poll_joystick(3)

💖 poll_joystick(3) 💖

okay bestie, gather round, because we're talking about poll_joystick from the Allegro game programming library, manual section 3, and it's honestly giving "tiny function, huge responsibility." 🎀

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✨ NAME ✨

poll_joystick — she polls the joystick. that's it, that's the job. part of the Allegro game programming library. 💅

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

#include <allegro.h>

int poll_joystick();

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🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

so here's the tea, and it's important: the joystick handler is not interrupt driven. meaning nobody's out here updating your stuff behind the scenes while you vibe. nope. you have to call this function every now and again, yourself, to update the global position values. it's giving "you want the data? come get the data." 😭

like, think of it as checking your phone. the messages don't just appear in your brain. you have to open the app. poll_joystick() is opening the app. 🫶

example, bestie:

   do {
      /* Get joystick input */
      poll_joystick();

      /* Process input for the first joystick */
      if (joy[0].button[0].b)
         first_button_pressed();

      if (joy[0].button[1].b)
         second_button_pressed();
      ...
   } while(!done);

see how she's sitting inside the loop? that's the whole point. call her, check your buttons, loop, repeat. main character energy honestly. 👑

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⭐ RETURN VALUE ⭐

• returns zero on success 💚
• returns a negative number on failure — and ngl, that failure is usually because no joystick driver was installed. so if you're getting a negative back, check that first, bestie, don't come for the function. 💀

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🔥 SEE ALSO 🔥

• install_joystick(3)
• joy(3)
• num_joysticks(3)
• exjoy(3)

go read those too, fr fr, they're the rest of the joystick lore. 📚✨

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Allegro, version 4.4.3 🎀 that's the source and the version, periodt. stay slay, poll your joysticks responsibly, and remember: no polling, no gameplay. 💖🌈🦋