SDL_OpenAudioDeviceStream(3)

📦
version 3.4.18 · 9 versions
, in fedora 43, fedora 44

🎧 SDL_OpenAudioDeviceStream 💖

okay bestie, we're doing SDL_OpenAudioDeviceStream(3) today — it lives in the SDL3 FUNCTIONS fam and it is literally the "one call and you're done" audio girlie. no cap. 🫶

✨ NAME ✨

SDL_OpenAudioDeviceStream — the convenience function for straightforward audio init for the common case. it's giving "i don't want to do eight setup steps, i want to do one." 💅

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

#include <SDL3/SDL_audio.h>

SDL_AudioStream * SDL_OpenAudioDeviceStream(SDL_AudioDeviceID devid, const SDL_AudioSpec *spec, SDL_AudioStreamCallback callback, void *userdata);

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

so like, if all your app wants to do is provide a single source of PCM audio? this function lets you do all your audio setup in a single call. one call. that's the whole vibe. iconic.

this is also intended to be a clean means to migrate apps from SDL2. glow-up arc fr fr. 🌈

here's the tea: this function will open an audio device, create a stream, and bind it. and unlike other methods of setup, the audio device gets closed when this stream is destroyed — so your app can treat the returned SDL_AudioStream as the only object needed to manage audio playback. main character stream energy, honestly. 👑

also unlike other functions, the audio device begins paused. why? because it maps more closely to SDL2-style behavior, since there's no extra step here to bind a stream and begin audio flowing. so you gotta resume that device with SDL_ResumeAudioStreamDevice(). don't forget, bestie, or you'll be sitting there like "why is it silent 😭".

this function works with both playback and recording devices. versatile queen. ✨

the spec parameter represents the app's side of the audio stream. that is — for recording audio, this will be the output format, and for playing audio, this will be the input format. and if spec is NULL, the system will choose the format, and the app can use SDL_GetAudioStreamFormat() to obtain this information later. so you're never left guessing. 🎀

if you don't care about opening a specific audio device, you can (and probably _should_) use SDL_AUDIO_DEVICE_DEFAULT_PLAYBACK for playback and SDL_AUDIO_DEVICE_DEFAULT_RECORDING for recording. like, just let the system cook. 🍓

you can optionally provide a callback function. if it's NULL, the app is expected to queue audio data for playback (or unqueue audio data if capturing). otherwise, the callback will begin to fire once the device is unpaused. ⭐

and one more thing for the notes app: destroying the returned stream with SDL_DestroyAudioStream will also close the audio device associated with this stream. it's a package deal, and honestly? slay. 💜

💅 FUNCTION PARAMETERS 💅

  • devid — an audio device to open, or SDL_AUDIO_DEVICE_DEFAULT_PLAYBACK or SDL_AUDIO_DEVICE_DEFAULT_RECORDING. pick your fighter. 🎯
  • spec — the audio stream's data format. can be NULL. (and if it is, the system picks, remember?)
  • callback — a callback where the app will provide new data for playback, or receive new data for recording. can be NULL, in which case the app will need to call SDL_PutAudioStreamData or SDL_GetAudioStreamData as necessary. your call, babe. 🫶
  • userdata — app-controlled pointer passed to callback. can be NULL. ignored if callback is NULL. yes, literally ignored. it's not even in the group chat at that point. 🙈

🔥 RETURN VALUE 🔥

returns an audio stream on success, ready to use 🎉 — or NULL on failure, in which case you call SDL_GetError() for more information. when you're done with this stream, call SDL_DestroyAudioStream to free resources and close the device. cleanup is self-care, periodt. 🧚

🌟 THREAD SAFETY 🌟

it is safe to call this function from any thread. multitasking icon behavior. no notes. 💯

🌈 AVAILABILITY 🌈

this function is available since SDL 3.2.0. so if you're on something older... bestie, upgrade. 😭

👑 SEE ALSO 👑

okay that's the whole page, you ate it up 💖 big thank you to Simple Directmedia Layer for bringing us this one, this is the SDL 3.4.18 era of the docs, and yeah — that's SDL_OpenAudioDeviceStream(3), iykyk. go open a stream, resume the device, and make some noise. bye bestieee 🎀🦋✨

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