[PD] Reference files question

[David Sabine]

Hello all,

As you may be aware, I've been working on new reference files for PD.  I've run into a 'snag' however and I'd like some advice.

The 'snag':

It's my personal opinion that detailed and specific documentation is always best.  It's also my opinion that it's impossible to provide "too much" information about anything.  Hence, it's also my opinion that every object in PD should have its own documentation.  I'd like to build new documents for the MATH objects in PD but:

1.  The binary operators, when right-clicked and "Help" is selected from the sub-menu, open a file called "operators.pd" or "otherbinops.pd".  Similar problems also exist with objects like [dbtorms] and [mtof]; those files all open a file called "acoustics.pd".

2.  I would like to build a help document for [+] and [==] for example, but those object names may not be good file names.  ==.pd ??  I think that operating systems may not like those file names.

So the questions I have are these:

1.  Do you all agree that each object in PD should have its own documentation?
2.  If so, then what changes need to be made to PD source code to open the appropriate help documents in the reference folder?
3.  Is it possible to build a subroutine in PD's source code which will:
- search first for a document in the reference folder which corresponds to the object name
- search for a document called "plus.pd" for the [+] object instead of a document called "+.pd"
- search for a document called "operators.pd" only if a 'dedicated' help document does not exist in the folder (and for backwards compatibility for PD users who haven't downloaded my help documents.

Any and all comments are welcome and greatly appreciated.

Regards,
Dave Sabine

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