.. include:: common.txt

:mod:`pygame`
=============

.. module:: pygame
   :synopsis: the top level pygame package

| :sl:`the top level pygame package`

The pygame package represents the top-level package for others to use. Pygame
itself is broken into many submodules, but this does not affect programs that
use pygame.

As a convenience, most of the top-level variables in pygame have been placed
inside a module named :mod:`pygame.locals`. This is meant to be used with
``from pygame.locals import *``, in addition to ``import pygame``.

When you ``import pygame`` all available pygame submodules are automatically
imported. Be aware that some of the pygame modules are considered *optional*,
and may not be available. In that case, pygame will provide a placeholder
object instead of the module, which can be used to test for availability.

.. function:: init

   | :sl:`initialize all imported pygame modules`
   | :sg:`init() -> (numpass, numfail)`

   Initialize all imported pygame modules. No exceptions will be raised if a
   module fails, but the total number if successful and failed inits will be
   returned as a tuple. You can always initialize individual modules manually,
   but :func:`pygame.init` is a convenient way to get everything started. The
   ``init()`` functions for individual modules will raise exceptions when they
   fail.

   You may want to initialize the different modules separately to speed up your
   program or to not use modules your game does not require.

   It is safe to call this ``init()`` more than once as repeated calls will have
   no effect. This is true even if you have ``pygame.quit()`` all the modules.

   .. ## pygame.init ##

.. function:: quit

   | :sl:`uninitialize all pygame modules`
   | :sg:`quit() -> None`

   Uninitialize all pygame modules that have previously been initialized. When
   the Python interpreter shuts down, this method is called regardless, so your
   program should not need it, except when it wants to terminate its pygame
   resources and continue. It is safe to call this function more than once as
   repeated calls have no effect.

   .. note::
      Calling :func:`pygame.quit` will not exit your program. Consider letting
      your program end in the same way a normal Python program will end.

   .. ## pygame.quit ##

.. function:: get_init

   | :sl:`returns True if pygame is currently initialized`
   | :sg:`get_init() -> bool`

   Returns ``True`` if pygame is currently initialized.

   .. versionadded:: 1.9.5

   .. ## pygame.get_init ##

.. exception:: error

   | :sl:`standard pygame exception`
   | :sg:`raise pygame.error(message)`

   This exception is raised whenever a pygame or SDL operation fails. You
   can catch any anticipated problems and deal with the error. The exception is
   always raised with a descriptive message about the problem.

   Derived from the ``RuntimeError`` exception, which can also be used to catch
   these raised errors.

   .. ## pygame.error ##

.. function:: get_error

   | :sl:`get the current error message`
   | :sg:`get_error() -> errorstr`

   SDL maintains an internal error message. This message will usually be
   given to you when :func:`pygame.error` is raised, so this function will
   rarely be needed.

   .. ## pygame.get_error ##

.. function:: set_error

   | :sl:`set the current error message`
   | :sg:`set_error(error_msg) -> None`

   SDL maintains an internal error message. This message will usually be
   given to you when :func:`pygame.error` is raised, so this function will
   rarely be needed.

   .. ## pygame.set_error ##

.. function:: get_sdl_version

   | :sl:`get the version number of SDL`
   | :sg:`get_sdl_version() -> major, minor, patch`

   Returns the three version numbers of the SDL library. This version is built
   at compile time. It can be used to detect which features may or may not be
   available through pygame.

   .. versionadded:: 1.7.0

   .. ## pygame.get_sdl_version ##

.. function:: get_sdl_byteorder

   | :sl:`get the byte order of SDL`
   | :sg:`get_sdl_byteorder() -> int`

   Returns the byte order of the SDL library. It returns ``1234`` for little
   endian byte order and ``4321`` for big endian byte order.

   .. versionadded:: 1.8

   .. ## pygame.get_sdl_byteorder ##

.. function:: register_quit

   | :sl:`register a function to be called when pygame quits`
   | :sg:`register_quit(callable) -> None`

   When :func:`pygame.quit` is called, all registered quit functions are
   called. Pygame modules do this automatically when they are initializing, so
   this function will rarely be needed.

   .. ## pygame.register_quit ##

.. function:: encode_string

   | :sl:`Encode a Unicode or bytes object`
   | :sg:`encode_string([obj [, encoding [, errors [, etype]]]]) -> bytes or None`

   obj: If Unicode, encode; if bytes, return unaltered; if anything else,
   return ``None``; if not given, raise ``SyntaxError``.

   encoding (string): If present, encoding to use. The default is
   ``'unicode_escape'``.

   errors (string): If given, how to handle unencodable characters. The default
   is ``'backslashreplace'``.

   etype (exception type): If given, the exception type to raise for an
   encoding error. The default is ``UnicodeEncodeError``, as returned by
   ``PyUnicode_AsEncodedString()``. For the default encoding and errors values
   there should be no encoding errors.

