###### (This is the documentation for SDL3, which is the current stable version. [SDL2](https://wiki.libsdl.org/SDL2/) was the previous version!) # SDL_hid_write Write an Output report to a HID device. ## Header File Defined in [](https://github.com/libsdl-org/SDL/blob/main/include/SDL3/SDL_hidapi.h) ## Syntax ```c int SDL_hid_write(SDL_hid_device *dev, const unsigned char *data, size_t length); ``` ## Function Parameters | | | | | ---------------------------------- | ---------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------- | | [SDL_hid_device](SDL_hid_device) * | **dev** | a device handle returned from [SDL_hid_open](SDL_hid_open)(). | | const unsigned char * | **data** | the data to send, including the report number as the first byte. | | size_t | **length** | the length in bytes of the data to send. | ## Return Value (int) Returns the actual number of bytes written and -1 on on failure; call [SDL_GetError](SDL_GetError)() for more information. ## Remarks The first byte of `data` must contain the Report ID. For devices which only support a single report, this must be set to 0x0. The remaining bytes contain the report data. Since the Report ID is mandatory, calls to [SDL_hid_write](SDL_hid_write)() will always contain one more byte than the report contains. For example, if a hid report is 16 bytes long, 17 bytes must be passed to [SDL_hid_write](SDL_hid_write)(), the Report ID (or 0x0, for devices with a single report), followed by the report data (16 bytes). In this example, the length passed in would be 17. [SDL_hid_write](SDL_hid_write)() will send the data on the first OUT endpoint, if one exists. If it does not, it will send the data through the Control Endpoint (Endpoint 0). ## Version This function is available since SDL 3.1.3. ---- [CategoryAPI](CategoryAPI), [CategoryAPIFunction](CategoryAPIFunction), [CategoryHIDAPI](CategoryHIDAPI)