You can either use the precompiled libraries from the SDL web site, or you can build SDL yourself.
To build SDL, your machine must, at a minimum, have the DirectX9.0c SDK installed. It may or may not be retrievable from the Microsoft website, so you might need to locate it online. Editor’s note: I’ve been able to successfully build SDL using Visual Studio 2019 without the DX9.0c SDK
Open the Visual Studio solution file at ./VisualC/SDL.sln
.
Your IDE will likely prompt you to upgrade this solution file to whatever later version of the IDE you’re using. In the Retarget Projects
dialog,
all of the affected project files should be checked allowing you to use the latest Windows SDK Version
you have installed, along with
the Platform Toolset
.
If you choose NOT to upgrade to use the latest Windows SDK Version
or Platform Toolset
, then you’ll need the Visual Studio 2010 Platform Toolset
.
.dll
and .lib
files by right clicking on each project in turn (Projects are listed in the Workspace
panel in the FileView tab), and selecting Build
. You may get a few warnings, but you should not get any errors.
Later, we will refer to the following .lib
and .dll
files that have just been generated:
./VisualC/Win32/Debug/SDL2.dll
or ./VisualC/Win32/Release/SDL2.dll
./VisualC/Win32/Debug/SDL2.lib
or ./VisualC/Win32/Release/SDL2.lib
./VisualC/Win32/Debug/SDL2main.lib
or ./VisualC/Win32/Release/SDL2main.lib
Note for the x64
versions, just replace Win32
in the path with x64
Create a project as a Win32 Application
.
Create a C++ file for your project.
Set the C runtime to Multi-threaded DLL
in the menu:
Project|Settings|C/C++ tab|Code Generation|Runtime Library
.
Add the SDL include
directory to your list of includes in the menu:
Project|Settings|C/C++ tab|Preprocessor|Additional include directories
VC7 Specific: Instead of doing this, I find it easier to add the include and library directories to the list that VC7 keeps. Do this by selecting Tools|Options|Projects|VC++ Directories and under the “Show Directories For:” dropbox select “Include Files”, and click the “New Directory Icon” and add the [SDLROOT]\include directory (e.g. If you installed to c:\SDL\ add c:\SDL\include). Proceed to change the dropbox selection to “Library Files” and add [SDLROOT]\lib.
The “include directory” I am referring to is the ./include
folder.
Now we’re going to use the files that we had created earlier in the Build SDL step.
Copy the following file into your Project directory:
SDL2.dll
Add the following files to your project (It is not necessary to copy them to your project directory):
SDL2.lib
SDL2main.lib
To add them to your project, right click on your project, and select
Add files to project
.
Instead of adding the files to your project, it is more desirable to add them to the linker options: Project|Properties|Linker|Command Line and type the names of the libraries to link with in the “Additional Options:” box. Note: This must be done for each build configuration (e.g. Release,Debug).
Here’s a sample SDL snippet to verify everything is setup in your IDE:
#include "SDL.h"
int main( int argc, char* argv[] )
{
const int WIDTH = 640;
const int HEIGHT = 480;
SDL_Window* window = NULL;
SDL_Renderer* renderer = NULL;
SDL_Init(SDL_INIT_VIDEO);
window = SDL_CreateWindow("SDL2 Test", SDL_WINDOWPOS_UNDEFINED, SDL_WINDOWPOS_UNDEFINED, WIDTH, HEIGHT, SDL_WINDOW_SHOWN);
renderer = SDL_CreateRenderer(window, -1, SDL_RENDERER_ACCELERATED | SDL_RENDERER_PRESENTVSYNC);
SDL_DestroyRenderer(renderer);
SDL_DestroyWindow(window);
SDL_Quit();
return 0;
}
I hope that this document has helped you get through the most difficult part of using the SDL: installing it. Suggestions for improvements should be posted to the Github Issues.
Thanks to Paulus Esterhazy, for the work on VC++ port.
This document was originally called “VisualC.txt”, and was written by Sam Lantinga.
Later, it was converted to HTML and expanded into the document that you see today by Lion Kimbro.
Minor Fixes and Visual C++ 7 Information (In Green) was added by James Turk
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114
Using SDL with Microsoft Visual C++
===================================
### by [Lion Kimbro](mailto:snowlion@sprynet.com) with additions by [James Turk](mailto:james@conceptofzero.net)
You can either use the precompiled libraries from the [SDL](https://www.libsdl.org/download.php) web site, or you can build SDL
yourself.
