParam app)
	Get the user-and-app-specific path where files can be written.

const char *	SDL::GetUserFolder (Folder folder)
	Finds the most suitable user folder for a specific purpose.

void	SDL::CreateDirectory (StringParam path)
	Create a directory, and any missing parent directories.

void	SDL::EnumerateDirectory (StringParam path, EnumerateDirectoryCallback callback, void *userdata)
	Enumerate a directory through a callback function.

void	SDL::EnumerateDirectory (StringParam path, EnumerateDirectoryCB callback)
	Enumerate a directory through a callback function.

std::vector< Path >	SDL::EnumerateDirectory (StringParam path)
	Enumerate a directory.

void	SDL::RemovePath (StringParam path)
	Remove a file or an empty directory.

void	SDL::RenamePath (StringParam oldpath, StringParam newpath)
	Rename a file or directory.

void	SDL::CopyFile (StringParam oldpath, StringParam newpath)
	Copy a file.

PathInfo	SDL::GetPathInfo (StringParam path)
	Get information about a filesystem path.

OwnArray< char * >	SDL::GlobDirectory (StringParam path, StringParam pattern, GlobFlags flags=0)
	Enumerate a directory tree, filtered by pattern, and return a list.

Path	SDL::GetCurrentDirectory ()
	Get what the system believes is the "current working directory.".

Variables
constexpr Folder	SDL::FOLDER_HOME = SDL_FOLDER_HOME
	The folder which contains all of the current user's data, preferences, and documents.

constexpr Folder	SDL::FOLDER_DESKTOP = SDL_FOLDER_DESKTOP
	The folder of files that are displayed on the desktop.

constexpr Folder	SDL::FOLDER_DOCUMENTS = SDL_FOLDER_DOCUMENTS
	User document files, possibly application-specific.

constexpr Folder	SDL::FOLDER_DOWNLOADS = SDL_FOLDER_DOWNLOADS
	Standard folder for user files downloaded from the internet.

constexpr Folder	SDL::FOLDER_MUSIC = SDL_FOLDER_MUSIC
	Music files that can be played using a standard music player (mp3, ogg...).

constexpr Folder	SDL::FOLDER_PICTURES = SDL_FOLDER_PICTURES
	Image files that can be displayed using a standard viewer (png, jpg...).

constexpr Folder	SDL::FOLDER_PUBLICSHARE = SDL_FOLDER_PUBLICSHARE
	Files that are meant to be shared with other users on the same computer.

constexpr Folder	SDL::FOLDER_SAVEDGAMES
	Save files for games.

constexpr Folder	SDL::FOLDER_SCREENSHOTS
	Application screenshots.

constexpr Folder	SDL::FOLDER_TEMPLATES = SDL_FOLDER_TEMPLATES
	Template files to be used when the user requests the desktop environment to create a new file in a certain folder, such as "New Text File.txt".

constexpr Folder	SDL::FOLDER_VIDEOS = SDL_FOLDER_VIDEOS
	Video files that can be played using a standard video player (mp4, webm...).

constexpr Folder	SDL::FOLDER_COUNT = SDL_FOLDER_COUNT
	Total number of types in this enum, not a folder type by itself.

constexpr PathType	SDL::PATHTYPE_NONE = SDL_PATHTYPE_NONE
	path does not exist

constexpr PathType	SDL::PATHTYPE_FILE = SDL_PATHTYPE_FILE
	a normal file

constexpr PathType	SDL::PATHTYPE_DIRECTORY = SDL_PATHTYPE_DIRECTORY
	a directory

constexpr PathType	SDL::PATHTYPE_OTHER = SDL_PATHTYPE_OTHER
	something completely different like a device node (not a symlink, those are always followed)

constexpr GlobFlags	SDL::GLOB_CASEINSENSITIVE
	CASEINSENSITIVE.

constexpr EnumerationResult	SDL::ENUM_CONTINUE
	Value that requests that enumeration continue.

constexpr EnumerationResult	SDL::ENUM_SUCCESS = SDL_ENUM_SUCCESS
	Value that requests that enumeration stop, successfully.

constexpr EnumerationResult	SDL::ENUM_FAILURE = SDL_ENUM_FAILURE
	Value that requests that enumeration stop, as a failure.

