(This is the documentation for SDL3, which is the current stable version. SDL2 was the previous version!)

SDL_SetAppMetadataProperty

Specify metadata about your app through a set of properties.

Header File

Syntax

bool SDL_SetAppMetadataProperty(const char *name, const char *value);

Function Parameters

const char *	name	the name of the metadata property to set.
const char *	value	the value of the property, or NULL to remove that property.

Return Value

(bool) Returns true on success or false on failure; call SDL_GetError() for more information.

Remarks

You can optionally provide metadata about your app to SDL. This is not required, but strongly encouraged.

There are several locations where SDL can make use of metadata (an "About" box in the macOS menu bar, the name of the app can be shown on some audio mixers, etc). Any piece of metadata can be left out, if a specific detail doesn't make sense for the app.

This function should be called as early as possible, before SDL_Init. Multiple calls to this function are allowed, but various state might not change once it has been set up with a previous call to this function.

Once set, this metadata can be read using SDL_GetMetadataProperty().

These are the supported properties:

SDL_PROP_APP_METADATA_NAME_STRING: The human-readable name of the application, like "My Game 2: Bad Guy's Revenge!". This will show up anywhere the OS shows the name of the application separately from window titles, such as volume control applets, etc. This defaults to "SDL Application".
SDL_PROP_APP_METADATA_VERSION_STRING: The version of the app that is running; there are no rules on format, so "1.0.3beta2" and "April 22nd, 2024" and a git hash are all valid options. This has no default.
SDL_PROP_APP_METADATA_IDENTIFIER_STRING: A unique string that identifies this app. This must be in reverse-domain format, like "com.example.mygame2". This string is used by desktop compositors to identify and group windows together, as well as match applications with associated desktop settings and icons. If you plan to package your application in a container such as Flatpak, the app ID should match the name of your Flatpak container as well. This has no default.
SDL_PROP_APP_METADATA_CREATOR_STRING: The human-readable name of the creator/developer/maker of this app, like "MojoWorkshop, LLC"
SDL_PROP_APP_METADATA_COPYRIGHT_STRING: The human-readable copyright notice, like "Copyright (c) 2024 MojoWorkshop, LLC" or whatnot. Keep this to one line, don't paste a copy of a whole software license in here. This has no default.
SDL_PROP_APP_METADATA_URL_STRING: A URL to the app on the web. Maybe a product page, or a storefront, or even a GitHub repository, for user's further information This has no default.
SDL_PROP_APP_METADATA_TYPE_STRING: The type of application this is. Currently this string can be "game" for a video game, "mediaplayer" for a media player, or generically "application" if nothing else applies. Future versions of SDL might add new types. This defaults to "application".

Thread Safety

It is safe to call this function from any thread.

Version

This function is available since SDL 3.1.3.