[PD] defining "list" and "anything"

[Hans-Christoph Steiner]

So working with the [tosymbol] and [fromsymbol] provided another good  
example of the lists vs. anything confusion.  So it seems that this is  
unlikely to change, so we need to find ways of documenting it well so  
that it is less confusing.  Currently, there is a serious problem with  
terminology.  The word "list" is often used logically rather than how  
things are actually working.  For example, a list of atoms starting  
with a symbol is not a "list" but an "anything", unless that list  
starts with the selector "list".  So I think that we need to define  
"list" in particular, and "anything" while we are at it, since its  
related.  Consistent use of the word "list" would make things much  
easier to follow.  So here's a first attempt:

"list": a "list" is a group of atoms that either starts with the  
selector "list" or a "float".

"anything": an "anything" is a group of atoms that either starts with  
the selector "anything" or a "symbol"

these are different kinds of lists, i.e. not "lists" (from the Pd docs):

"sorted list of tilde objects"

"Click the "DIO errors" button to see a list of recent errors"

""Help" for the canvas as a whole (right-clicking outside any object)  
gives a list of all built-in objects."

"Unless they arrange otherwise by defining a "list" method, objects  
respond to the "list" message by distributing the arguments of the  
message to their inlets, except for the first argument which is passed  
as a "float" or "symbol" message to the object proper."

"Pd objects are provided to traverse lists and arrays,

It would be great to have a glossary of these words defined in the Pd  
sense and a style guide for how to write the Pd words in help patches.   
One example of something for the style guide would be to have all Pd  
words in quotes, for example "list", "bang", "float", etc.

.hc
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