= SDL_GetBasePath =

Get the directory where the application was run from.

== Syntax ==

<syntaxhighlight lang='c'>
char* SDL_GetBasePath(void);
</syntaxhighlight>

== Return Value ==

Returns an absolute path in UTF-8 encoding to the application data
directory. NULL will be returned on error or when the platform doesn't
implement this functionality, call [[SDL_GetError]]() for more information.

== Remarks ==

This is not necessarily a fast call, so you should call this once near
startup and save the string if you need it.

'''Mac OS X and iOS Specific Functionality''': If the application is in a
".app" bundle, this function returns the Resource directory (e.g.
MyApp.app/Contents/Resources/). This behaviour can be overridden by adding
a property to the Info.plist file. Adding a string key with the name
[[SDL_FILESYSTEM_BASE_DIR_TYPE]] with a supported value will change the
behaviour.

Supported values for the [[SDL_FILESYSTEM_BASE_DIR_TYPE]] property (Given
an application in /Applications/SDLApp/MyApp.app):

* <code>resource</code>: bundle resource directory (the default). For example: <code>/Applications/SDLApp/MyApp.app/Contents/Resources</code>
* <code>bundle</code>: the Bundle directory. For example: <code>/Applications/SDLApp/MyApp.app/</code>
* <code>parent</code>: the containing directory of the bundle. For example: <code>/Applications/SDLApp/</code>

The returned path is guaranteed to end with a path separator ('\' on
Windows, '/' on most other platforms).

The pointer returned is owned by the caller. Please call [[SDL_free]]() on
the pointer when done with it.

== Version ==

This function is available since SDL 2.0.1.

== Code Examples ==

<syntaxhighlight lang='c++'>

char *data_path = NULL;

void InitializeDataPath() {
    char *base_path = SDL_GetBasePath();
    if (base_path) {
        data_path = base_path;
    } else {
        data_path = SDL_strdup("./");
    }
}

</syntaxhighlight>

== Related Functions ==

:[[SDL_GetPrefPath]]

----
[[CategoryAPI]], [[CategoryFilesystem]]