How can I save a list that I have created with [openpanel 2] and [list store]?

[bng]
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[openpanel 2]
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[list store]

...I would like to store this output in the patch upon save.

If I edit the [list store] like this...

[list store /Users/me/my-videos/20230714_171857.mp4
/Users/me/my-videos/20230714_164304.mp4
/Users/me/my-videos/20230714_154610.mp4
/Users/me/my-videos/20230714_154522.mp4]

...I get the result I want in the patch but I want to use openpanel 2 instead of copy&paste.

Should I convert the output of [openpanel 2] to a message and then loadbang this message into list store upon load or what? I usually save values in patches by setting messages but something is lost in translation... [list store] does not seem to store anything with the patch.

:/

the helpfile for [text] looks really promising, its not always so easy to deal with newlines and other special characters like slashes

Should I convert the output of [openpanel 2] to a message and then loadbang this message into list store upon load or what?

yes

this will put the last thing output from [openpanel] into the [list store] when the canvas loads

the only way to store things within a patch is in message boxes or with [savestate] (which only works for abstractions iirc)

or, you can use text files as above (personally I prefer saving in-patch)

if you only want to save what is actually in the [list store] you probably need to route the output depending on some save switch which is possible but more complicated and depends on manual saving (or setting the dirty flag for the patch and unsetting it again when saved w/ an iemguts object or something)

edit: maybe message box should go in the left inlet of [list store] for your case, not sure what the rest of the patch looks like

@fishcrystals said:

its not always so easy to deal with newlines and other special characters like slashes

Not sure what you mean here. AFAIK a forward-slash is not a special character in Pd. Since this thread is about saving paths, and paths in Pd use forward slashes (even in Windows), it should be fine...?

If the symbol contains special characters (e.g. as a result of [openpanel]), then it will be written into the [text] encoded with special characters. That is, I just tried to put a symbol containing a semicolon into a [text], and the text's contents show a\;b; where \; represents the semicolon within the symbol, and the final ; is the end of line delimiter. So that much is handled automatically.

Unless you meant that special characters are tricky to handle when setting message box contents? ... which is true, but "/" is not a special character there either.

@seb-harmonik.ar:

the only way to store things within a patch is in message boxes or with [savestate]

[text define -k xyz] will save in-patch.

hjh

-This works but not if using special characters:

[pd stored-list] just contains a blank message box: [(

I understand that for this type of operation should use the text object (maybe it even accepts file names with blank spaces?). However text seems to require semi-colons as separators for a list. I guess that open panel 2 returns a list with return as separators? How could I set this up with text object?

@cfry Complete rewrite, was not thinking straight. [list-drip] is all you need, then you can get the elements one at a time in the usual way.

Your special character issues could be the version of pd if this is for your rpi project and you may just have to accept that some characters can't be used with older versions of pd.

I saw your last post flash by and tried it out, worked fine. As does the version with list-drip.

But! Now I can not load more than 40 something elements. And my list is really close to 200 elements, and may grow.

Is there some kind of limit in the text object?

edit: for this project I am on Mac Pd0.53-2. I probably can find a terminal script to remove special characters, I do that already with blank spaces. Its annoying that OSX name screen recordings with special characters when you set your OS language to something else than English.

@cfry said:

I understand that for this type of operation should use the text object (maybe it even accepts file names with blank spaces?). However text seems to require semi-colons as separators for a list.

When you add entries into [text] line by line, [text] adds the semicolons for you.

I guess that open panel 2 returns a list with return as separators?

Don't guess -- examine the data!

But one key here is that a list in Pd is not "space delimited." When you print a list to the console, or put a list into [text], then the text representation of the list uses spaces in between list entries but the spaces don't exist internally. So when you say "maybe it even accepts file names with blank spaces" -- a symbol may contain a blank space, yes, this is not a problem. When Pd writes a symbol out to print or [text], the textual version tells the difference between a space within a symbol and a space between entries in a list by putting a backslash before the space inside the symbol.

If you see the quick brown fox in a text box, it's a list with 4 symbols.

If you see the\ quick\ brown\ fox in a text box, it's one symbol containing the whole phrase.

Openpanel should give you one symbol per filename, including special characters, encoded as normal strings. When you put it into a text object, it should encode for storage (escaping special characters), and when you retrieve from the text object, it should decode so you get the original strings out.

This is why I asked which special characters you're having trouble with. It's supposed to be handled for you.

How could I set this up with text object?

Easiest way is: If you get a list from openpanel, just dump the list into one line of [text]. The text window itself would just have one big long line but it "should" work.

For a more readable text window, list-drip and push the symbols in one by one.

hjh

@cfry The limit seems to be on [openpanel], not [text] which should be able to expand at least until you run out of ram. So if you want more than 40 or whatever [openpanel]'s limit is you will need to open them in batches.

Yes, the limit was in [openpanel 2]. Actually all three ways work fine with special characters ( [list-store], [text], and [list-drip] @oid, @ddw_music).

I copy the paths in Finder with alt-right click and paste it into the text object. Its a quick manoeuvre and I got the flexibility of the text object.

@ddw_music said:

Don't guess -- examine the data!

But one key here is that a list in Pd is not "space delimited."
...

I hear you Thanks for this clear explanation, it helped a lot.