Date: Tue, 27 Jul 2004 17:14:00 +0200 From: "Eckhard Stolberg" Subject: Controller names in SDL for Windows I'm working on an Atari 2600 emulator for different systems that uses the SDL. Some time ago someone created an adaptor that lets you use your old Atari controllers with your computer through the USB port. Some of the Atari controllers require special handling by the emulator, so it would be nice, if it would be possible to detect if any of the controllers connected to the computer is this adaptor. SDL would allow that with the SDL_JoystickName function, but unfortunately it doesn't work properly on Windows. On Linux and MacOSX this function returns the name of the controller, but on Windows you'll only get the name of the joystick driver. Most joysticks nowadays use the generic Microsoft driver, so they all return the same name. In an old MSDN article (http://msdn.microsoft.com/archive/default.asp?url=/archive/en-us/dnarinput/html/msdn_extdirect.asp) Microsoft describes how to read out the OEM controller names from the registry. I have implemented this for the SDL controller handler on Windows, and now reading the joystick name works properly there too.

Wish list for the 1.3 development branch:

 * Use /etc/fb.modes, if available, like GGI does
 * Add mousewheel events (new unified event architecture?)
 * DirectInput joystick support needs to be implemented
 * Be able to enumerate and select available audio and video drivers
 * Fullscreen video mode support for MacOS X
 * Explicit vertical retrace wait (maybe separate from SDL_Flip?)
 * Shaped windows, windows without borders
 * Multiple windows, multiple display support
 * SDL_INIT_EVENTTHREAD on Windows and MacOS?
 * Add a timestamp to events
 * Use RDTSC for timer resolution on x86 hardware
 * Add audio input API
 * Add hardware accelerated scaled blit
 * Add hardware accelerated alpha blits
 * Redesign blitting architecture to allow blit plugins

In the jump from 1.2 to 1.3, we should change the SDL_Rect members to
int and evaluate all the rest of the datatypes.  This is the only place
we should do it though, since the 1.2 series should not break binary
compatibility in this way.

Requests:
 * PCM and CDROM volume control (deprecated, but possible)