Chris Wright

Hi. I've gone through the tutorials and trawled countless forum threads and websites but still don't seem to understand how to make and control objects from a javascript. If someone could give me an example code of the following, or an explanation of what some of the help material actually means, that would be great:

From script - create an object (midiout, print etc) at a position relative to where the js object is (JSx+a, JSy+b). Connect outlet of js object to inlet of new object.

Also how to control things like object colours/ fonts, hidden, etc?

Thanks for any help you may be able to provide.

Hi. I've gone through the tutorials and trawled countless forum threads and websites but still don't seem to understand how to make and control objects from a javascript. If someone could give me an example code of the following, or an explanation of what some of the help material actually means, that would be great:
From script - create an object (midiout, print etc) at a position relative to where the js object is (JSx+a, JSy+b). Connect outlet of js object to inlet of new object.
Also how to control things like object colours/ fonts, hidden, etc?

Thanks for any help you may be able to provide.
Chris.


creating-patches-from-script

I'm not sure what the APIs are for creating boxes and getting parameters of existing boxes like it's absolute position in the patch and how to add parameters to new objects like hidden or colours etc.

function bang() {
    // you can access this [js] object via this.box
    // read coordinates of js in patcher (Array: left, top, right, bottom.):
    var myLocation = this.box.rect;
    
    // create new toggle object and store it in a variable
    var myNewToggle = this.patcher.newdefault(myLocation[0] , myLocation[1]+50, "toggle");
    
    // you can send any message, that you would send in a patch also via JS:
    myNewToggle.message("bgcolor", 0.94, 0.69, 0.2, 1.);
    
    this.patcher.connect(this.box, 0, myNewToggle, 0);
}

In the docs look for "The Maxobj Object", which represents a Max object and "The Patcher Object".

If you want to look into the anatomy of an actual object directly you can use this tool (it does not show methods, only properties):

https://cycling74.com/tools/javascript-object-printer/

function bang() {
	// you can access this [js] object via this.box
	// read coordinates of js in patcher (Array: left, top, right, bottom.):
	var myLocation = this.box.rect;
	
	// create new toggle object and store it in a variable
	var myNewToggle = this.patcher.newdefault(myLocation[0] , myLocation[1]+50, "toggle");
	
	// you can send any message, that you would send in a patch also via JS:
	myNewToggle.message("bgcolor", 0.94, 0.69, 0.2, 1.);
	
	this.patcher.connect(this.box, 0, myNewToggle, 0);
}

If you want to look into the anatomy of an actual object directly you can use this tool (it does not show methods, only properties): 

https://cycling74.com/tools/javascript-object-printer/


Thank you very much. That has helped a lot!

When the object created is an actual object eg. midiout, it doesn't seem to respond to messages like toggles and number boxes. I managed to get it to hide with 

 however I can't figure out how to send other attributes like bgcolor. Any ideas?

When the object created is an actual object eg. midiout, it doesn't seem to respond to messages like toggles and number boxes. I managed to get it to hide with myObject.hidden = 1; however I can't figure out how to send other attributes like bgcolor. Any ideas?

It does, just with non UI objects the message to change bgcolor is [sendbox bgcolor ...], just like in a patch:

 myObject.message("sendbox", "bgcolor", 0.94, 0.69, 0.2, 1.);


If you are not sure what is the correct syntax to send an attribute value to an object, drag it from the inspector while holding the alt-key and create a message box with this attribute.

Ok thanks for clarifying! The only issue I'm having now is how to control objects/ find the address of objects not created by the script or previously created before editing. Eg how to delete a box created by the script before resaving the script and it creating another identical object on top of it if that makes sense?

Check the reference page for "The Patcher Object". You can identify existing objects by their Scripting Name (which is also called varname inside JS, these are synonyms). Look for these JS patcher methods:

getnamed("varname"), delete(object) and probably also apply() and/or applydeep() if you want to iterate over all objects in a patch.

To set a varname/Scripting Name of an object created in JS use myObject.varname = "theScriptingNameOfMyObject".

Check the reference page for "The Patcher Object". You can identify existing objects by their Scripting Name (which is also called varname inside JS, these are synonyms). Look for these JS patcher methods:
getnamed("varname"), delete(object) and probably also apply() and/or applydeep() if you want to iterate over all objects in a patch.
To set a varname/Scripting Name of an object created in JS use myObject.varname = "theScriptingNameOfMyObject".


correction, it's called remove(object), not delete()... doing this mistake since years ;)

Ok thanks. So the only way to control an object is if it has a varname or has been created in an active script. Is there any API for setting the varname of an object that gets connect to a js inlet or outlet (doesn't need to be active sensing or anything) or does this need to be done manually in the inspector?

Ok thanks. So the only way to control an object is if it has a varname or has been created in an active script. Is there any API for setting the varname of an object that gets connect to a js inlet or outlet  (doesn't need to be active sensing or anything) or does this need to be done manually in the inspector?


You can iterate over objects in a patcher with apply() and applydeep(), but you will only be able to identify it's maxclass. So getnamed() is the way to do it if you are looking for a specific instance. For objects created manually you'll need to set the varname in the inspector.

Creating Patches from Script