patcher.newobject() syntax?

Is the javascript forum completely dead, or is this question currently not answerable?

Seems odd to me to tout a great new feature in the documentation (newobject method) and then give no instructions on how to use it. Especially when it's really not obvious how to use it... Can any c74 people give me a hint?

Ok, well I've done some digging in the forums and the documentation, and I've also done some trial and error, and for the posterity of future javascripters, here's what I've found:

First of all, newobject() is not a new feature in max 5 (I thought it was). I guess I never used it because it wasn't terribly well documented in max 4 either.

Anyway, here is the way I've found to script a bpatcher, retain the maxobj object associated with it in a variable, change its size in patching mode, change its size in presentation mode, and enable/disable its visibility in presentation mode:

function bang()
{
var myobj = patcher.newobject("bpatcher"); //create new bpatcher
myobj.rect = [300,300,400,400]; //set size and location of bpatcher in patching mode
myobj.presentation(1); //add this object to presentation mode
myobj.presentation_rect(300,300,400,600); //set size and location of bpatcher in presentation mode
myobj.replace("bpatcher_test.maxpat"); //load a patch into the bpatcher
myobj.offset(100,150); //set the offset of the view into bpatcher
}

I guess I was under the impression that the arguments to the newobject() function would allow me to set a lot of these parameters without having to send individual messages to the bpatcher. At this point, I have absolutely no idea what the arguments to the newobject() method do. For some objects, they appear to be the rect of the object, for others they determine the size of the object, for others... who knows? No matter what I put in for the args of patcher.newobject("bpatcher",arg,arg,arg,...), I always end up with a 128x128 bpatcher at 0,0.

*shrug* I guess you have to work with what you're given.

The way you are doing it is fine, but if you are using Max 5, you can just use the 'newdefault' method and set @attribute values.

The @attribute stuff isn't really documented at the moment, but something like this will work:

function bang()
{
var myobj = patcher.newdefault(300, 400, "bpatcher", "@patching_rect", 300, 300, 400, 400, "@presentation", 1, "@presentation_rect", 300, 300, 400, 600, "@name", "bpatcher_test.maxpat", "@offset", 100, 150);
}

On Oct 15, 2008, at 1:25 PM, Scott wrote:

> At this point, I have absolutely no idea what the arguments to the
> newobject() method do. For some objects, they appear to be the rect
> of the object, for others they determine the size of the object, for
> others... who knows? No matter what I put in for the args of
> patcher.newobject("bpatcher",arg,arg,arg,...), I always end up with
> a 128x128 bpatcher at 0,0.

Sorry these arguments aren't documented nor will it ever be by c74,
but it can be reverse engineered based on the save as text in Max 4.
newobject is the legacy Max 4 scripting format. There have been
threads on this in the past if you dig deeper in the archives. With
Max 5, however, follow Ben's advice and use the newdefault() method
with attribute arguments.

-Joshua

I am trying to change the presentation rectangle of a bpatcher object through javascript after it has already been created. Attempting to use the "presentation_rect" method that swieser1 provided yields a "patcher: doesn't understand 'presentation_rect'" error in the Max main window.

I would love to understand what is going on. Is any of this documented anywhere?

drrr,

the presentation_rect method worked for me in the example code above. maybe you're not using it correctly. copy and paste your code into this forum so we can have a look at it.

the one thing that's tipping me off is that the error message says "patcher: doesn't understand..." instead of "bpatcher: doesn't understand..."

Are you trying to use the presentation_rect method on the bpatcher object, or on the patcher object?

I actually just took the code you provided and added an additional statement:

function bang()
{
var myobj = patcher.newobject("bpatcher"); //create new bpatcher
myobj.rect = [300,300,400,400]; //set size and location of bpatcher in patching mode
myobj.presentation(1); //add this object to presentation mode
myobj.presentation_rect(300,300,400,600); //set size and location of bpatcher in presentation mode
myobj.replace("bpatcher_test.maxpat"); //load a patch into the bpatcher
myobj.offset(100,150); //set the offset of the view into bpatcher

myobj.presentation_rect(100,100,200,200);
}

The result is the aforementioned error message and a bpatcher with a presentation_rect of "300, 300, 400, 600." However, if I take out the replace() and offset() calls, I can call presentation_rect() as many times as I wish and it works. Once replace() is called, however, this ceases to be the case.

I also attempted to use presentation_rect with a bpatcher created through newdefault(), and that just doesn't work at all. Code:

function bang()
{
var myobj = patcher.newdefault(300, 400, "bpatcher", "@patching_rect", 300, 300, 400, 400, "@presentation", 1, "@presentation_rect", 300, 300, 400, 600, "@name", "test.maxpat", "@offset", 100, 150);

myobj.presentation_rect(100,100,200,200);
}

Error:

"js: test.js: Javascript TypeError: myobj.presentation_rect is not a function, line 8"

How does one re-size a bpatcher that has already been given a subpatch to display?

Hmm, I haven't tried adding the offset and replace functions in there yet... This seems like it could be a legitimate problem. Anyone at c74 have any ideas why this might be happening?

I can confirm that this behavior is happening for me too.

I've sent a bug report to support@cycling74.com

We'll see if they have any answers.