Detailed Description

This covers most things one would need to do with directories, except for actual file I/O (which is covered by [CategoryIOStream](CategoryIOStream) and [CategoryAsyncIO](CategoryAsyncIO) instead).

There are functions to answer necessary path questions:

Where is my app's data? GetBasePath().
Where can I safely write files? GetPrefPath().
Where are paths like Downloads, Desktop, Music? GetUserFolder().
What is this thing at this location? GetPathInfo().
What items live in this folder? EnumerateDirectory().
What items live in this folder by wildcard? GlobDirectory().
What is my current working directory? GetCurrentDirectory().

SDL also offers functions to manipulate the directory tree: renaming, removing, copying files.

Typedef Documentation

◆ EnumerateDirectoryCallback

using SDL::EnumerateDirectoryCallback = typedef SDL_EnumerateDirectoryCallback

Enumeration of directory entries will continue until either all entries have been provided to the callback, or the callback has requested a stop through its return value.

Returning ENUM_CONTINUE will let enumeration proceed, calling the callback with further entries. ENUM_SUCCESS and ENUM_FAILURE will terminate the enumeration early, and dictate the return value of the enumeration function itself.

dirname is guaranteed to end with a path separator ('\' on Windows, '/' on most other platforms).

Parameters

userdata	an app-controlled pointer that is passed to the callback.
dirname	the directory that is being enumerated.
fname	the next entry in the enumeration.

Returns: how the enumeration should proceed.

Since: This datatype is available since SDL 3.2.0.

See also: EnumerateDirectory

◆ EnumerateDirectoryCB

using SDL::EnumerateDirectoryCB = typedef std::function<EnumerationResult(const char* dirname, const char* fname)>

Enumeration of directory entries will continue until either all entries have been provided to the callback, or the callback has requested a stop through its return value.

Returning ENUM_CONTINUE will let enumeration proceed, calling the callback with further entries. ENUM_SUCCESS and ENUM_FAILURE will terminate the enumeration early, and dictate the return value of the enumeration function itself.

dirname is guaranteed to end with a path separator ('\' on Windows, '/' on most other platforms).

Parameters

dirname	the directory that is being enumerated.
fname	the next entry in the enumeration.

Returns: how the enumeration should proceed.

Since: This datatype is available since SDL 3.2.0.

See also: EnumerateDirectory

◆ EnumerationResult

using SDL::EnumerationResult = typedef SDL_EnumerationResult

Since: This enum is available since SDL 3.2.0.

See also: EnumerateDirectoryCallback

◆ Folder

using SDL::Folder = typedef SDL_Folder

Note that the Trash folder isn't included here, because trashing files usually involves extra OS-specific functionality to remember the file's original location.

The folders supported per platform are:

        | Windows | macOS/iOS | tvOS | Unix (XDG) | Haiku | Emscripten

--------— | ----— | ------— | -— | -------— | --— | -------— HOME | X | X | | X | X | X DESKTOP | X | X | | X | X | DOCUMENTS | X | X | | X | | DOWNLOADS | Vista+ | X | | X | | MUSIC | X | X | | X | | PICTURES | X | X | | X | | PUBLICSHARE | | X | | X | | SAVEDGAMES | Vista+ | | | | | SCREENSHOTS | Vista+ | | | | | TEMPLATES | X | X | | X | | VIDEOS | X | X* | | X | |

Note that on macOS/iOS, the Videos folder is called "Movies".

Since: This enum is available since SDL 3.2.0.

See also: GetUserFolder

◆ GlobFlags

using SDL::GlobFlags = typedef Uint32

Since: This datatype is available since SDL 3.2.0.

See also: GlobDirectory; StorageBase.GlobDirectory

◆ PathType

using SDL::PathType = typedef SDL_PathType

Note that there may be other sorts of items on a filesystem: devices, symlinks, named pipes, etc. They are currently reported as PATHTYPE_OTHER.

Since: This enum is available since SDL 3.2.0.

See also: PathInfo

Function Documentation

◆ CopyFile()

void SDL::CopyFile	(	StringParam	oldpath,
		StringParam	newpath
	)

inline

If the file at newpath already exists, it will be overwritten with the contents of the file at oldpath.