   This function is used in encoding file paths. Keyword arguments are
   supported.

   .. versionadded:: 1.9.2 (primarily for use in unit tests)

   .. ## pygame.encode_string ##

.. function:: encode_file_path

   | :sl:`Encode a Unicode or bytes object as a file system path`
   | :sg:`encode_file_path([obj [, etype]]) -> bytes or None`

   obj: If Unicode, encode; if bytes, return unaltered; if anything else,
   return ``None``; if not given, raise ``SyntaxError``.

   etype (exception type): If given, the exception type to raise for an
   encoding error. The default is ``UnicodeEncodeError``, as returned by
   ``PyUnicode_AsEncodedString()``.

   This function is used to encode file paths in pygame. Encoding is to the
   codec as returned by ``sys.getfilesystemencoding()``. Keyword arguments are
   supported.

   .. versionadded:: 1.9.2 (primarily for use in unit tests)

   .. ## pygame.encode_file_path ##


:mod:`pygame.version`
=====================

.. module:: pygame.version
   :synopsis: small module containing version information

| :sl:`small module containing version information`

This module is automatically imported into the pygame package and can be used to
check which version of pygame has been imported.

.. data:: ver

   | :sl:`version number as a string`
   | :sg:`ver = '1.2'`

   This is the version represented as a string. It can contain a micro release
   number as well, e.g. ``'1.5.2'``

   .. ## pygame.version.ver ##

.. data:: vernum

   | :sl:`tupled integers of the version`
   | :sg:`vernum = (1, 5, 3)`

   This version information can easily be compared with other version
   numbers of the same format. An example of checking pygame version numbers
   would look like this:

   ::

       if pygame.version.vernum < (1, 5):
           print('Warning, older version of pygame (%s)' %  pygame.version.ver)
           disable_advanced_features = True

   .. versionadded:: 1.9.6 Attributes ``major``, ``minor``, and ``patch``.

   ::

      vernum.major == vernum[0]
      vernum.minor == vernum[1]
      vernum.patch == vernum[2]

   .. versionchanged:: 1.9.6
      ``str(pygame.version.vernum)`` returns a string like ``"2.0.0"`` instead
      of ``"(2, 0, 0)"``.

   .. versionchanged:: 1.9.6
      ``repr(pygame.version.vernum)`` returns a string like
      ``"PygameVersion(major=2, minor=0, patch=0)"`` instead of ``"(2, 0, 0)"``.

   .. ## pygame.version.vernum ##

.. data:: rev

   | :sl:`repository revision of the build`
   | :sg:`rev = 'a6f89747b551+'`

   The Mercurial node identifier of the repository checkout from which this
   package was built. If the identifier ends with a plus sign '+' then the
   package contains uncommitted changes. Please include this revision number
   in bug reports, especially for non-release pygame builds.
   
   Important note: pygame development has moved to github, this variable is 
   obsolete now. As soon as development shifted to github, this variable started
   returning an empty string ``""``. 
   It has always been returning an empty string since ``v1.9.5``.
   
   .. versionchanged:: 1.9.5
      Always returns an empty string ``""``.

   .. ## pygame.version.rev ##

.. data:: SDL

   | :sl:`tupled integers of the SDL library version`
   | :sg:`SDL = '(2, 0, 12)'`

   This is the SDL library version represented as an extended tuple. It also has
   attributes 'major', 'minor' & 'patch' that can be accessed like this:

   ::

     >>> pygame.version.SDL.major
     2

   printing the whole thing returns a string like this:

   ::

    >>> pygame.version.SDL
    SDLVersion(major=2, minor=0, patch=12)

   .. versionadded:: 2.0.0

   .. ## pygame.version.SDL ##

.. ## pygame.version ##

.. ## pygame ##

.. _environment-variables:

**Setting Environment Variables**

Some aspects of pygame's behaviour can be controlled by setting environment variables, they cover a wide
range of the library's functionality. Some of the variables are from pygame itself, while others come from
the underlying C SDL library that pygame uses.

