I hit roadblock in the manual

Quote: usdryad@hotmail.com wrote on Tue, 30 January 2007 22:23
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> 1. There seems to be output coming from kslider, but seeing as >theres nothing going into it and im not clicking on it, where is >its output coming from? This troubles me because it seems that >the majority of input of this patch is coming from an inactive >source.

Once you turn on the metro it bangs the int 36 box a certain percentage of the time which tells make note to create MIDI note 36 at a velocity of 80 (velocity is determined by the argument in makenote). So the activity comes from the metro. Is that what you mean?

>
> 2. Why did they include a "int 36" box? i dont see what its >purpose is supposed to be. More so, why does the pitch of the >inactive kslider feed into the "set value without output" input >when the value has already been set to 36? Wouldnt it make more >sense to put nothing there at all, or at least "int $1"?

See above. 36 is simply a starting note which the user can change via the keyslider. It could have been left blank but then, as you observed, the patch would not make any sound until you clicked on the keyslider (though actually mine makes a nice hum trying to play MIDI note zero). Also, as far as I know $1 only works in message boxes, not in objects.

>
> 3. I remember in the beginning of the tutorial it was mentioned >that max does everything in reverse, meaning it will work bottom >to top, right to left. If thats so, then wouldnt the linear map >calculation be passpct% + 5 * 1.5 - 36?

Right to left yes, but still top to bottom....outlet flows to inlet.

>
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the "bottom to top" ordering can be a little confusing, but all it just means that if you have an out connected to two objects and they are aligned vertically (i.e there is no 'right' or 'left' object, because they are both in the same y axis) then the outlet will send its data to the bottom object first, and then then one above it.

Here is an example:

Not only does the trigger object work well for the
purposes of good patch hygiene, but the world appears
to be positively chock-full of folks who believe them-
selves to be too clever [I once considered myself to
be one of those persons] to do the tutorials and thus
are unlikely to learn anything about the way that
data makes its way through a Max patch. The judicious
use of the trigger object can provide a good way to
fix problems and remind folks of the right-to-left,
bottom-to-top flow of data. When faced with that,
some people actually see the light and begin to
figure out why something in other parts of their
patch don't work.

Of course, Max patches can be traced, too [psst:
the Max Topics manual, chapter on debugging]

Quote: jeanfrancois.charles wrote on Thu, 01 February 2007 08:41
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> Is that documented anywhere?
> If not, I will keep saying NEVER rely on that.

> Is that documented anywhere?
> If not, I will keep saying NEVER rely on that.

On a slightly less droll note:

From the Max46TutorialAndTopics.pdf tutorial #7 summary (pages 34, 35)

"An object with multiple outlets sends messages out its outlet in order from right-to-left. When multiple patch cords are connected to a single outlet, the messages are sent in right-to-left order, depending on the position of the receiving objects. (If the receiving objects are perfectly aligned vertically, the order is bottom-to-top)"

And here's mao's max guide in pictures:

http://jit.playground.googlepages.com/rtol.jpg
http://jit.playground.googlepages.com/btotop.jpg

http://jit.playground.googlepages.com/encapsulate.jpg

http://jit.playground.googlepages.com/bang.jpg

http://jit.playground.googlepages.com/rtfm.jpg

http://jit.playground.googlepages.com/onemetro.jpg

http://jit.playground.googlepages.com/search.jpg

On Feb 1, 2007, at 7:28 PM, Nick Inhofe wrote:

>
>>> From the Max46TutorialAndTopics.pdf tutorial #7 summary (pages
>>> 34, 35)
>
> "An object with multiple outlets sends messages out its outlet in
> order from right-to-left. When multiple patch cords are connected
> to a single outlet, the messages are sent in right-to-left order,
> depending on the position of the receiving objects. (If the
> receiving objects are perfectly aligned vertically, the order is
> bottom-to-top)"
>