Joystickid

Joystickid is a general term used in software development to denote the unique identifier assigned to a joystick or gamepad by an input subsystem. The identifier is used to distinguish between multiple connected devices and to route input events to the correct device. In practice, a joystickid acts as a runtime handle that lets an application track which joystick generated a given event.

The exact representation of a joystickid varies by platform and library. It is commonly an integer or other opaque handle provided by the input API. Because it is tied to the runtime device stack, the value of a joystickid can change when devices are connected, disconnected, or re-enumerated. Some environments also provide additional persistent identifiers, such as hardware paths or serial-like strings, to help maintain mappings across sessions.

Obtaining and using a joystickid typically involves device enumeration or event processing. An application queries the input subsystem for the list of connected joysticks, receives a joystickid for each device, and then uses that id to correlate incoming input events with the correct device. This approach enables per-device configuration, binding, and state tracking within a multi-device setup.

Practical considerations include handling hot-plugging, where reconnecting a joystick may yield a new joystickid, and implementing a fallback mechanism using a persistent identifier when cross-session mappings are required. Developers often implement per-device profiles keyed by the joystickid or by a more persistent hardware identifier.

See also: joystick, game controller, input device, device identifier.