### Building SDL
0. To build SDL, your machine must, at a minimum, have the DirectX9.0c SDK installed. It may or may not be retrievable from
the [Microsoft](https://www.microsoft.com) website, so you might need to locate it [online](https://duckduckgo.com/?q=directx9.0c+sdk+download&t=h_&ia=web).
_Editor's note: I've been able to successfully build SDL using Visual Studio 2019 **without** the DX9.0c SDK_
1. Open the Visual Studio solution file at `./VisualC/SDL.sln`.
2. Your IDE will likely prompt you to upgrade this solution file to whatever later version of the IDE you're using. In the `Retarget Projects` dialog,
all of the affected project files should be checked allowing you to use the latest `Windows SDK Version` you have installed, along with
the `Platform Toolset`.
If you choose *NOT* to upgrade to use the latest `Windows SDK Version` or `Platform Toolset`, then you'll need the `Visual Studio 2010 Platform Toolset`.
3. Build the `.dll` and `.lib` files by right clicking on each project in turn (Projects are listed in the _Workspace_
panel in the _FileView_ tab), and selecting `Build`.
You may get a few warnings, but you should not get any errors.
Later, we will refer to the following `.lib` and `.dll` files that have just been generated:
- `./VisualC/Win32/Debug/SDL2.dll` or `./VisualC/Win32/Release/SDL2.dll`
- `./VisualC/Win32/Debug/SDL2.lib` or `./VisualC/Win32/Release/SDL2.lib`
- `./VisualC/Win32/Debug/SDL2main.lib` or `./VisualC/Win32/Release/SDL2main.lib`
_Note for the `x64` versions, just replace `Win32` in the path with `x64`_
### Creating a Project with SDL
- Create a project as a `Win32 Application`.
- Create a C++ file for your project.
- Set the C runtime to `Multi-threaded DLL` in the menu:
`Project|Settings|C/C++ tab|Code Generation|Runtime Library `.
- Add the SDL `include` directory to your list of includes in the menu:
`Project|Settings|C/C++ tab|Preprocessor|Additional include directories `
*VC7 Specific: Instead of doing this, I find it easier to add the
include and library directories to the list that VC7 keeps. Do this by
selecting Tools|Options|Projects|VC++ Directories and under the "Show
Directories For:" dropbox select "Include Files", and click the "New
Directory Icon" and add the [SDLROOT]\\include directory (e.g. If you
installed to c:\\SDL\\ add c:\\SDL\\include). Proceed to change the
dropbox selection to "Library Files" and add [SDLROOT]\\lib.*
The "include directory" I am referring to is the `./include` folder.
Now we're going to use the files that we had created earlier in the *Build SDL* step.
Copy the following file into your Project directory:
- `SDL2.dll`
Add the following files to your project (It is not necessary to copy them to your project directory):
- `SDL2.lib`
- `SDL2main.lib`
To add them to your project, right click on your project, and select
`Add files to project`.
**Instead of adding the files to your project, it is more desirable to add them to the linker options: Project|Properties|Linker|Command Line
and type the names of the libraries to link with in the "Additional Options:" box. Note: This must be done for each build configuration
(e.g. Release,Debug).**
### Hello SDL2
Here's a sample SDL snippet to verify everything is setup in your IDE:
```
#include "SDL.h"
int main( int argc, char* argv[] )
{
const int WIDTH = 640;
const int HEIGHT = 480;
SDL_Window* window = NULL;
SDL_Renderer* renderer = NULL;
SDL_Init(SDL_INIT_VIDEO);
window = SDL_CreateWindow("SDL2 Test", SDL_WINDOWPOS_UNDEFINED, SDL_WINDOWPOS_UNDEFINED, WIDTH, HEIGHT, SDL_WINDOW_SHOWN);
renderer = SDL_CreateRenderer(window, -1, SDL_RENDERER_ACCELERATED | SDL_RENDERER_PRESENTVSYNC);
SDL_DestroyRenderer(renderer);
SDL_DestroyWindow(window);
SDL_Quit();
return 0;
}
```
### That's it!
I hope that this document has helped you get through the most difficult part of using the SDL: installing it.
Suggestions for improvements should be posted to the [Github Issues](https://github.com/libsdl-org/SDL/issues).
### Credits
Thanks to [Paulus Esterhazy](mailto:pesterhazy@gmx.net), for the work on VC++ port.
This document was originally called "VisualC.txt", and was written by [Sam Lantinga](mailto:slouken@libsdl.org).
Later, it was converted to HTML and expanded into the document that you see today by [Lion Kimbro](mailto:snowlion@sprynet.com).
Minor Fixes and Visual C++ 7 Information (In Green) was added by [James Turk](mailto:james@conceptofzero.net)