enable_hardware_cursor(3)

✨ enable_hardware_cursor ✨

okay bestie, so this is a page from the Allegro manual — Allegro being the iconic lil game programming library — and today's main character is enable_hardware_cursor, a function from section 3 of the manual (the library calls section, iykyk). it's giving "let the OS do it instead" energy and honestly? we're obsessed 🫶

🌸 NAME 🌸

enable_hardware_cursor — enables the OS hardware cursor. literally that's the whole job. and yeah, she lives in the Allegro game programming library 💅

🎀 SYNOPSIS 🎀

#include <allegro.h>

void enable_hardware_cursor(void);

no arguments, no return value, just vibes ✨

💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

so here's the tea ☕: the moment you call this function, Allegro will let the operating system draw the mouse cursor instead of doing it itself. she's handing off the whole cursor situation to the OS. main character move, honestly.

BUT. and this is a big but, bestie 😭 — this is not possible with all graphics drivers. like, not every driver is gonna cooperate. so what you have to do is check the gfx_capabilities flags after calling show_mouse() to see if it actually worked. that's your vibe check. do not skip it. fr fr.

and now for the warning that lowkey hurts my feelings 💀:

on some platforms, enabling the hardware cursor causes get_mouse_mickeys() to return only a limited range of values. so you should not call this function if you need mouse mickeys. periodt.

like if mickeys are your whole thing, this function is NOT the one. walk away. she's not for you 🙈

🦋 SEE ALSO 🦋

your little recommended-reading rotation, go off 👑

• install_mouse(3)
• show_mouse(3)
• set_mouse_sprite(3)
• get_mouse_mickeys(3)
• gfx_capabilities(3)
• disable_hardware_cursor(3)
• show_os_cursor(3)
• exsyscur(3)

and that's the whole page, bestie 💜 this lil slice of the Allegro manual is brought to you by Allegro version 4.4.3, dated right there alongside the title like the little signature it is. mwah, stan, go draw some cursors 💅✨🎀