Hi,

Im trying to input a file with spaces in its name and separate the filename words into message boxes. but not having much luck.

Ive managed to separate the filename from the directory by using [splitfilename] and output it into a message box. E.g. [test file one.wav<

I've found if I add list to the start of the message it works:

[list test file one.wav<
| \ \
[set $1< [set $2< [set $3<
| | |
[test< [file< [one.wav<

My only question now is how do I add 'list' to the start of the message (or make the message a list) I receive from [splitfilename]. I tried [add2 list $1< but it only outputs the first word in the name.

It would be great if someone could explain how to deal with lists and create them etc.. I am not finding the help files too helpful.

Thanks in advance
J

Ok thanks Kyro.
I don't understand your last sentence though. If it were a list you could do:

[list test file one.wav(
| \ \
[set $1( [set $2( [set $3(
| | |
[test( [file( [one.wav(

Of course. I meant that this:

[splitfilename /]
|
[set $1(
|
would not set the whole name with spaces if the output of splitfilename was a list.

But this would work wouldn't it?

[splitfilename]
|
[add2 list $1(
|
[ (

Do you know how to get splitfilename to output a list by any chance?

Thanks for your help guys I finally figured out the solution.

In case someone else comes across this problem I've attached the patch.

I didn't realise the argument in [splitfilename] was a selector to cut the name at the point of the last argument.

In the case of 'test file one.wav' there needs to be 3 [splitfilename] s. The first takes away the directory with an argument of '/' (or default). The right outlet of that (test file one.wav) goes to a [splitfilename space] which cuts name at the last space. Leaving a 'one.wav' in the right outlet and 'test file' in the left. That goes to another [splitfilename space] which splits 'test file' into two.

Relief!

Thanks,
J

http://www.pdpatchrepo.info/hurleur/splitfilenametest.pd

Ah. I've never used [splitfilename] before and didn't realize that. You might have an easier time then with [symbol2list /]. It will cut the path up where all of the /'s are and make a list out of it. And you'll only need one of them.

Cool Maelstorm, thanks for the advice. Wish I knew that a few days ago

Do the arguments for [symbol2list] work like [splitfilename]? So would
[symbol2list space] cut at every space in the file?

Yes and no. Yes, the arguments for [symbol2list] are what get cut out and are used to separate the list, so:

[symbol hello-world(
|
[symbol2list -]
|

|
|
[hello world(

(You could replace ->with just [prepend set] from cyclone, but it's worth knowing the vanilla way of doing things . Based on your previous post, I had a feeling you'd be interested in knowing how to add an item to the front of a list.)

However, [symbol2list space] will just look for the word "space" and cut it out. To divide it up at the spaces, use no arguments. Check out it's help file. It's pretty...um...helpful.

Thanks for the advice,

I tried using the example in the helpfile for [symbol2list] but it didn't work as I thought it might. Ive achieved what I needed to do with [splitfilename /] so I guess Ill stick with that.

Yeah I do need to add 'symbol' to the start of a message so that [sel] can validate it.
I don't know if there is a better way but this works:

|
[symbol prepend symbol]
|
[set symbol $1(
|
[ (

The help files are very helpful to certain extent. They've made my life a lot easier when it comes to figuring out pd. But some are a bit inconsistent, sometimes confusing matters. Like in the list helpfile it states that using list in a message is good, set - bad, and nothing - ugly.

I haven't red what you were discussing in the middle of topic, but after unpack I tried to use only
[set $1( for all it's outlets and the result the same as on that side you wrote "the only one that works correctly" in an example patch testfileinput.pd

Thanks keygap, I realised that mistake in an earlier post. The main issue was that the output of [splitfilename /] for some reason ignores the spaces. Therefore using either unpack or list would not work. I got it to work by using multiple [splitfilename space]s.

The solution is in splitfilenametest.pd a few posts above.

Cheers,
J