exupdate(3)

💖 exupdate(3) 💖

okay so bestie, welcome to the Allegro manual, and today's main character is exupdate — a lil example program that's honestly giving "I contain multitudes" energy. ✨

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

#include <allegro.h>

Example exupdate

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

So here's the vibe. This program is a whole demo of how to support double buffering, page flipping, and triple buffering as options — all inside a single program. Yes, one program, multiple update methods, no chaos (okay, maybe a little chaos, but the good kind 💅).

And it also shows you how to make things run at a constant rate no matter what the speed of your computer is. Frame rate said "I don't care how fast your machine is, we're keeping it consistent" — periodt.

⚠️ Real talk though: you have to run this example from the command line, and you have to pass a number as the first parameter. That number is the type of video update you want:

1. 1 — double buffering with memory bitmaps
2. 2 — page flipping
3. 3 — triple buffering
4. 4 — double buffering with system bitmaps

After that, a dialog pops up so you can select a screen resolution 🌈. And then — the payoff — you get a kaleidoscopic animation, with a frames per second counter chilling in the top left of the screen. It's giving screensaver but make it ✨art✨.

👑 SEE ALSO 👑

The whole friend group, alphabetically (and also not, but whatever, here they all are):

• BITMAP(3)
• END_OF_FUNCTION(3)
• END_OF_MAIN(3)
• LOCK_FUNCTION(3)
• LOCK_VARIABLE(3)
• PALETTE(3)
• SCREEN_H(3)
• SCREEN_W(3)
• acquire_bitmap(3)
• allegro_error(3)
• allegro_init(3)
• allegro_message(3)
• bitmap_color_depth(3)
• blit(3)
• clear_bitmap(3)
• create_bitmap(3)
• create_system_bitmap(3)
• create_video_bitmap(3)
• desktop_palette(3)
• destroy_bitmap(3)
• enable_triple_buffer(3)
• fixcos(3)
• fixed(3)
• fixmul(3)
• fixsin(3)
• fixtoi(3)
• font(3)
• ftofix(3)
• generate_332_palette(3)
• gfx_capabilities(3)
• gfx_mode_select_ex(3)
• install_int_ex(3)
• install_keyboard(3)
• install_mouse(3)
• install_timer(3)
• keypressed(3)
• line(3)
• makecol(3)
• poll_scroll(3)
• release_bitmap(3)
• request_video_bitmap(3)
• screen(3)
• set_color_depth(3)
• set_gfx_mode(3)
• set_palette(3)
• show_video_bitmap(3)
• textout_ex(3)
• textprintf_ex(3)
• triangle(3)
• vsync(3)
• xor_mode(3)

and that's the whole page, bestie 🫶 go forth and buffer responsibly 💖

this iconic little page comes to you from Allegro, version 4.4.3, dated exupdate(3) — mwah, no notes, stan forever 🎀✨