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Migration Guide

Welcome to SFML 3! The SFML Team has put a lot of effort into delivering a library that is both familiar to existing users while also making significant improvements. This document will walk you through how to upgrade your SFML 2 application to SFML 3.

One of the headline changes in SFML 3 is raising the C++ standard to C++17 thus bringing SFML into the world of modern C++! This change has enabled a vast number of internal improvements as well as new opportunities for improving the API that will be discussed in this document.

Compiler Requirements

Along with the upgrade from C++03 to C++17 you may need to upgrade your compiler. C++17 support has been widespread in all major compiler implementations for years prior to SFML 3's release so in all likelihood the compiler you're already using will work. In case you do need to upgrade, here are the minimum compiler versions.

Compiler Version
MSVC 16 (VS 2019)
GCC 9
Clang 9
AppleClang 12

CMake Targets

SFML 3 uses modern CMake convention for library targets which entails having a namespace in front of the target name. These namespaces tell CMake "this is a target" whereas something like sfml-graphics might be a target or might be a precompiled library on disk like libsfml-graphics.so. Fixing this ambiguity leads to more useful error messages when a given target can't be found due to, for example, forgetting a find_package call. The component names used when calling find_package were also changed to capitalize the first letter.

v2 Target v3 Target
sfml-system SFML::System
sfml-window SFML::Window
sfml-graphics SFML::Graphics
sfml-network SFML::Network
sfml-audio SFML::Audio
sfml-main SFML::Main
v2 Component v3 Component
system System
window Window
graphics Graphics
network Network
audio Audio
main Main

v2: 

find_package(SFML 2 REQUIRED COMPONENTS graphics audio network)
...
target_link_libraries(my_app PRIVATE sfml-graphics sfml-audio sfml-network)

v3: 

find_package(SFML 3 REQUIRED COMPONENTS Graphics Audio Network)
...
target_link_libraries(my_app PRIVATE SFML::Graphics SFML::Audio SFML::Network)

Linux Dependencies

When using X11 as the backend on Linux, as opposed to DRM, libxi-dev is a newly required dependency. This was introduces with the raw mouse input support.

sf::Vector2<T> Parameters

A common pattern in SFML 2 was to use pairs of scalar parameters to represent concepts like sizes or positions. Take sf::Transformable::setPosition(float, float) for example. The two parameters combine to represent a position in world space.

SFML 3 takes all of the APIs with pairs of parameters like (float, float) or (unsigned int, unsigned int) and converts them to their corresponding sf::Vector2<T> type like sf::Vector2f or sf::Vector2u to make the interface more expressive and composable. This transition is often as simple as wrapping the two adjacent parameters with braces to construct the vector.

v2: 

sf::VideoMode videoMode(480, 640, 24);
sf::CircleShape circle(10);
circle.setPosition(10, 20);
sf::IntRect rect(250, 400, 50, 100);

v3: 

sf::VideoMode videoMode({480, 640}, 24);
sf::CircleShape circle(10);
circle.setPosition({10, 20});
sf::IntRect rect({250, 400}, {50, 100});

Fixed Width Integers

SFML 2 contained various typedefs for fixed width integers. Those are now replaced with the fixed width integers provided in the <cstdint> header from the standard library.

v2 v3
sf::Int8 std::int8_t
sf::Uint8 std::uint8_t
sf::Int16 std::int16_t
sf::Uint16 std::uint16_t
sf::Int32 std::int32_t
sf::Uint32 std::uint32_t
sf::Int64 std::int64_t
sf::Uint64 std::uint64_t

sf::Event

SFML 3 uses std::variant under the hood to implement a totally new, type-safe API for events. There are two main ways to use this new API. Check out the new EventHandling example program to see these methods in practice.

sf::Event::getIf<T>

The first option is based around sf::Event::getIf<T> and sf::Event::is<T>. getIf<T> works by providing a template parameter which must be an event subtype. Event subtypes are types like sf::Event::Resized or sf::Event::MouseMoved. If the template argument matches the active event subtype then a pointer to the data is returned. If that template argument is not the active event subtype then nullptr is returned. sf::Event::is<T> more simply returns true if T matches the active event subtype. is<T> is often used for subtypes like sf::Event::Closed which contain no data. Here's what that looks like:

while (window.isOpen())
{
    while (const std::optional event = window.pollEvent())
    {
        if (event->is<sf::Event::Closed>())
        {
            window.close();
        }
        else if (const auto* keyPressed = event->getIf<sf::Event::KeyPressed>())
        {
            if (keyPressed->scancode == sf::Keyboard::Scancode::Escape)
                window.close();
        }
    }

