Eric Lyon

First of all, congratulation to everyone at c74 for the recent announcement regarding Max 5. Although the release won't be out for awhile, it would be great to learn answers to the following questions:

Will non-GUI third-party externals need to be rebuilt against a new set of MaxMSP libraries? Or will externals currently built for 4.6.x still work in Max 5?

Will the project formats be different, requiring that e.g. new Xcode configurations be swapped in?

Will there be fundamental changes requiring most MaxMSP code to be rewritten?

The reason for the last question is that specifications for the code itself have been remarkably stable for the last 10 years. But since a major overhaul has been announced, I can't help wondering if it has been possible to maintain that stability in the face of this major redesign.

Any information will be greatly appreciated.

developing-externals-for-max5

> First of all, congratulation to everyone at c74 for the recent 

> announcement regarding Max 5. Although the release won't be out for 

> awhile, it would be great to learn answers to the following questions:

I'll do my best to answer these, with the caveat that any of this 

could change between now and release, and it should not be held 

> Will non-GUI third-party externals need to be rebuilt against a new 

> set of MaxMSP libraries? Or will externals currently built for 

Many will continue to work as-is -- the binary format hasn't changed. 

As David mentioned, there are some specific cases (UI objects, 

objects with graphic windows, and some others), where APIs have been 

changed or removed -- we've tried to minimize this, and hopefully the 

> Will the project formats be different, requiring that e.g. new 

> Will there be fundamental changes requiring most MaxMSP code to be 

I think I answered this above, but the basic answer is "yes and no". 

There have been some major changes to the way Max interacts with the 

underlying OS, most obviously to the way the UI works. Objects which 

rely heavily on drawing (UI objects, objects with graphic windows) 

will need to be rewritten. _Some_ objects which do file manipulation 

using Max's path API may need some light modifications. But in 

general, no, _most_ MaxMSP code won't need to be rewritten.

Again, please take with a grain of salt -

> First of all, congratulation to everyone at c74 for the recent  
> announcement regarding Max 5. Although the release won't be out for  
> awhile, it would be great to learn answers to the following questions:

I'll do my best to answer these, with the caveat that any of this  
could change between now and release, and it should not be held  
against me.

> Will non-GUI third-party externals need to be rebuilt against a new  
> set of MaxMSP libraries? Or will externals currently built for  
> 4.6.x still work in Max 5?

Many will continue to work as-is -- the binary format hasn't changed.  
As David mentioned, there are some specific cases (UI objects,  
objects with graphic windows, and some others), where APIs have been  
changed or removed -- we've tried to minimize this, and hopefully the  
transition won't be too painful.

> Will the project formats be different, requiring that e.g. new  
> Xcode configurations be swapped in?

> Will there be fundamental changes requiring most MaxMSP code to be  
> rewritten?

I think I answered this above, but the basic answer is "yes and no".  
There have been some major changes to the way Max interacts with the  
underlying OS, most obviously to the way the UI works. Objects which  
rely heavily on drawing (UI objects, objects with graphic windows)  
will need to be rewritten. _Some_ objects which do file manipulation  
using Max's path API may need some light modifications. But in  
general, no, _most_ MaxMSP code won't need to be rewritten.

And I can imagine what rewriting could mean for someone with a set of 

While most objects are going to work without any modification in 

Max 5, third-party user interface objects such as sliders and dials, 

and objects that display something in their own window will not work 

and will need to be rewritten completely.

ps My only wish is that we can change the DSP chain in real-time... I 

presume that a compulsive coder like you could make use of this 

And I can imagine what rewriting could mean for someone with a set of  
externals like you, Eric ;-)

While most objects are going to work without any modification in  
Max 5, third-party user interface objects such as sliders and dials,  
and objects that display something in their own window will not work  
and will need to be rewritten completely.

ps My only wish is that we can change the DSP chain in real-time... I  
presume that a compulsive coder like you could make use of this  
feature as well!


Many thanks for the quick reply, which was everything I had hoped for. Of course I won't hold it against you if things later change.

> ps My only wish is that we can change the DSP chain in real-time... I 

> presume that a compulsive coder like you could make use of this 

Great idea, PA! I actually suggested it on some ancient wish-list thread, and would be delighted to see it in Max 5. (That's one feature that SuperCollider currently has up on Max.) But in any case, judging just from what I saw at NIME 2007, when Max 5 is finally released we'll have many other reasons to toss virtual flowers in the general direction of San Francisco.

> ps My only wish is that we can change the DSP chain in real-time... I  
> presume that a compulsive coder like you could make use of this  
> feature as well!
>

I guess objects that traverse the patcher heirarchy and/or parse saved patcher binbufs will definitely need a rewrite?

If so, is it likely that there will be any advance access to the new API?

Am 01.10.2007 um 01:08 schrieb John Pitcairn:

> I guess objects that traverse the patcher heirarchy and/or parse 

> saved patcher binbufs will definitely need a rewrite?

I think I've been clear about that in the past. :)

> If so, is it likely that there will be any advance access to the 

I don't know what the plans are in this regard. I'm sure there will 

> I guess objects that traverse the patcher heirarchy and/or parse  
> saved patcher binbufs will definitely need a rewrite?

> If so, is it likely that there will be any advance access to the  
> new API?

I don't know what the plans are in this regard. I'm sure there will  
be an announcement at some point.

Developing externals for Max5