Documentation

Displays a dialog that lets the user select a file on their filesystem.

This is an asynchronous function; it will return immediately, and the result will be passed to the callback.

The callback will be invoked with a null-terminated list of files the user chose. The list will be empty if the user canceled the dialog, and it will be NULL if an error occurred.

Note that the callback may be called from a different thread than the one the function was invoked on.

Depending on the platform, the user may be allowed to input paths that don't yet exist.

On Linux, dialogs may require XDG Portals, which requires DBus, which requires an event-handling loop. Apps that do not use SDL to handle events should add a call to SDL_PumpEvents in their main loop.

callback

a function pointer to be invoked when the user selects a file and accepts, or cancels the dialog, or an error occurs.

userdata

an optional pointer to pass extra data to the callback when it will be invoked.

window

the window that the dialog should be modal for, may be NULL. Not all platforms support this option.

filters

a list of filters, may be NULL. See the SDL_DialogFileFilter documentation for examples]. Not all platforms support this option, and platforms that do support it may allow the user to ignore the filters. If non-NULL, it must remain valid at least until the callback is invoked.

nfilters

the number of filters. Ignored if filters is NULL.

default_location

the default folder or file to start the dialog at, may be NULL. Not all platforms support this option.

allow_many

if non-zero, the user will be allowed to select multiple entries. Not all platforms support this option.

Thread safety

This function should be called only from the main thread. The callback may be invoked from the same thread or from a different one, depending on the OS's constraints.

See also

SDL_DialogFileCallback, SDL_DialogFileFilter, sDL_ShowSaveFileDialog, sDL_ShowOpenFolderDialog, sDL_ShowFileDialogWithProperties

C declaration

SDL_ShowOpenFileDialog, defined at SDL3/SDL_dialog.h 166:34

Since: 3.2.0

Displays a dialog that lets the user choose a new or existing file on their filesystem.

This is an asynchronous function; it will return immediately, and the result will be passed to the callback.

The callback will be invoked with a null-terminated list of files the user chose. The list will be empty if the user canceled the dialog, and it will be NULL if an error occurred.

Note that the callback may be called from a different thread than the one the function was invoked on.

The chosen file may or may not already exist.

On Linux, dialogs may require XDG Portals, which requires DBus, which requires an event-handling loop. Apps that do not use SDL to handle events should add a call to SDL_PumpEvents in their main loop.

callback

a function pointer to be invoked when the user selects a file and accepts, or cancels the dialog, or an error occurs.

userdata

an optional pointer to pass extra data to the callback when it will be invoked.

window

the window that the dialog should be modal for, may be NULL. Not all platforms support this option.

filters

a list of filters, may be NULL. Not all platforms support this option, and platforms that do support it may allow the user to ignore the filters. If non-NULL, it must remain valid at least until the callback is invoked.

nfilters

the number of filters. Ignored if filters is NULL.

default_location

the default folder or file to start the dialog at, may be NULL. Not all platforms support this option.

Thread safety

This function should be called only from the main thread. The callback may be invoked from the same thread or from a different one, depending on the OS's constraints.

See also

SDL_DialogFileCallback, SDL_DialogFileFilter, sDL_ShowOpenFileDialog, sDL_ShowOpenFolderDialog, sDL_ShowFileDialogWithProperties

C declaration

SDL_ShowSaveFileDialog, defined at SDL3/SDL_dialog.h 215:34

Since: 3.2.0

Displays a dialog that lets the user select a folder on their filesystem.

This is an asynchronous function; it will return immediately, and the result will be passed to the callback.

The callback will be invoked with a null-terminated list of files the user chose. The list will be empty if the user canceled the dialog, and it will be NULL if an error occurred.

Note that the callback may be called from a different thread than the one the function was invoked on.

Depending on the platform, the user may be allowed to input paths that don't yet exist.

On Linux, dialogs may require XDG Portals, which requires DBus, which requires an event-handling loop. Apps that do not use SDL to handle events should add a call to SDL_PumpEvents in their main loop.

callback

a function pointer to be invoked when the user selects a file and accepts, or cancels the dialog, or an error occurs.

userdata

an optional pointer to pass extra data to the callback when it will be invoked.

window

the window that the dialog should be modal for, may be NULL. Not all platforms support this option.

default_location

the default folder or file to start the dialog at, may be NULL. Not all platforms support this option.

allow_many

if non-zero, the user will be allowed to select multiple entries. Not all platforms support this option.

Thread safety

This function should be called only from the main thread. The callback may be invoked from the same thread or from a different one, depending on the OS's constraints.

See also

SDL_DialogFileCallback, sDL_ShowOpenFileDialog, sDL_ShowSaveFileDialog, sDL_ShowFileDialogWithProperties

C declaration

SDL_ShowOpenFolderDialog, defined at SDL3/SDL_dialog.h 260:34

Since: 3.2.0

Create and launch a file dialog with the specified properties.

These are the supported properties:

• sDL_PROP_FILE_DIALOG_FILTERS_POINTER: a pointer to a list of SDL_DialogFileFilter structs, which will be used as filters for file-based selections. Ignored if the dialog is an "Open Folder" dialog. If non-NULL, the array of filters must remain valid at least until the callback is invoked.
• sDL_PROP_FILE_DIALOG_NFILTERS_NUMBER: the number of filters in the array of filters, if it exists.
• sDL_PROP_FILE_DIALOG_WINDOW_POINTER: the window that the dialog should be modal for.
• sDL_PROP_FILE_DIALOG_LOCATION_STRING: the default folder or file to start the dialog at.
• sDL_PROP_FILE_DIALOG_MANY_BOOLEAN: true to allow the user to select more than one entry.
• sDL_PROP_FILE_DIALOG_TITLE_STRING: the title for the dialog.
• sDL_PROP_FILE_DIALOG_ACCEPT_STRING: the label that the accept button should have.
• sDL_PROP_FILE_DIALOG_CANCEL_STRING: the label that the cancel button should have.

Note that each platform may or may not support any of the properties.

type

the type of file dialog.

callback

a function pointer to be invoked when the user selects a file and accepts, or cancels the dialog, or an error occurs.

userdata

an optional pointer to pass extra data to the callback when it will be invoked.

props

the properties to use.

Thread safety

This function should be called only from the main thread. The callback may be invoked from the same thread or from a different one, depending on the OS's constraints.

See also

SDL_FileDialogType, SDL_DialogFileCallback, SDL_DialogFileFilter, sDL_ShowOpenFileDialog, sDL_ShowSaveFileDialog, sDL_ShowOpenFolderDialog

C declaration

SDL_ShowFileDialogWithProperties, defined at SDL3/SDL_dialog.h 326:34

Since: 3.2.0