[PD] [*] vs [*~]

[Hans-Christoph Steiner]

On Dec 27, 2006, at 12:01 PM, Mathieu Bouchard wrote:

>
> I have some newbie questions here...
>
> why is it that [*] is only for floats, whereas if you want to  
> multiply two signals one has to use [*~] ?

Pd is strongly typed, so floats and signal data are different types,  
just like floats and symbols.

> And then why is it that [*~] can multiply a signal by a float, but  
> [*] can't do that?
>
> And then why is it that [*~] can't multiply a float by a signal,  
> the signal has to be on the left? Why is it that if I want to  
> divide a float by a signal, then I have to explicitly cast the  
> float to signal (using [sig~]) or use [expr~] ?

The right inlet is generally matched to the first argument in the  
object box.  In this context, it makes sense to have only [*~]'s  
right inlet violate the strict typing because you can't type signal  
data into the object box.

.hc

>
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> | Freelance Digital Arts Engineer, Montréal QC  
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