This function will block until the copy is complete, which might be a significant time for large files on slow disks. On some platforms, the copy can be handed off to the OS itself, but on others SDL might just open both paths, and read from one and write to the other.

Note that this is not an atomic operation! If something tries to read from newpath while the copy is in progress, it will see an incomplete copy of the data, and if the calling thread terminates (or the power goes out) during the copy, newpath's previous contents will be gone, replaced with an incomplete copy of the data. To avoid this risk, it is recommended that the app copy to a temporary file in the same directory as newpath, and if the copy is successful, use RenamePath() to replace newpath with the temporary file. This will ensure that reads of newpath will either see a complete copy of the data, or it will see the pre-copy state of newpath.

This function attempts to synchronize the newly-copied data to disk before returning, if the platform allows it, so that the renaming trick will not have a problem in a system crash or power failure, where the file could be renamed but the contents never made it from the system file cache to the physical disk.

If the copy fails for any reason, the state of newpath is undefined. It might be half a copy, it might be the untouched data of what was already there, or it might be a zero-byte file, etc.

Parameters

oldpath	the old path.
newpath	the new path.

Exceptions

Error on failure.

Since: This function is available since SDL 3.2.0.

◆ CreateDirectory()

void SDL::CreateDirectory ( StringParam path )

inline

This reports success if path already exists as a directory.

If parent directories are missing, it will also create them. Note that if this fails, it will not remove any parent directories it already made.

Parameters

path	the path of the directory to create.

Exceptions

Error on failure.

Since: This function is available since SDL 3.2.0.

◆ EnumerateDirectory() [1/3]

std::vector< Path > SDL::EnumerateDirectory ( StringParam path )

inline

Parameters

path	the path of the directory to enumerate.

Returns: all the directory contents.

Since: This function is available since SDL 3.2.0.

◆ EnumerateDirectory() [2/3]

void SDL::EnumerateDirectory	(	StringParam	path,
		EnumerateDirectoryCallback	callback,
		void *	userdata
	)

inline

This function provides every directory entry through an app-provided callback, called once for each directory entry, until all results have been provided or the callback returns either ENUM_SUCCESS or ENUM_FAILURE.

This will return false if there was a system problem in general, or if a callback returns ENUM_FAILURE. A successful return means a callback returned ENUM_SUCCESS to halt enumeration, or all directory entries were enumerated.

Parameters

path	the path of the directory to enumerate.
callback	a function that is called for each entry in the directory.
userdata	a pointer that is passed to `callback`.

Exceptions

Error on failure.

Since: This function is available since SDL 3.2.0.

◆ EnumerateDirectory() [3/3]

void SDL::EnumerateDirectory	(	StringParam	path,
		EnumerateDirectoryCB	callback
	)

inline

This function provides every directory entry through an app-provided callback, called once for each directory entry, until all results have been provided or the callback returns either ENUM_SUCCESS or ENUM_FAILURE.

This will return false if there was a system problem in general, or if a callback returns ENUM_FAILURE. A successful return means a callback returned ENUM_SUCCESS to halt enumeration, or all directory entries were enumerated.

Parameters

path	the path of the directory to enumerate.
callback	a function that is called for each entry in the directory.

Exceptions

Error on failure.

Since: This function is available since SDL 3.2.0.

◆ GetBasePath()

const char * SDL::GetBasePath ( )

inline

SDL caches the result of this call internally, but the first call to this function is not necessarily fast, so plan accordingly.

macOS and iOS Specific Functionality: If the application is in a ".app" bundle, this function returns the Resource directory (e.g. MyApp.app/Contents/Resources/). This behaviour can be overridden by adding a property to the Info.plist file. Adding a string key with the name SDL_FILESYSTEM_BASE_DIR_TYPE with a supported value will change the behaviour.

Supported values for the SDL_FILESYSTEM_BASE_DIR_TYPE property (Given an application in /Applications/SDLApp/MyApp.app):

resource: bundle resource directory (the default). For example: /Applications/SDLApp/MyApp.app/Contents/Resources
bundle: the Bundle directory. For example: /Applications/SDLApp/MyApp.app/
parent: the containing directory of the bundle. For example: /Applications/SDLApp/

Nintendo 3DS Specific Functionality: This function returns "romfs" directory of the application as it is uncommon to store resources outside the executable. As such it is not a writable directory.

