----- Original Message ----- > From: Hans-Christoph Steiner <h...@at.or.at> > To: Jonathan Wilkes <jancs...@yahoo.com> > Cc: fbar <f...@footils.org>; "pd-list@iem.at" <pd-list@iem.at> > Sent: Tuesday, September 6, 2011 4:04 PM > Subject: Re: [PD] (breaking symbols) was Re: find a list of numbers in a text > file > > > On Sep 6, 2011, at 12:30 PM, Jonathan Wilkes wrote: > >> ----- Original Message ----- >> >>> From: fbar <f...@footils.org> >>> To: "pd-list@iem.at" <pd-list@iem.at> >>> Cc: >>> Sent: Tuesday, September 6, 2011 3:53 AM >>> Subject: Re: [PD] (breaking symbols) was Re: find a list of numbers in > a text file >>> >>> On Tue, Sep 06, 2011 at 09:44:33AM +0200, Frank Barknecht wrote: >>>> I'm not sure what "appears in the patch" should mean. > It >>> definitly means >>>> that numercial-symbol selectors don't get shown and cannot be > written >>>> into a patch, so you cannot use them in the editor where > "real" >>>> selectors should be written, like in [route]. >>> >>> Forgot to add: Of course it is possible and legal to "use" > numerical >>> or >>> non-printable symbols as selectors, but they have to be constructed >>> dynamically and cannot be typed, in accordance with the restrictions >>> mentioned in the manual. Instead something like this can be used: >>> >>> [makefilename %d] >>> | >>> | [makefilename %d] >>> | | >>> [select symbol-dummy] >>> >>> I used [makefilename %d] a lot in the rj library's [m_chorddict] >>> dictionary for chords, where some chord names are proper symbols, like >>> "m7", while others are floats like 7. The float-names get > converted to >>> symbols internally to look up chord notes in a data structure array >>> keyed by symbols only (using [m_symbolarray]). >> >> At what point are you using numerical-symbol selectors? Everything > you've >> described has the selector 'symbol'. >> >> If you mean you let the user send symbols or floats as the key and convert >> internally, that's _exactly_ what I'm proposing. > > I guess I'm not clear on your proposal. Is it that a "symbol" > selector automatically converts things to a symbol? That makes a lot of > sense, > and would help with other issues. Then you could also make symbols with > spaces, > like: > > [symbol 43( > [symbol /home/hans/My Documents(
Well, that's something I've wanted for a long time. But what I am proposing has to do with selectors, not symbol messages. Problem: convert from symbol-atom to float-atom Proposal: if a selector happens to be in a form that can be interpreted by the naked eye as a valid Pd float, and the object receiving the message has a float method (and no anything method), then send a float to the object. [r infinite-expressivity] | [1( <- float | [makefilename %d] <-- converted to symbol message (and the message arg is convert to a symbol-atom) | [list trim] <-- now we have a message with the selector 1 and no arguments | [route float] <-- seriously, it's a symbol-atom, not a float | ------------+ | [float] <-- my proposal: give [float] a float-atom instead of a symbol-atom in this case | [route float] | [set $1, bang( | [s infinite-expressivity] But if there were a really nice quoting mechanism, that would probably be much clearer. > > etc. > > A quoting mechanism would also help. We could probably get away with only > \. For example, \ for spaces, like: > > [symbol /home/hans/My\ Documents( > [symbol I\ like\ lots\ of\ \ \ \ \ spaces( > [symbol commas\,\ in\ symbols( > [symbol semi-colon\;\ in\ symbols( That looks really ugly to me. What's wrong with "quotes"? > > And last but least, and its already in there: > > [symbol \43( > [symbol \-21343( > [symbol \-0.2e59( > > Anything that just \ couldn't cover? [openpanel] <- outputs /home/hans/My documents | [set symbol $1( | [ ( <-- What's printed here? ...My documents or ...My\ documents? > > .hc > > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > If nature has made any one thing less susceptible than all others of > exclusive > property, it is the action of the thinking power called an idea, which an > individual may exclusively possess as long as he keeps it to himself; but the > moment it is divulged, it forces itself into the possession of everyone, and > the > receiver cannot dispossess himself of it. - Thomas Jefferson > _______________________________________________ Pd-list@iem.at mailing list UNSUBSCRIBE and account-management -> http://lists.puredata.info/listinfo/pd-list
