Ideas for future features

[Burton Alexandre]

On Tue, 10 Mar 1998, Larry Troxler wrote:

> 1) Could/should there be an object that transmits a bang when an
> abstraction is loaded. THis would  be to trigger initialization, such as
> loading files into arrays, etc. Presumably, there would be a similar
> object which bangs when the file is closed.

 on the current Opcode distribution, "loadbang" and "closebang" do just what 
you describe.
 
> 2) How does IRCAM and/or Opcode Max do score files, if they do? I was
> thinking, something that would probably be easy to implement and use,
> and at the same time very powerful, would be simply to add something to
> the message syntax which delays a given number of milliseconds before
> executing the next line in the message script. For example:
 [...]
> Presumably there would be a mechanism to both read such a "score" from a
> file.
 
 There is an external called qlist, not part of the Opcode dist, that 
implements such a mechanism. But that was i while ago and i don't think 
it was ported to PPC. There is also the more recent Timeline, which 
enables you to "score" events graphically, either as discrete objects 
such as you describe, or as continous graphs or table read over time at a 
given tempo. 

 Since we're talking about "the future", i'd like to know if there is a 
plan for Pd, a list of things that are in the making, things that could 
need a hand, etc. Being a long-time Opcode Max user, i feel a little 
"naked" in the current Pd dist (very small library, austere interface). 
But there are a number of "higher-level" ideas i'd like to share (or 
maybe they already have been adressed).

 1) Object Browser that would enable one to monitor objects outside their 
home windows. Imagine putting a class name and seeing a list of 
instances, with fields in real time showing the ins and outs values. 
Also, click one and get to it (would be very usefull for sends and 
receivces!). This would bring a layer of structure very difficult to 
achieve when only relying on the graphical/visual cue.

 2) "meta" level of object management (goes with the browser); having the
capabilities to dynamically create/delete objects. When dealing with
complex patches evolving over time, sometimes it would be better to have
to computer do the programming... 

 3) Nicer developpement tools (ex: a "forget class" message to reload 
externals without restarting). I don't have much experience coding 
externals so this is my only request so far...

 But my real question is "what is the <<project>> behind Pd".

 Cheers,

						Alex Burton.