    // Remainder of main loop
}

Note how the API for getting events has changed slightly. sf::WindowBase::pollEvent and sf::WindowBase::waitEvent now return a std::optional<sf::Event>. These two functions might return an event but they might not. C++ lets you deduce the template parameter which is why you can write const std::optional event instead of const std::optional<sf::Event> event. const auto event is another valid choice if you prefer a more terse expression.

sf::WindowBase::handleEvents

The second option for processing events is via the new sf::WindowBase::handleEvents function. This functions performs event visitation. What this means is that you can provide callbacks which take different event subtypes as arguments. Alternatively you may provide an object (or objects) with operator() implementations which handle the event subtypes you want to process. Notably you do not have to provide callbacks for all possible event subtypes. Depending on the current active event subtype, the corresponding callback is called. Here's what that looks like:

const auto onClose = [&window](const sf::Event::Closed&)
{
    window.close();
};

const auto onKeyPressed = [&window](const sf::Event::KeyPressed& keyPressed)
{
    if (keyPressed.scancode == sf::Keyboard::Scancode::Escape)
        window.close();
};

while (window.isOpen())
{
    window.handleEvents(onClose, onKeyPressed);

    // Remainder of main loop
}

Window Styles and States

A new sf::State enumeration was added for specifying the state of the window which means whether the window is floating or fullscreen. Here's a before-and-after showing how this affects constructing a window.

v2: 

sf::RenderWindow window(sf::VideoMode::getFullscreenModes().at(0), "Title", sf::Style::Fullscreen);

v3: 

sf::RenderWindow window(sf::VideoMode::getFullscreenModes().at(0), "Title", sf::State::Fullscreen);

Scoped Enumerations

SFML 3 converts all old style unscoped enumerations to scoped enumerations. This improves the type safety of the interface. This means that the name of the enumeration is now part of the namespace required to access values of that enumeration.

For example, take the enumeration sf::Keyboard::Key. sf::Keyboard::A becomes sf::Keyboard::Key::A. The name of the enumeration now appears as a nested namespace when accessing one of the enumeration's values.

Here is a complete list of all enumerations which have undergone this change:

  • sf::BlendMode::Equation
  • sf::BlendMode::Factor
  • sf::Cursor::Type
  • sf::Ftp::Response::Status
  • sf::Ftp::TransferMode
  • sf::Http::Request::Method
  • sf::Http::Response::Status
  • sf::Joystick::Axis
  • sf::Keyboard::Key
  • sf::Keyboard::Scan
  • sf::Mouse::Button
  • sf::Mouse::Wheel
  • sf::PrimitiveType
  • sf::Sensor::Type
  • sf::Shader::Type
  • sf::Socket::Status
  • sf::Socket::Type
  • sf::SoundSource::Status
  • sf::VertexBuffer::Usage

sf::Rect<T>

sf::Rect<T> has been refactored from the four scalar values top, left, width, and height into two sf::Vector2<T>s named position and size. This means that sf::Rect<T>::getPosition() and sf::Rect<T>::getSize() have been removed in favor of directly accessing the position and size data members. The 4-parameter constructor was also removed in favor of the constructor which takes two sf::Vector2<T>s.

v2: 

sf::FloatRect rect(10, 20, 30, 40);
sf::Vector2f position = rect.getPosition();
sf::Vector2f size = rect.getSize();

v3: 

sf::FloatRect rect({10, 20}, {30, 40});
sf::Vector2f position = rect.position;
sf::Vectro2f size = rect.size;

The two overloads of sf::Rect<T>::intersects have been replaced with one unified function called sf::Rect<T>::findIntersection which returns a std::optional<Rect<T>>. This optional contains the overlapping area if the rectangles overlap. Otherwise the optional is empty.

sf::IntRect rect1({0, 0}, {200, 200});
sf::IntRect rect2({100, 100}, {200, 200});
std::optional<sf::IntRect> intersection = rect1.findIntersection(rect2);
// position={100, 100} size={100, 100}

sf::Angle

All angles are now represented with a strong type named sf::Angle. This type provides two functions for creating angles called sf::degrees(float) and sf::radians(float) which construct an angle from either some value of degrees or radians. Operators (+, -, etc.) are provided to perform mathematical operations with angles. If you need access to the raw angle as a float then you can use either sf::Angle::asDegrees() or sf::Angle::asRadians().

v2: 

sf::RectangleShape shape(sf::Vector2f(50, 50));
shape.setRotation(90);
std::cout << "Rotation: " << shape.getRotation() << '\n';

v3: 

sf::RectangleShape shape({50, 50});
shape.setRotation(sf::degrees(90));
std::cout << "Rotation: " << shape.getRotation().asDegrees() << '\n';

