SDL_GetPointerProperty(3)

✨ SDL_GetPointerProperty(3) ✨

okay bestie, welcome to the SDL3 FUNCTIONS section of the manual, and today's main character is SDL_GetPointerProperty 💅 she's a little function that goes digging through a pile of properties and pulls out a pointer for you. no cap.

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🌸 NAME 🌸

SDL_GetPointerProperty — get a pointer property out of a whole group of properties. yes, a group. she's not picking one lonely property, she's scanning the whole friend group 🫶

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🎀 SYNOPSIS 🎀

#include <SDL3/SDL_properties.h>

void * SDL_GetPointerProperty(SDL_PropertiesID props, const char *name, void *default_value);

look at her. iconic. three args, one pointer, zero drama ✨

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🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

so, by convention (and conventions are just ~vibes with consequences~), the names of properties that SDL exposes on objects start with "SDL." — like, that's the public-facing aesthetic, that's the main character energy 👑

and the properties SDL uses internally start with "SDL.internal." — those ones are the backstage crew, the stagehands, the ones you do NOT talk to 🙈

both of those groups should be considered read-only and should not be modified by applications. fr fr. hands off, bestie. don't touch the internals. that's not your business, that's not my business, that's nobody's business 💀

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💖 FUNCTION PARAMETERS 💖

• props — the properties to query. this is the group chat you're scrolling through 🔍
• name — the name of the property you're looking for. this is the @ mention, the name tag, the "hey you" 🌈
• default_value — the default value of the property. this is the outfit she wears if she can't find anything better. the fallback fit 🎀

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⭐ RETURN VALUE ⭐

she returns the value of the property 🫶

OR, if it is not set, or it's not a pointer property, she hands you back default_value instead. no crumbs, no drama, just the backup plan 💅

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🔥 THREAD SAFETY 🔥

okay so it is safe to call this function from any thread 🌈 — go off, queen, multithread away.

BUT. (there's always a but, isn't there 😭) the data returned is not protected, and it could potentially be freed if you call SDL_SetPointerProperty() or SDL_ClearProperty() on these properties from another thread. like, she handed you the pointer and somebody else yanked the rug. 💀

if you need to avoid this, use SDL_LockProperties() and SDL_UnlockProperties(). lock it down, babe 🔒

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💜 AVAILABILITY 💜

this function is available since SDL 3.2.0. she's not new-new, but she's not ancient either. a queen in her prime ✨

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🧚 SEE ALSO 🧚

• SDL_GetBooleanProperty(3)
• SDL_GetFloatProperty(3)
• SDL_GetNumberProperty(3)
• SDL_GetPropertyType(3)
• SDL_GetStringProperty(3)
• SDL_HasProperty(3)
• SDL_SetPointerProperty(3)

the whole squad 🫶 go read them too, iykyk 💖

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and that's the tea, bestie 🍓 this has been brought to you by Simple Directmedia Layer, version SDL 3.4.18 (no date on the tin, but honestly? timeless 👑). stay hydrated, lock your properties, and don't modify the "SDL.internal." ones. periodt 💅✨