[PD] big [hid] changes...

[Hans-Christoph Steiner]

So my bruising experience of porting [hid] to Windows has lead me to  
a new approach for [hid] on all platforms.  Currently, as it is now,  
[hid] is not a HID API, but really an input API like the Linux input  
API.  I think it is useful to have a real USB HID API as well as a  
Linux-style input API within Pd, so I plan on changing things in a  
big way to support this, and I wanted to get some feedback on the  
ideas before forging ahead, especially considering that none of this  
will be backwards compatible with [hid] (though the input-style API  
will be very similar and based on the same code).

First off, [hid] will become a Pd object version of libhid, so it'll  
be a regular USB HID API, but with some Pd-style specifics.  Yes,  
there is some pain to this conversion, but I think we'll all be  
better off in the long run.  I hope to make a corresponding [usb]  
object based on libusb which can be used in conjunction with the new  
[hid].  This will be a much more flexible approach, but there is  
still much design work and research to be done before I know how  
feasible it is.

Second, what is now [hid] will be renamed and I'll implement some  
biggish changes that I have been meaning to do which are not  
backwards compatible.  The idea for the new object is to fully  
embrace the idea of the Linux-input-style abstraction layer.  I am  
not sure whether this should be a separate object with its own C  
code, or whether it should also be based on [usb] and [hid].  Then  
the existing [joystick], [mouse], [tablet], [gamepad], etc. objects  
will be based on this new object and _will_ be backwards compatible.   
So only more advanced users of the [hid] objects will be affected.

But the first step is to find a name for this new object.  I have  
been thinking either [human->pd] or [you->pd] to highlight that its  
meant for getting data from people into Pd.  Plus I think that "->"  
makes a nice conversion symbol.

Ideas, thoughts, criticisms, comments are all welcomed and are in  
fact what I am after.

.hc

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If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem.
                                                               -  
Eldridge Cleaver