Renamed Functions

A number of functions have new names but otherwise have not changed their semantics.

v2 v3
sf::Font::loadFromFile sf::Font::openFromFile
sf::Socket::getHandle sf::Socket::getNativeHandle
sf::WindowBase::getSystemHandle sf::WindowBase::getNativeHandle
sf::Texture::create sf::Texture::resize
sf::RenderTexture::create sf::RenderTexture::resize
sf::Image::create sf::Image::resize
sf::Sound::getLoop sf::Sound::isLooping
sf::Sound::setLoop sf::Sound::setLooping
sf::SoundStream::getLoop sf::SoundStream::isLooping
sf::SoundStream::setLoop sf::SoundStream::setLooping

Removal of Default Constructors

The default constructors sf::Sound::Sound(), sf::Text::Text(), and sf::Sprite::Sprite() were removed. They can be replaced by the corresponding constructors which accept a resource type.

v2 v3
sf::Sound::Sound() sf::Sound::Sound(const sf::SoundBuffer&)
sf::Text::Text() sf::Text::Text(const sf::Font&)
sf::Sprite::Sprite() sf::Sprite::Sprite(const sf::Texture&)

Now that these classes are guaranteed to be holding a reference to their corresponding resource type, the functions used to access to those resources can return a reference instead of a pointer. These functions are sf::Sound::getBuffer(), sf::Text::getFont(), and sf::Sprite::getTexture().

v2: 

const sf::SoundBuffer soundBuffer("sound.flac");
sf::Sound sound;
sound.setBuffer(soundBuffer);

v3: 

const sf::SoundBuffer soundBuffer("sound.flac");
sf::Sound sound(soundBuffer);

std::optional Usage

SFML 3 makes liberal use of std::optional to express when a given function may not return a value. Some of these usages have already been mentioned like sf::WindowBase::pollEvent. Here are some more places where SFML 3 makes use of std::optional.

  • sf::IpAddress uses std::optional to express how resolving an address from a string may not yield a usable IP address.
  • sf::Image::saveToMemory returns a std::optional because the sf::Image may be empty or the underlying implementation may fail.
  • sf::SoundFileReader::open returns a std::optional because the stream being opened may not be valid.
  • sf::Music::onLoop and sf::SoundStream::onLoop returns a std::optional because if the objects are not in a looping state then there is nothing to return.
  • sf::InputStream uses std::optional in various places. Instead of returning -1 to signal an error, std::nullopt can be returned.

LearnCpp.com is a great place to learn more about using std::optional. Read more about that here.

New Constructors for Loading Resources

The following classes gained constructors that allow for loading/opening resources in a single expression. Upon failure they throw an sf::Exception.

  • sf::InputSoundFile
  • sf::OutputSoundFile
  • sf::Music
  • sf::SoundBuffer
  • sf::Font
  • sf::Image
  • sf::RenderTexture
  • sf::Shader
  • sf::Texture
  • sf::FileInputStream
  • sf::Cursor

SFML 3 still supports the SFML 2 style of error handling in addition to these new constructors.

v2: 

sf::SoundBuffer soundBuffer;
if (!soundBuffer.loadFromFile("sound.wav"))
{
    // Handle error
}

v3: 

sf::SoundBuffer soundBuffer;
if (!soundBuffer.loadFromFile("sound.wav"))
{
    // Handle error
}

// OR

const sf::SoundBuffer soundBuffer("sound.wav");

sf::Vector2<T> and sf::Vector3<T> Utility Functions

sf::Vector2<T> and sf::Vector3<T> gained a number of new functions for performing common mathematic operations on vectors.

sf::Vector2<T> Function Description
Vector2(T, sf::Angle) Construct from polar coordinates
length() Get length
lengthSquared() Get length squared
normalized() Get vector normalized to unit circle
angleTo(sf::Vector2) Get angle to another vector
angle() Get angle from X axis
rotatedBy(sf::Angle) Get vector rotated by a given angle
projectedOnto(sf::Vector2) Get vector projected onto another vector
perpendicular() Get perpendicular vector
dot(sf::Vector2) Get dot product
cross(sf::Vector2) Get Z component of cross product
componentWiseMul(sf::Vector2) Get component-wise multiple
componentWiseDiv(sf::Vector2) Get component-wise divisor
sf::Vector3<T> Function Description
length() Get length
lengthSquared() Get length squared
normalized() Get vector normalized to unit circle
dot(sf::Vector3) Get dot product
cross(sf::Vector3) Get cross product
componentWiseMul(sf::Vector3) Get component-wise multiple
componentWiseDiv(sf::Vector3) Get component-wise divisor

