[PD] font sizes WAS: Idiomatic Pd

[Hans-Christoph Steiner]

On Jul 29, 2008, at 10:29 AM, Matt Barber wrote:

>> Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2008 10:02:05 -0400
>> From: marius schebella <marius.schebella at gmail.com>
>> Subject: Re: [PD] Idiomatic Pd
>> To: pd-list at iem.at
>> Message-ID: <488F22DD.6060505 at gmail.com>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
>>
>> I am quite pedantic in regard to spacing and aligning of objects. I
>> started to space all objects using ctrl+arrow keys. that way all  
>> objects
>> are spaced like on a grid and always a multiple of 10px away of  
>> each other.
>> I don't know if that should go into a style guide, but for "official"
>> patches like tutorials it could be considered.
>
> Yes, I am this way too -- but with font sizes sometimes being
> different from one platform to the next, and even between extended and
> vanilla, it's really hard to ensure that things will line up sweetly
> every time you open it, everywhere.

If font sizes are indeed different on Pd-extended, then that's a  
bug.  From all my tests, they are pixel-accurate on all three  
platforms since 0.39.3.  You might have the problem where Tcl/Tk  
can't load the fonts properly on GNU/Linux, which is addressed in  
this FAQ:

http://puredata.info/docs/faq/on-gnu-linux-the-fonts-are-strange-and- 
or-too-big-or-small

Otherwise, if you are indeed seeing different font/pixel sizes with  
Pd-extended 0.40.3 then please file a bug report with as much detail  
as possible and an example patch.

.hc




>> If I work on big patches that run as installations (no interface) the
>> parent patch is basically empty, it only shows piece information and
>> credits, everything is in a subpatch called [MACHINE]. and that  
>> usually
>> is more a visual representation of the space (according to  
>> positioning
>> of sensors/speakers) or a basic overview of the patch structure  
>> with an
>> short explanation of what the different subpatches are doing.
>> even, if everybody says, pd patches are their own documentation,  
>> because
>> everything is visible, that's not true, commenting should be an
>> important part of patching (cyclone's comment allow differnt fonts,
>> sizes, colors and width of comments).
>
> This is a good point.  In fact, for some patches e.g. for interactive
> pieces to be sent to musicians who don't do Pd for a living -- =o) --
> I prefer to put everything in a subpatch which has a GOP control
> surface.  I think it's productive to petition against the "spider web"
> style, but even too many objects and connections on the main patch
> seems wasteful somehow.  It's nice to include a subpatch which can be
> opened with a bng, that is basically a readme.  I do this for
> abstractions, too, but without the bng -- just something to describe
> how it works inside the patch itself, I suppose as a quick substitute
> for a help file.
>
> Most of this is really personal, though, and I don't think it should
> be codified.
>
>
>
>
>> then, for patches that rely on abstractions, *maybe* it would be  
>> good to
>> give them either unique names or put them into subfolders. (I have to
>> say, I do not really stick with this rule. but at least one thing:  
>> the
>> main patch should always be recognizable, I usually put it in capital
>> letters, so that people know, which patch to start.
>>
>> resources (images, textfiles, data) could be kept in a subfolder,  
>> too.
>> (just think of the GEM examples, how often one of the images or  
>> videos
>> can not be found. - at least in the past).
>
>
> Abstractions, whenever possible I think, should try not to conflict
> with names in extended, even when the patch is designed for vanilla.
> Also, I think it's helpful to include tilde in abstraction names when
> audio signals are involved.
>
> When 0.39 begins to wane (so [declare] can be used), it might be
> productive to keep abstractions in subfolders, and possibly control in
> one and tilde in another.  Same, as you suggest, with textfiles,
> qlists, images, and soundfiles.  This way the main patch is there
> cleanly for anyone who might need to use the patch besides you, and
> especially nice for musicians.
>
> Again, not essential, but ergonomic.
>
> Matt
>
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