[PD-dev] recycling symbols

[Krzysztof Czaja]

hi all,

the 'symbol' selector has no special meaning in max, while Pd has
a special kind of 'symbol' message.  If any Pd object sends any
message with a 'symbol' selector, it will always be delivered as
a single symbol, even if the object constructs a multi-atom
message and sends it as `anything'.

I do not want cyclone classes to play any tricks in order to make
them handle symbols in a more 'compatible' way -- but am I right?
Ok, this one is probably a trifle, but I would like to be sure of
not overlooking anything, because the same question recurs again
and again while cloning max classes.

My bet is to choose consistency over compatibility -- if by any
means any cyclone object was to be asked to output a message with
a 'symbol' selector, then this message would always be a proper
Pd symbol message, i.e. having exactly one symbol atom of data.

So, if for whatever reason multi-atom messages with a 'symbol'
selector (or 'symbol <float>' messages) are used in a max patch
one is going to port, then the options would be either to manually
substitute another selector (e.g. 'Symbol'), or not to use any
selector explicitly, but instead, to pack all the atoms into one
using [tosymbol].

Am I right?

Krzysztof