Max 8 Yay! - Now I need help with Node

One good first place to look might be the examples available here:
https://github.com/Cycling74/n4m-examples

Yeah, I checked there, along with the help and reference files and it still seems way too foreign to me as far as getting started - thanks for the link though!

Any other help is greatly appreciated :]

Hi Santino,

It sounds like the thing to do is to use NPM to create a Node package that depends on the NASA API module. Then, import that into the Node script you run from Max. I hate to self-plug, but I just made a how-to video that does something very similar, using the Tonal NPM package. It might be a helpful starting point for you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RR5AlDgYI2s&t=2s

Good luck!

Sam,

Thank you for the input - self plug all the way! Your videos have always been endlessly helpful and fun. I'm gonna give this a shot later today and see what I come up with - thanks comrade, much appreciated!

- Tino

Wowza!

Little did I know what I would be getting into. Great tutorial by the way, super helpful! I managed to get somewhere by following that, however In the case of the flying space objects, I have had slow progress.

Essentially, I've managed to get the nasa-sdk installed properly in a folder with my max patch and I have this running alongside vis studio. Since all this java nonsense is new to me, I am chugging along at a snails pace. As far as initiating communication between the nasa-sdk and max - I'll be using node.script and the code from npm - right?

Yes, I know this is ultra amateur hour comin from me over here, but I desperately want to understand how to make these puppies communicate - any other help is greatly appreciated! Thanks!

- T

Hey hey,

I admire your courage. Okay so, your high level understanding of how the parts all fit together is 100% correct. Just a few tweaks to help you get unstuck:

1. It's JavaScript, not Java. No, they have nothing really to do with each other. Yes, it's confusing.

2. Digging into this import thing a bit, I learned something myself. Node 8 LTS (which is the version of Node that Max uses) is current with JavaScript ES6, with one difference: no import. So the tl;dr here is that you should use require instead of import. so:

const { NEO } = require("nasa-sdk");

3. I don't really understand what's happening on line 11. Are you copying from some example?

Gracias sensei,

I appreciate your guidance! Alright, this is all great info and I'm glad I'm not a total dunce. Aha, that would make sense! I keep getting the error that there is no "import" command, this is good news.

However, as far as far as line 11, I may be typing gibberish but I am essentially trying to use the framework from your example with the JavaScript examples posted for the NASA API here on npm: https://www.npmjs.com/package/nasa-sdk/v/1.1.10#neo-feed

I may be totally off but I will find a way to get this info in a usable way in Max - I truly appreciate your input!

Gotcha. Two things then: first, that call is asynchronous, so you have to use a promise and second, the result is going to be JSON that you want to parse. For example:

maxApi.addHandler("fetchFeed", () => {
NEO.feed().then((result) => {
const data = JSON.parse(result);
maxApi.outlet(data.near_earth_objects)
})
})

might be a place to start. By the way, if you're looking for a really solid, beginner's introduction to JavaScript, I highly recommend Coding Train at https://www.youtube.com/user/shiffman

Awesome, thank you for the references. I'm definitely going to try and make time for that channel.

I was totally in the dark this morn and your help got me somewhere, though I'm not sure where or what is being printed... I still sense progress. I'll find a way to get this info into a usable and beautiful piece of art - somehow.

Anyway, thanks again for your help thus far, I'm looking forward to taking this further. Hasta for now - and if anyone else has input please feel free to offer, I'm all ears!