[PD] Backslash in WINDOWS or other special characters (was Re: Pduino sysex vs. OSC advice)

[oliver]

>>
>> Does anyone know if there is a way to use the comma and the semicolon in a
>> pd message in order to send it to the comport effectively?
>
> since you can pass raw bytes to [comport], you could just insert "44"
> (resp. "59") at the relevant places.


hi,

another topic, but i thought i'd share my experiences since they are 
nowhere documented:

on windows, there's the big problem of backslashes (instead of slahes on 
unixes) for directory hierarchy when it comes to the command line.
inside PD that's not a problem since slashes are treated as backslashes 
when used in filenames.

however: i sometimes use 3rd party .exe files from within PD (namely SOX 
and FFMPEG for conversion purposes) together with the auld [system] 
external from the MOTEX library. when you do this you really NEED the 
backslash, otherwise your commands won't work.

my workaround is this:

i start PD with a batch script and there i define an environment 
variable for the backslash like this:

SET BSL=\


in a PD patch i can use this environment variable like this:

[mkdir C:%BSL%Temp%BSL%testdir(
|
[system]


to get the job done.


i guess the same method would apply to other special characters that are 
not allowed natively inside PD.

hope this is of some help

best

oliver