Threading Primitives

sf::Lock, sf::Mutex, sf::Thread, sf::ThreadLocal, and sf::ThreadLocalPtr were removed and replaced with their equivalents from the standard library. The standard library provides multiple options for threads, locks, and mutexes among other threading primitives.

v2 v3
sf::Lock std::lock_guard or std::unique_lock
sf::Mutex std::mutex or std::recursive_mutex
sf::Thread std::thread or std::jthread (requires C++20)
sf::ThreadLocal thread_local
sf::ThreadLocalPtr thread_local

Sound Samples and Channel Map

SFML 3 introduces the concept of a Channel Map which defines the mapping of the position in sample frame to the sound channel. For example, if you have a sound frame with six different samples for a 5.1 sound system, the Channel Map defines how each of those samples map to which speaker channel.

SFML 2 always assumed the order as specified by OpenAL.

auto samples = std::vector<std::int16_t>();
// ...

auto channelMap = std::vector<sf::SoundChannel>{
    sf::SoundChannel::FrontLeft,
    sf::SoundChannel::FrontCenter,
    sf::SoundChannel::FrontRight,
    sf::SoundChannel::BackRight,
    sf::SoundChannel::BackLeft,
    sf::SoundChannel::LowFrequencyEffects
};
auto soundBuffer = sf::SoundBuffer(samples.data(), samples.size(), channelMap.size(), 44100, channelMap);
auto sound = sf::Sound(soundBuffer);

This a breaking change for the following APIs:

  • bool sf::SoundBuffer::loadFromSamples(...)
  • bool sf::SoundBuffer::update(...)
  • void sf::SoundStream::initialize(...)
  • bool sf::OutputSoundFile::openFromFile(...)
  • bool sf::SoundFileWriter::open(...)

Deprecated APIs

SFML 3 removes all of the deprecated APIs in SFML 2.

Deprecated API Replacement
sf::Event::MouseWheelEvent sf::Event::MouseWheelScrolled
sf::RenderWindow::capture See 1
sf::RenderTexture::create sf::RenderTexture::resize
sf::Shader::setParameter sf::Shader::setUniform
sf::Text::setColor sf::Text::setFillColor
sf::Text::getColor sf::Text::getFillColor
sf::PrimitiveType::LinesStrip sf::PrimitiveType::LineStrip
sf::PrimitiveType::TrianglesStrip sf::PrimitiveType::TriangleStrip
sf::PrimitiveType::TrianglesFan sf::PrimitiveType::TriangleFan
sf::PrimitiveType::Quads See 2
  1. sf::RenderWindow::capture can be recreated by using an sf::Texture and its sf::Texture::update(const Window&) function to copy its contents into an sf::Image instead.
  2. sf::PrimitiveType::Quads can be replaced by another primitive type. This is not a drop-in replacement but rather will require refactoring your code to work with a new geometry. One viable option is to use sf::PrimitiveType::Triangles where two adjacent triangles join to form what was previously one quad.

Anti-Aliasing Renamed

SFML 3 capitalizes the A of aliasing for all the APIs.

  • sf::RenderTexture::getMaximumAntialiasingLevel() becomes sf::RenderTexture::getMaximumAntiAliasingLevel()
  • sf::ContextSettings::antialiasingLevel becomes sf::ContextSettings::antiAliasingLevel

Other Minor Changes

SFML 3 includes various smaller changes that ought to be mentioned.

  • Changed the parameter order of the sf::Text constructor, so that the provided font is always the first parameter
  • Reverted to default value of CMake's BUILD_SHARED_LIBS which means SFML now builds static libraries by default
  • Changed sf::String interface to use std::u16string and std::u32string
  • Removed sf::ContextSettings constructor in favor of aggregate initialization
  • Removed sf::View::reset in favor of assigning from a new sf::View object
  • Added new sf::CoordinateType enumeration to sf::RenderStates::RenderStates
  • Removed sf::Vertex constructors in favor of aggregate initialization
  • Renamed sf::Mouse::Button::XButton1 and sf::Mouse::Button::XButton2 enumerators to sf::Mouse::Button::Extra1 and sf::Mouse::Button::Extra2
  • Removed NonCopyable.hpp header in favor of using built-in language features for disabling copy operators
  • Converted the following classes to namespaces: sf::Clipboard, sf::Keyboard, sf::Joystick, sf::Listener, sf::Mouse, sf::Sensor, sf::Touch, sf::Vulkan
  • Removed sf::SoundStream::setProcessingInterval as miniaudio matches the internal processing rate to the underlying backend