Member Avatar for cambalinho

i have notice that using the joyGetPosEx() function, when the joystick isn't connected, that the memory, that the application uses, is increasing.
so is there another way just for see if 1 joystick is connected to pc?

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Short summary and next step

Good call on using raw input — registering for device notifications is the right way to get arrival/removal events, and then enumerating/querying devices is the robust way to answer “is a joystick connected?”. was right to check connection type; ’s RegisterRawInputDevices + device-change handler is the correct starting point (you need the dev-notify flag to get arrival/removal messages). (learn.microsoft.com)

How to test with GetRawInputDeviceInfo

  1. Call GetRawInputDeviceList to get all raw-device handles.
  2. For each hDevice call GetRawInputDeviceInfo with the RIDI_DEVICEINFO command (set RID_DEVICE_INFO.cbSize first) to retrieve the RID_DEVICE_INFO for that device. Inspect the returned structure: if dwType == RIM_TYPEHID check the HID fields (usUsagePage/usUsage) to determine the top‑level collection type. Those HID fields are exactly what tell you “this device is a joystick/gamepad” (they’re part of RID_DEVICE_INFO_HID). (learn.microsoft.com)

Minimal detection example (conceptual C++)

Make a small helper that returns true when any raw device reports a HID top-level collection whose usage page/usage matches a game controller:

// concept: call GetRawInputDeviceList, then for each device:
//   RID_DEVICE_INFO rdi; rdi.cbSize = sizeof(rdi);
//   GetRawInputDeviceInfo(hDev, RIDI_DEVICEINFO, &rdi, &cb);
//   if (rdi.dwType == RIM_TYPEHID &&
//       rdi.hid.usUsagePage == 0x01 &&
//       (rdi.hid.usUsage == 0x04 || rdi.hid.usUsage == 0x05)) return true;

(see the docs for exact return/error handling and the RIDI_* commands). (learn.microsoft.com)

Caveats and fallbacks

Some controllers (modern Xbox controllers / XInput) may need XInput or the newer GameInput/Windows.Gaming.Input APIs for full detection/feature support — they aren’t always exposed the same way as generic HID top‑level collections. If raw‑input enumeration misses a device, fall back to checking the device interface name (RIDI_DEVICENAME) or enumerate HID class interfaces via HidD_GetHidGuid + SetupDi APIs and inspect VID/PID or the preparsed data. (learn.microsoft.com)

This approach avoids polling legacy joy APIs and gives a deterministic way to detect connected HID joysticks/gamepads.

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Member Avatar for rubberman

How is the joystick connected to the computer? Analog game port, serial port, usb port? What?

Member Avatar for cambalinho

USB

Member Avatar for cambalinho

for use the WM_INPUT_DEVICE_CHANGE message, i must use the RegisterRawInputDevices() : https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/ms645591%28v=vs.85%29.aspx

see the 'Community Additions'.
so i did:

case WM_CREATE:
                {
                    if(WindowMain == NULL || WindowMain ==GetDesktopWindow())
                        WindowMain = HandleWindow;

                    SetTimer(inst->hwnd,JoystickTimer,150,NULL);
                    SetTimer(inst->hwnd,KeyBoardTimer,150,NULL);

                    RAWINPUTDEVICE rid;

                    rid.usUsagePage = 1;
                    rid.usUsage     = 4; // Joystick
                    rid.dwFlags     = 0;
                    rid.hwndTarget  = inst->hwnd;

                    if(!RegisterRawInputDevices(&rid, 1, sizeof(RAWINPUTDEVICE)))
                        SetWindowText(inst->hwnd,"error");
                }
                break;


                case 0x00FE: //#define WM_INPUT_DEVICE_CHANGE          0x00FE
                {
                    SetWindowText(inst->hwnd,"enter device");

                    return 0;
                }
                break;

i'm using windows 7. but the message isn't activated when i connect or disconnect a device :(

Member Avatar for cambalinho

finally works ;)

case 0x00FE:
                {

                    if(wParam==1)
                    {
                        SetWindowText(inst->hwnd,"enter device");
                    }
                    else if(wParam==2)
                    {
                        SetWindowText(inst->hwnd,"exit device");
                    }


                    return 0;
                }
                break;

                case WM_CREATE:
                {
                    if(WindowMain == NULL || WindowMain ==GetDesktopWindow())
                        WindowMain = HandleWindow;

                    SetTimer(inst->hwnd,JoystickTimer,150,NULL);
                    SetTimer(inst->hwnd,KeyBoardTimer,150,NULL);

                    RAWINPUTDEVICE rid;

                    rid.usUsagePage = 1 ;
                    rid.usUsage     = 4; // Joystick
                    rid.dwFlags     = 0x00002000;
                    rid.hwndTarget  = inst->hwnd;

                    if(!RegisterRawInputDevices(&rid, 1, sizeof(RAWINPUTDEVICE)))
                        SetWindowText(inst->hwnd,"error");
                }
                break;

how use the GetRawInputDeviceInfo() for test if a joystick is connected to pc?

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