The returned path is guaranteed to end with a path separator ('\' on Windows, '/' on most other platforms).

Returns: an absolute path in UTF-8 encoding to the application data directory. nullptr will be returned on error or when the platform doesn't implement this functionality, call GetError() for more information.

Since: This function is available since SDL 3.2.0.

See also: GetPrefPath

◆ GetCurrentDirectory()

Path SDL::GetCurrentDirectory ( )

inline

For systems without a concept of a current working directory, this will still attempt to provide something reasonable.

SDL does not provide a means to change the current working directory; for platforms without this concept, this would cause surprises with file access outside of SDL.

The returned path is guaranteed to end with a path separator ('\' on Windows, '/' on most other platforms).

Returns: a UTF-8 string of the current working directory in platform-dependent notation. nullptr if there's a problem. This should be freed with free() when it is no longer needed.

Since: This function is available since SDL 3.2.0.

◆ GetPathInfo()

PathInfo SDL::GetPathInfo ( StringParam path )

inline

Parameters

path	the path to query.

Returns: the information about the path on success.

Exceptions

Error on failure.

Since: This function is available since SDL 3.2.0.

◆ GetPrefPath()

Path SDL::GetPrefPath	(	StringParam	org,
		StringParam	app
	)

inline

Get the "pref dir". This is meant to be where users can write personal files (preferences and save games, etc) that are specific to your application. This directory is unique per user, per application.

This function will decide the appropriate location in the native filesystem, create the directory if necessary, and return a string of the absolute path to the directory in UTF-8 encoding.

On Windows, the string might look like:

C:\@Users\@bob\@AppData\@Roaming\@My Company\@My Program Name\\

On Linux, the string might look like:

/home/bob/.local/share/My Program Name/

On macOS, the string might look like:

/Users/bob/Library/Application Support/My Program Name/

You should assume the path returned by this function is the only safe place to write files (and that GetBasePath(), while it might be writable, or even the parent of the returned path, isn't where you should be writing things).

Both the org and app strings may become part of a directory name, so please follow these rules:

Try to use the same org string (including case-sensitivity) for all your applications that use this function.
Always use a unique app string for each one, and make sure it never changes for an app once you've decided on it.
Unicode characters are legal, as long as they are UTF-8 encoded, but...
...only use letters, numbers, and spaces. Avoid punctuation like "Game Name 2: Bad Guy's Revenge!" ... "Game Name 2" is sufficient.

The returned path is guaranteed to end with a path separator ('\' on Windows, '/' on most other platforms).

Parameters

org	the name of your organization.
app	the name of your application.

Returns: a UTF-8 string of the user directory in platform-dependent notation. nullptr if there's a problem (creating directory failed, etc.). This should be freed with free() when it is no longer needed.

Since: This function is available since SDL 3.2.0.

See also: GetBasePath

◆ GetUserFolder()

const char * SDL::GetUserFolder ( Folder folder )

inline

Many OSes provide certain standard folders for certain purposes, such as storing pictures, music or videos for a certain user. This function gives the path for many of those special locations.

This function is specifically for user folders, which are meant for the user to access and manage. For application-specific folders, meant to hold data for the application to manage, see GetBasePath() and GetPrefPath().

The returned path is guaranteed to end with a path separator ('\' on Windows, '/' on most other platforms).

If nullptr is returned, the error may be obtained with GetError().

Parameters

folder the type of folder to find.

Returns: either a null-terminated C string containing the full path to the folder, or nullptr if an error happened.

Since: This function is available since SDL 3.2.0.

◆ GlobDirectory()

OwnArray< char * > SDL::GlobDirectory	(	StringParam	path,
		StringParam	pattern,
		GlobFlags	flags = `0`
	)

inline

Files are filtered out if they don't match the string in pattern, which may contain wildcard characters '*' (match everything) and '?' (match one character). If pattern is nullptr, no filtering is done and all results are returned. Subdirectories are permitted, and are specified with a path separator of '/'. Wildcard characters '*' and '?' never match a path separator.

flags may be set to GLOB_CASEINSENSITIVE to make the pattern matching case-insensitive.

The returned array is always nullptr-terminated, for your iterating convenience, but if count is non-nullptr, on return it will contain the number of items in the array, not counting the nullptr terminator.

