Cycling 74 » Topic: newbie number box question

newbie number box question

machocave — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 15:41:53 +0000

Hi all! I’m new to Max and picked it up during the awesome sale :) I’m currently working my way through the tutorials and just am a little stuck. I’m wondering if there is any way to set the number box to be a float, and am also wondering if I can change the float number boxes in the tutorials to int number box–essentially I am wondering where do I go to change the number box integer or float attribute. I tried going to the inspector and don’t see an easy way to change it. Currently I’m copying and pasting float number boxes.

Thanks!
Ken

Re: newbie number box question

nicolas danet — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 15:55:07 +0000

Hello,

AFAIK [number] and [flonum] are distinct objects ; so i guess there is no way to swap between float/int type with any attribute nor message … you can use shortcut keys “i” “f” to create them ; at least in max5 ;-)

Re: newbie number box question

machocave — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 16:05:17 +0000

Thanks! That works really great!

Re: newbie number box question

seejayjames — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 16:56:59 +0000

Also, if you use “n” to make a new number box, then type “i” or “f”, you’ll get the “object-box” version of each of the number boxes. They do the same thing but don’t have interaction, so they can be used for storing numbers and they take up less CPU because they appear static.

You can use up and down arrows on integer boxes, and you can “aim” on the decimal place in floats for more precision with the mouse. Holding Shift will change how the mouse interacts. Also, the right outlet sends a bang if the number box has focus (triangle highlight) and you press tab, which you can send to a “select” message to cycle through a series of them, see patch below.

One caveat: if you are in a number box, any [key] commands that the number box understands (numbers, backspace, return, tab, decimal, negative sign) will be captured by the box. So if you’re using numbers and [key] to control other processes, they won’t work while a box is selected.

– Pasted Max Patch, click to expand. –

Re: newbie number box question

machocave — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 18:19:22 +0000

Wow! Thanks for the great info :)

Re: newbie number box question

Chris Muir — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 18:27:50 +0000

If you need to replace one with the other in an existing patch, Paste Replace will often do.

Re: newbie number box question

machocave — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 20:44:19 +0000

That’s a great tip!