Music_SDP

I've been developing a standalone app for a little over a year now, and I put out updates about once a month. The users who work with my software need to download an entirely new build every time I release an update and have to go through my website to get the build. I feel like this is way behind the times, as many professional programs provide built-in updaters these days, or at least (as in Max's case), they can let the user know when a new version is available.

Does anyone know how to do either of these things in Max? I'd prefer to have my users press a button to download an update, but if I could replicate the Max update message that pops onto your window when a new version is available, I'd be happy with that too.

I mean, everything done in Max is built in Max, so I imagine there must be a way to check with a server, right? If Max does it, shouldn't Max creators be able to do it to?

any-idea-how-to-create-an-auto-updater-for-a-standalone-application

My solution is to have a json on the server that has the info on the latest update, and the download link (or links, for both mac and win).

Then, you can use the [maxurl] to get the json in your standalone and compare the info of the standalone and the json values.

If the version is different i.e. the json has a newer version number, prompt for a download.

My solution is to have a json on the server that has the info on the latest update, and the download link (or links, for both mac and win).
Then, you can use the [maxurl] to get the json in your standalone and compare the info of the standalone and the json values.
If the version is different i.e. the json has a newer version number, prompt for a download.
This should is the basic idea:

That is brilliant! Thank you so much for this kickstart! I've got one follow-up question, if you don't mind. How do you set the name and version info of the standalone in Windows and OSX?

Personally, I do it the manual way for now i.e. I have two [value] objects like [v appName myAppName] and [v appVersion 1 0 0] that I globally use in the standalone to access the name and version in the patches. Its not very elegant, but it does the job for now.

The drawback is that especially the version number, you have to remember to manually change on each updated build.

If you mean how do you set the actual standalone's version number (like win: left-click -> properties, mac : left-click -> "get info") to show the version number correctly, then:

for windows I use the "XN Resource Editor" to edit the standalone's .exe file directly, and for the Mac, you can edit the info.plist.

The name you set when building the standalone.

If I didn't cover your question, please let me know!

Personally, I do it the manual way for now i.e. I have two [value] objects like [v appName myAppName] and [v appVersion 1 0 0] that I globally use in the standalone to access the name and version in the patches. Its not very elegant, but it does the job for now.
The drawback is that especially the version number, you have to remember to manually change on each updated build. 

If you mean how do you set the actual standalone's version number (like win: left-click -> properties, mac : left-click -> "get info") to show the version number correctly, then:
for windows I use the "XN Resource Editor" to edit the standalone's .exe file directly, and for the Mac, you can edit the info.plist.
The name you set when building the standalone. 

If I didn't cover your question, please let me know! 

Thank you for your continuing help. So, I now have the patch that you sent me updated with the values that I'm interested in trying out. I uploaded the json to my website (I can, in fact open the location, so I know it's there.) But when I send the "get" message to maxurl, I receive a series of errors from the dict object, saying that there is no dictionary with the name I've given it and that the index for the link and version are out of range!

here's the link to the json: www.musicsdp.com/version-info.json

here's the code for my version of the patch.

Any additional help would be hugely appreciated.

            "box" :             {

                "maxclass" : "newobj",

                "text" : "v appVersion 1 1 2",

                "style" : "",

                "id" : "obj-4",

                "numinlets" : 1,

                "patching_rect" : [ 581.0, 434.0, 110.0, 22.0 ],

                "numoutlets" : 1,

                "outlettype" : [ "" ]