Parameters

path	the path of the directory to enumerate.
pattern	the pattern that files in the directory must match. Can be nullptr.
flags	`SDL_GLOB_*` bitflags that affect this search.

Returns: an array of strings on success.

Exceptions

Error on failure.

Thread safety:: It is safe to call this function from any thread.

Since: This function is available since SDL 3.2.0.

◆ RemovePath()

void SDL::RemovePath ( StringParam path )

inline

Directories that are not empty will fail; this function will not recursively delete directory trees.

Parameters

path	the path to remove from the filesystem.

Exceptions

Error on failure.

Since: This function is available since SDL 3.2.0.

◆ RenamePath()

void SDL::RenamePath	(	StringParam	oldpath,
		StringParam	newpath
	)

inline

If the file at newpath already exists, it will replaced.

Note that this will not copy files across filesystems/drives/volumes, as that is a much more complicated (and possibly time-consuming) operation.

Which is to say, if this function fails, CopyFile() to a temporary file in the same directory as newpath, then RenamePath() from the temporary file to newpath and RemovePath() on oldpath might work for files. Renaming a non-empty directory across filesystems is dramatically more complex, however.

Parameters

oldpath	the old path.
newpath	the new path.

Exceptions

Error on failure.

Since: This function is available since SDL 3.2.0.

Variable Documentation

◆ ENUM_CONTINUE

constexpr EnumerationResult SDL::ENUM_CONTINUE

constexpr

Initial value:

=

SDL_ENUM_CONTINUE

◆ FOLDER_DESKTOP

constexpr Folder SDL::FOLDER_DESKTOP = SDL_FOLDER_DESKTOP

constexpr

Note that the existence of a desktop folder does not guarantee that the system does show icons on its desktop; certain GNU/Linux distros with a graphical environment may not have desktop icons.

◆ FOLDER_DOCUMENTS

constexpr Folder SDL::FOLDER_DOCUMENTS = SDL_FOLDER_DOCUMENTS

constexpr

This is a good place to save a user's projects.

◆ FOLDER_HOME

constexpr Folder SDL::FOLDER_HOME = SDL_FOLDER_HOME

constexpr

It usually contains most of the other folders. If a requested folder does not exist, the home folder can be considered a safe fallback to store a user's documents.

◆ FOLDER_SAVEDGAMES

constexpr Folder SDL::FOLDER_SAVEDGAMES

constexpr

Initial value:

=

SDL_FOLDER_SAVEDGAMES

◆ FOLDER_SCREENSHOTS

constexpr Folder SDL::FOLDER_SCREENSHOTS

constexpr

Initial value:

=

SDL_FOLDER_SCREENSHOTS

◆ FOLDER_TEMPLATES

constexpr Folder SDL::FOLDER_TEMPLATES = SDL_FOLDER_TEMPLATES

constexpr

Any file in the Templates folder can be used as a starting point for a new file.

◆ GLOB_CASEINSENSITIVE

constexpr GlobFlags SDL::GLOB_CASEINSENSITIVE

constexpr

Initial value:

=

SDL_GLOB_CASEINSENSITIVE

Classes

Typedefs

Functions

Variables

Detailed Description

Typedef Documentation

◆ EnumerateDirectoryCallback

◆ EnumerateDirectoryCB

◆ EnumerationResult

◆ Folder

◆ GlobFlags

◆ PathType

Function Documentation

◆ CopyFile()

◆ CreateDirectory()

◆ EnumerateDirectory() [1/3]

◆ EnumerateDirectory() [2/3]

◆ EnumerateDirectory() [3/3]

◆ GetBasePath()

◆ GetCurrentDirectory()

◆ GetPathInfo()

◆ GetPrefPath()

◆ GetUserFolder()

◆ GlobDirectory()

◆ RemovePath()

◆ RenamePath()

Variable Documentation

◆ ENUM_CONTINUE

◆ FOLDER_DESKTOP

◆ FOLDER_DOCUMENTS

◆ FOLDER_HOME

◆ FOLDER_SAVEDGAMES

◆ FOLDER_SCREENSHOTS

◆ FOLDER_TEMPLATES

◆ GLOB_CASEINSENSITIVE