In python, environment variables are usually set in code like this::

     import os
     os.environ['NAME_OF_ENVIRONMENT_VARIABLE'] = 'value_to_set'

Or to preserve users ability to override the variable::

     import os
     os.environ['ENV_VAR'] = os.environ.get('ENV_VAR', 'value')

If the variable is more useful for users of an app to set than the developer then they can set it like this:

**Windows**::

    set NAME_OF_ENVIRONMENT_VARIABLE=value_to_set
    python my_application.py

**Linux/Mac**::

    ENV_VAR=value python my_application.py

For some variables they need to be set before initialising pygame, some must be set before even importing pygame,
and others can simply be set right before the area of code they control is run.

Below is a list of environment variables, their settable values, and a brief description of what they do.

|

**Pygame Environment Variables**

These variables are defined by pygame itself.

|

::

 PYGAME_DISPLAY - Experimental (subject to change)
 Set index of the display to use, "0" is the default.

This sets the display where pygame will open its window
or screen. The value set here will be used if set before
calling :func:`pygame.display.set_mode()`, and as long as no
'display' parameter is passed into :func:`pygame.display.set_mode()`.

|

::

 PYGAME_FORCE_SCALE -
 Set to "photo" or "default".

This forces set_mode() to use the SCALED display mode and,
if "photo" is set, makes the scaling use the slowest, but
highest quality anisotropic scaling algorithm, if it is
available. Must be set before calling :func:`pygame.display.set_mode()`.

|

::

 PYGAME_BLEND_ALPHA_SDL2 - New in pygame 2.0.0
 Set to "1" to enable the SDL2 blitter.

This makes pygame use the SDL2 blitter for all alpha
blending. The SDL2 blitter is sometimes faster than
the default blitter but uses a different formula so
the final colours may differ. Must be set before
:func:`pygame.init()` is called.

|

::

 PYGAME_HIDE_SUPPORT_PROMPT -
 Set to "1" to hide the prompt.

This stops the welcome message popping up in the
console that tells you which version of python,
pygame & SDL you are using. Must be set before
importing pygame.

|

::

 PYGAME_FREETYPE -
 Set to "1" to enable.

This switches the pygame.font module to a pure
freetype implementation that bypasses SDL_ttf.
See the font module for why you might want to
do this. Must be set before importing pygame.

|

::

 PYGAME_CAMERA -
 Set to "opencv" or "vidcapture"

Forces the library backend used in the camera
module, overriding the platform defaults. Must
be set before calling :func:`pygame.camera.init()`.

In pygame 2.0.3, backends can be set programmatically instead, and the old
OpenCV backend has been replaced with one on top of "opencv-python," rather
than the old "highgui" OpenCV port. Also, there is a new native Windows
backend available.

|
|

**SDL Environment Variables**

These variables are defined by SDL.

For documentation on the environment variables available in
pygame 1 try `here
<https://www.libsdl.org/release/SDL-1.2.15/docs/html/sdlenvvars.html>`__.
For Pygame 2, some selected environment variables are listed below.

|

::

 SDL_VIDEO_CENTERED -
 Set to "1" to enable centering the window.

This will make the pygame window open in the centre of the display.
Must be set before calling :func:`pygame.display.set_mode()`.

|

::

 SDL_VIDEO_WINDOW_POS -
 Set to "x,y" to position the top left corner of the window.

This allows control over the placement of the pygame window within
the display. Must be set before calling :func:`pygame.display.set_mode()`.

|

::

 SDL_VIDEODRIVER -
 Set to "drivername" to change the video driver used.

On some platforms there are multiple video drivers available and
this allows users to pick between them. More information is available
`here <https://wiki.libsdl.org/FAQUsingSDL>`__. Must be set before
calling :func:`pygame.init()` or :func:`pygame.display.init()`.

|

::

 SDL_AUDIODRIVER -
 Set to "drivername" to change the audio driver used.

On some platforms there are multiple audio drivers available and
this allows users to pick between them. More information is available
`here <https://wiki.libsdl.org/FAQUsingSDL>`__. Must be set before
calling :func:`pygame.init()` or :func:`pygame.mixer.init()`.

|

::

 SDL_VIDEO_ALLOW_SCREENSAVER
 Set to "1" to allow screensavers while pygame apps are running.

By default pygame apps disable screensavers while
they are running. Setting this environment variable allows users or
developers to change that and make screensavers run again.

|

::

 SDL_VIDEO_X11_NET_WM_BYPASS_COMPOSITOR
 Set to "0" to re-enable the compositor.

By default SDL tries to disable the X11 compositor for all pygame
apps. This is usually a good thing as it's faster, however if you
have an app which *doesn't* update every frame and are using linux
you may want to disable this bypass. The bypass has reported problems
on KDE linux. This variable is only used on x11/linux platforms.