Hello,

I'm trying to implement my first Serious Idea in pd but I'm stumbling in the basics.

One abstraction would take a filename and a table name, load the file into the table and do stuff. So I'd like to send the soundfiler inside the abstraction this message:

"read -resize $1 $2"

But how do I pack that into a message? I can't make a "pack symbol symbol symbol symbol" with four message parameters "symbol read", "symbol -resize", "symbol $1" and "symbol $2", because (if I understand right) in a message $1 is a list index, not the first abstraction input parameter.

[read -resize $1 $2(

is already a message.

Also, [pack] and variables in messages like [$1 $2( ignore the leading identifier ("list", "symbol") so this shouldn't be an issue.

Can you post an example or explain further what the problem is?

This is paratest2.pd:

[inlet]
|
[read -resize $1 $2(
|
[print]

When I instantiate that with

[O]
|
[paratest2 foo bar]

the printout is "read -resize 0 0".

This is paratest.pd:
[inlet]
| \ \ \
[symbol read] [symbol -resize] [symbol $1] [symbol $2]
| / / /
[pack symbol symbol symbol symbol]
|
[print]

This version works, now that I realized that there's a 'symbol' object. Problem solved for now.

Variables are handled differently in objects and message boxes. Though they appear the same,

[$1(
|
[symbol]

does not equal

[bang(
|
[symbol $1]

..

If you are trying to grab the creation arguments of the abstraction, you will need to use variables within objects. That is why the second example above (paratest.pd) works.

http://en.flossmanuals.net/PureData/DollarSigns

A slightly more streamlined way to do what you did above is:

[inlet]
|
[t b b]
| \
[symbol $1] [symbol $2]
| /
[pack s s]
|
[read -resize $1 $2(
|
[print]

Thank you, that looks more elegant.

I have a closely related problem with passing symbol parameters. The attached zip file contains a minimal example.

The soundfiler object in the abstraction should get the message "read -resize ../samples/20.wav testtable" when I hit the bang in the main patch.

The first time I hit the bang, the constructed message is "read -resize symbol", causing an error.

On the second bang the soundfiler gets the message "read -resize ../samples/20.wav", and causes another error.

It's only on the third bang that the object gets the correct instruction string and loads the wave file into the table.

What am I doing wrong here?

http://www.pdpatchrepo.info/hurleur/example.zip

The problem is that you have connections fanning out from one bang to multiple messages. Since Pd can technically only do one thing at a time, these have to be done in order. Right now, they only execute in the order you connected them, so [pack] is sending out it contents before it receives all of its messages. You need to use [trigger], which can be abbreviated as [t], to force the execution order:

[t b b b]
| | |
| | [first thing(
| |
| [second thing(
|
[third thing(

The "b" means bang, so each outlet will send out a bang in order from right to left. You can also send floats, symbols, lists, and anythings, and can even convert types when needed. It's worth checking out its help patch. [t] is one of the most important objects to know for ensuring that your patches are both readable and working as you intended. Pretty much anytime you have one outlet connected to multiple inlets, you should think about whether or not you need it, and just use it if you're not sure.

Thank you!