---
name: "SDL_wcsnstr"
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_wcsnstr"
---

# SDL\_wcsnstr(3)

Search a wide string, up to n wide chars, for the first instance of a specific substring.

## NAME

SDL\_wcsnstr - Search a wide string, up to n wide chars, for the first instance of a specific substring.

## HEADER FILE

Defined in SDL3/SDL\_stdinc.h

## SYNOPSIS

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

**wchar\_t \* SDL\_wcsnstr(const wchar\_t \*haystack, const wchar\_t \*needle, size\_t maxlen);**

## DESCRIPTION

The search ends once it finds the requested substring, or a null terminator value to end the string, or **maxlen** wide character have been examined. It is possible to use this function on a wide string without a null terminator.

Note that this looks for strings of \_wide characters\_, not \_codepoints\_, so it's legal to search for malformed and incomplete UTF-16 sequences.

## FUNCTION PARAMETERS

- *haystack*

  the wide string to search. Must not be NULL.

- *needle*

  the wide string to search for. Must not be NULL.

- *maxlen*

  the maximum number of wide characters to search in **haystack** .

## RETURN VALUE

Returns a pointer to the first instance of **needle** in the string, or NULL if not found.

## THREAD SAFETY

It is safe to call this function from any thread.

## AVAILABILITY

This function is available since SDL 3.2.0.