(This is the documentation for SDL3, which is under heavy development and the API is changing! SDL2 is the current stable version!)

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SDL_GetKeyboardState

Get a snapshot of the current state of the keyboard.

Header File

Syntax

const Uint8* SDL_GetKeyboardState(int *numkeys);

Function Parameters

numkeys

if non-NULL, receives the length of the returned array

Return Value

Returns a pointer to an array of key states.

Remarks

The pointer returned is a pointer to an internal SDL array. It will be valid for the whole lifetime of the application and should not be freed by the caller.

A array element with a value of 1 means that the key is pressed and a value of 0 means that it is not. Indexes into this array are obtained by using SDL_Scancode values.

Use SDL_PumpEvents() to update the state array.

This function gives you the current state after all events have been processed, so if a key or button has been pressed and released before you process events, then the pressed state will never show up in the SDL_GetKeyboardState() calls.

Note: This function doesn't take into account whether shift has been pressed or not.

Version

This function is available since SDL 3.0.0.

Code Examples

const Uint8 *state = SDL_GetKeyboardState(NULL);
if (state[SDL_SCANCODE_RETURN]) {
    printf("<RETURN> is pressed.\n");
}
if (state[SDL_SCANCODE_RIGHT] && state[SDL_SCANCODE_UP]) {
    printf("Right and Up Keys Pressed.\n");
}