                "text" : "v appName Music_SDP",

                "id" : "obj-3",

                "patching_rect" : [ 577.0, 403.0, 138.0, 22.0 ],

                "text" : "standalone",

                "id" : "obj-7",

                "patching_rect" : [ 547.0, 301.0, 87.0, 22.0 ],

                "numoutlets" : 0,

                "saved_object_attributes" :                 {

                    "allwindowsactive" : 0,

                    "audiosupport" : 1,

                    "bundleidentifier" : "com.mycompany.myprogram",

                    "cantclosetoplevelpatchers" : 1,

                    "cefsupport" : 1,

                    "copysupport" : 1,

                    "database" : 0,

                    "extensions" : 1,

                    "gensupport" : 1,

                    "midisupport" : 1,

                    "noloadbangdefeating" : 0,

                    "overdrive" : 0,

                    "preffilename" : "Max 7 Preferences",

                    "searchformissingfiles" : 1,

                    "statusvisible" : 1,

                    "usesearchpath" : 0

                "text" : "route windows mac",

                "id" : "obj-15",

                "numinlets" : 3,

                "patching_rect" : [ 416.0, 570.0, 113.0, 22.0 ],

                "numoutlets" : 3,

                "outlettype" : [ "", "", "" ]

                "maxclass" : "comment",

                "text" : "The \"version-info.json\" should be something like this:\n\n{\n \t\"myAppName\" : \t{\n \t\"version\" : [ 2, 1, 0],\n \"link\" : {\n windows : \"www.my-site.com/win-installer.msi\",\n mac : \"www.my-site.com/mac-installer.pkg\"\n \t}\n}",

                "linecount" : 10,

                "id" : "obj-14",

                "patching_rect" : [ 387.0, 42.0, 332.0, 144.0 ],

                "numoutlets" : 0

                "text" : "zl slice 1",

                "id" : "obj-46",

                "numinlets" : 2,

                "patching_rect" : [ 337.0, 501.0, 57.0, 22.0 ],

                "numoutlets" : 2,

                "outlettype" : [ "", "" ]

                "text" : "regexp :: @substitute \" \"",

                "id" : "obj-42",

                "patching_rect" : [ 337.0, 467.0, 139.0, 22.0 ],

                "numoutlets" : 5,

                "outlettype" : [ "", "", "", "", "" ]

                "text" : "route version link",

                "id" : "obj-22",

                "patching_rect" : [ 375.0, 532.0, 101.0, 22.0 ],

                "text" : "sprintf get %s::link",

                "id" : "obj-18",

                "patching_rect" : [ 177.5, 383.0, 108.0, 22.0 ],

                "id" : "obj-40",

                "patching_rect" : [ 769.0, 1192.0, 150.0, 20.0 ],

                "maxclass" : "message",

                "text" : "get 

http://www.musicsdp.com/version-info.json",

                "fontname" : "Arial",

                "id" : "obj-2",

                "patching_rect" : [ 55.0, 42.0, 277.0, 23.0 ],

                "fontsize" : 13.0,

                "text" : "v versionsCheckError",

                "id" : "obj-17",

                "patching_rect" : [ 322.5, 248.0, 125.0, 22.0 ],

                "text" : "t Music_SDP",

                "id" : "obj-6",

                "patching_rect" : [ 158.0, 308.0, 80.0, 22.0 ],

                "outlettype" : [ "Music_SDP" ]

                "text" : "sprintf get %s::version",

                "id" : "obj-5",

                "patching_rect" : [ 158.0, 359.0, 129.0, 22.0 ],

                "text" : "t b l clear",

                "id" : "obj-27",

                "patching_rect" : [ 158.0, 279.0, 316.0, 22.0 ],

                "outlettype" : [ "bang", "", "clear" ]

                "text" : "dict",

                "id" : "obj-21",

                "patching_rect" : [ 306.5, 438.0, 110.5, 22.0 ],

                "numoutlets" : 4,

                "outlettype" : [ "dictionary", "", "", "" ],

                    "embed" : 0,

                    "parameter_enable" : 0

                "text" : "dict.deserialize",

                "id" : "obj-43",

                "patching_rect" : [ 306.5, 335.0, 94.0, 23.0 ],

                "outlettype" : [ "dictionary" ]

                "text" : "route body error",

                "id" : "obj-29",

                "patching_rect" : [ 158.0, 219.0, 348.0, 23.0 ],

                "fontface" : 0,

                "text" : "dict.strip body error",

                "id" : "obj-44",

                "patching_rect" : [ 55.0, 186.0, 122.0, 23.0 ],

                "outlettype" : [ "dictionary", "" ]

