On Mar 20, 2009, at 6:28 PM, Matt Barber wrote:
Also note that some objects, e.g. [qlist], positively depend on the
message sending style. My students who wanted to use them have
often
wondered why we hadn't covered the two ways of sending more in
depth.
Can you explain with an example? I don't understand why you must use
message boxes semi-colons for [qlist]. The [qlist] help patch
doesn't have
any message boxes with semi-colons, for example.
.hc
Sure. A [qlist] sends messages from a file (among other things).
Those messages have the same form as messages sent from message boxes:
send-receive_symbol list or whatever;
The only difference is that the first message in a message box is sent
from its outlet rather than to a receive -- the leading semicolon you
see just means "send no message from outlet" which to me makes plenty
of sense and is not difficult to read at all.
For instance, this:
|; init-1 6 /
|; init-2 symbol foo |
|; init-3 -2 \
Really means:
____________
;
init-1 6;
init-2 symbol foo;
init-3 -2
____________
Doesn't it? (pardon my ascii) And if you did this:
____________
bang;
init-1 6;
init-2 symbol foo;
init-3 -2
____________
then it would send a bang from its inlet first.
So in order to have my students understand [qlist] and its files, they
have found it very useful to know about the message system in message
boxes... it makes the message system in Pd on the whole a lot more
understandable and less confusing, and it seems to be less confusing
the earlier you introduce it to them.
That's all I meant.
Matt
Ah, ok, I get it, the text in the msg boxes is basically the same as
the text in the qlist file. That makes sense, and in the context of
[qlist] I think it makes sense to teach about [; foo( sends. But I
don't think that [qlist] is an essential object, especially for
newbies. I am not saying to avoid it, I have covered it. But
personally, I almost never use it. I find it easier to use [textfile]
and write my own timing code. You can be a pretty advanced Pd user
and not have to use semi-colons in message boxes.
IMHO, semi-colons in messages boxes are no doubt useful, but they are
not essential. In the interests of spreading out the learning of the
concepts in Pd into as many stages as possible, I think it makes sense
to avoid using semi-colons in messages boxes except in contexts that
they are indispensible. So when learning about [qlist], for example,
semi-colons in message boxes should definitely be covered.
Outside of those contexts, I think that overall, Pd users will be
better served by avoiding their use.
.hc
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