---
name: "SDL_HINT_WAVE_RIFF_CHUNK_SIZE"
section: "3"
platform: "linux"
package: "libsdl3-doc"
version: "3.2.10+ds-1"
release: "Debian 13 (Trixie)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/SDL_HINT_WAVE_RIFF_CHUNK_SIZE"
---

# SDL\_HINT\_WAVE\_RIFF\_CHUNK\_SIZE(3)

A variable controlling how the size of the RIFF chunk affects the loading of a WAVE file.

## NAME

SDL\_HINT\_WAVE\_RIFF\_CHUNK\_SIZE - A variable controlling how the size of the RIFF chunk affects the loading of a WAVE file.

## HEADER FILE

Defined in SDL3/SDL\_hints.h

## SYNOPSIS

```
#include "SDL3/SDL.h"
```

**#define SDL\_HINT\_WAVE\_RIFF\_CHUNK\_SIZE** *SDL\_WAVE\_RIFF\_CHUNK\_SIZE"*

## DESCRIPTION

The size of the RIFF chunk (which includes all the sub-chunks of the WAVE file) is not always reliable. In case the size is wrong, it's possible to just ignore it and step through the chunks until a fixed limit is reached.

Note that files that have trailing data unrelated to the WAVE file or corrupt files may slow down the loading process without a reliable boundary. By default, SDL stops after 10000 chunks to prevent wasting time. Use  **SDL\_HINT\_WAVE\_CHUNK\_LIMIT**\
  to adjust this value.

The variable can be set to the following values:

• "force" - Always use the RIFF chunk size as a boundary for the chunk\
   search.

• "ignorezero" - Like "force", but a zero size searches up to 4 GiB.\
   (default)

• "ignore" - Ignore the RIFF chunk size and always search up to 4 GiB.

• "maximum" - Search for chunks until the end of file. (not recommended)

This hint should be set before calling  **SDL\_LoadWAV** () or

**SDL\_LoadWAV\_IO** ()

## AVAILABILITY

This hint is available since SDL 3.2.0.