                "text" : "maxurl",

                "id" : "obj-1",

                "patching_rect" : [ 55.0, 155.0, 82.0, 23.0 ],

            "patchline" :             {

                "source" : [ "obj-27", 0 ],

                "destination" : [ "obj-6", 0 ],

                "hidden" : 0,

                "disabled" : 0

                "source" : [ "obj-6", 0 ],

                "destination" : [ "obj-18", 0 ],

                "destination" : [ "obj-5", 0 ],

                "source" : [ "obj-5", 0 ],

                "destination" : [ "obj-21", 0 ],

                "midpoints" : [ 167.5, 427.5, 316.0, 427.5 ],

                "source" : [ "obj-46", 1 ],

                "destination" : [ "obj-22", 0 ],

                "source" : [ "obj-44", 1 ],

                "destination" : [ "obj-29", 0 ],

                "source" : [ "obj-43", 0 ],

                "source" : [ "obj-42", 0 ],

                "destination" : [ "obj-46", 0 ],

                "source" : [ "obj-29", 0 ],

                "destination" : [ "obj-27", 0 ],

                "source" : [ "obj-29", 1 ],

                "destination" : [ "obj-17", 0 ],

                "source" : [ "obj-27", 1 ],

                "destination" : [ "obj-43", 0 ],

                "source" : [ "obj-27", 2 ],

                "midpoints" : [ 464.5, 429.5, 316.0, 429.5 ],

                "source" : [ "obj-22", 1 ],

                "destination" : [ "obj-15", 0 ],

                "source" : [ "obj-21", 1 ],

                "destination" : [ "obj-42", 0 ],

                "source" : [ "obj-2", 0 ],

                "destination" : [ "obj-1", 0 ],

                "source" : [ "obj-18", 0 ],

                "source" : [ "obj-1", 0 ],

                "destination" : [ "obj-44", 0 ],

                "midpoints" : [ 64.5, 176.75, 64.5, 176.75 ],

            "name" : "AudioStatus_Menu",

            "default" :             {

                "bgfillcolor" :                 {

                    "type" : "color",

                    "color" : [ 0.294118, 0.313726, 0.337255, 1 ],

                    "color1" : [ 0.454902, 0.462745, 0.482353, 0.0 ],

                    "color2" : [ 0.290196, 0.309804, 0.301961, 1.0 ],

                    "angle" : 270.0,

                    "proportion" : 0.39,

                    "autogradient" : 0

            "parentstyle" : "",

            "name" : "default_style",

            "newobj" :             {

                "bgcolor" : [ 1.0, 1.0, 1.0, 1.0 ],

                "accentcolor" : [ 0.65098, 0.666667, 0.662745, 1.0 ],

                "textcolor_inverse" : [ 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 1.0 ]

            "button" :             {

                "bgcolor" : [ 0.682032, 0.698052, 0.748716, 1.0 ],

                "color" : [ 0.960784, 0.827451, 0.156863, 1.0 ]

            "toggle" :             {

                "bgcolor" : [ 0.636487, 0.648652, 0.683149, 1.0 ],

                "elementcolor" : [ 0.786675, 0.801885, 0.845022, 1.0 ],

                "color" : [ 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 1.0 ]

            "name" : "default_style-1",

            "message" :             {

                    "type" : "gradient",

                    "color1" : [ 0.786675, 0.801885, 0.845022, 1.0 ],

                    "color2" : [ 0.65098, 0.666667, 0.662745, 1.0 ],

                    "color" : [ 0.290196, 0.309804, 0.301961, 1.0 ],

            "attrui" :             {

                "bgcolor" : [ 0.786675, 0.801885, 0.845022, 1.0 ],

            "ezdac~" :             {

                "bgcolor" : [ 0.65098, 0.666667, 0.662745, 1.0 ],

Any idea how to create an auto-updater for a standalone application?