structuredData (sd)

A library for the famous puredata music software.

purpose

This library shows one flavour of writing abstractions/patches in puredata and how to exchange specifically structured messages between them.

In more detail: The library provides utilities to realize specific design principles in puredata, namely:

• structured messages

  • hierarchically structured, arbitrarily deeply nested messages
  • these can be accumulated, serialized, filtered, ...

• objects maintaining internal state

  • a stateful object has "properties"
  • properties can be set/retrieved in a standardized way

The goals/benefits are:

• a generic GUI to inspect and manipulate stateful objects
• record all "events" happening at runtime
• stateful objs can track other objects state
• the state of an object can be saved/loaded to/from RAM/disk

implementation

Most objects are written in C, a few are provided as puredata "abstractions".

dependencies

• puredata
• zexy (just needed for the "gui" object)

build dependencies

• fish shell
• git

utility scripts

• init project (download dependencies, ...):

    $ ./scripts/init.fish
  

• clean project (remove all all temporary files, ...)

    $ ./scripts/exit.fish
  

test locally without installing to system

1. install library to a local dir

    $ ./scripts/local_init.fish
   

2. run docu

    $ ./scripts/local_run.fish
   

   all objects should appear and work as expected...

3. uninstall library from the local dir

    $ ./scripts/local_exit.fish
   

installation

• build and install:

    $ ./scripts/build.fish install
  

  (for options append --help)

• configure pd to load the library

  start pd and add structuredDataC under File -> Settings -> Start -> New

• configure pd to find abstractions

  start pd and add <install_location>/structuredDataC under File -> Settings -> Path -> New

documentation

The Documentation is provided as puredata example patches accessible in pd under Help -> Patch Browser -> structuredDataC. Alternatively, for help with a specific object, right click on it and select "help".