sixtin

I've been working on a project I inherited from a colleague which has many files in the directory, many of which I'm not sure are used in the patch.

I'd like a way to check if the files are used somewhere in the patch i.e. if the filename occurs in the patch. I reckon that, as patches are just text files this shouldn't be too difficult but due to the huge amount of files in the directory I don't want to have to go through one by one with the find function (!).

Does anyone know of software/applescript/max patch/have an idea which may work to solve my problem.

checking-if-a-file-is-used-in-a-max-patch

Perhaps using "list externals and subpatcher files" from the file menu will be helpful. It will print the details to the max window.

Also, if there are objects with "bound" data files (like fpic, pattrstorage, etc), those files might be in the project folder as well. So if you make a folder with just the .maxpat files and try running them on from outside all the search paths (using another machine entirely is a good test), you'll get errors that identify the missing files.

I'll add my never heard demand for a "build distribution" entry like the "build application" into Max itself. I wonder why this has never been implemented, I think everybody including all the stuff from cycling would love it, and should be a simple mod to the existing "build application" or "build collective" scripts. If enough users support this demand, it might eventually happen...

(It would certainly help support, if you need to analyze a given patch, those who send it in, can do so pretty easily. I bet at the moment missing subpatchers are a major disturbance in this process...)

I'll add my never heard demand for a "build distribution" entry like the "build application" into Max itself. I wonder why this has never been implemented, I think everybody including all the stuff from cycling would love it, and should be a simple mod to the existing "build application" or "build collective" scripts. If enough users support this demand, it might eventually happen...
(It would certainly help support, if you need to analyze a given patch, those who send it in, can do so pretty easily. I bet at the moment missing subpatchers are a major disturbance in this process...)


That's great. I didn't know that existed. Thanks.

A god idea but didn't work for me. I only got one error message which was for a sound file and nothing else. All the fpics (there are a LOT!) didn't give errors. There are also a lot of mp3 files which won't register as missing until they're loaded into jit.qtmovie too so I really need to check if the name exists in the patch.

I for one support your idea - especially for projects like this. When the Cycling guys came to Ircam last year I asked them exactly about this for a project I was working on then, and the response was 'we'll think about it'.

Checking if a file is used in a Max patch