jbleecker

So, I created a simple patch that I use over and over again. And even made a help file for it. I put the patch in the patches/extras folder — no problem. I put the .help file in the max-help file (after confirming this was in the help file path), and I get

What gives? Shouldn't it find the .help file (it's named techsp.help).

Ideas? I've restartd max/msp and everything.

So, I created a simple patch that I use over and over again. And even made a help file for it. I put the patch in the patches/extras folder — no problem. I put the .help file in the max-help file (after confirming this was in the help file path), and I get 

installing-a-patcher-binarys-help-file

if it's a PATCH i don't know (and guess it won't work) - but if you 

are talking about an "abstraction" (a patch which appears as a simple 

object, but which shows what's inside when you klik on it) it sure 

works - i put mines in a sub-folder of "externals") 

(externals/3rd_party_externals/KTT) and the corresponding help files 

if it's a PATCH i don't know (and guess it won't work) - but if you 
are talking about an "abstraction" (a patch which appears as a simple 
object, but which shows what's inside when you klik on it) it sure 
works - i put mines in a sub-folder of "externals") 
(externals/3rd_party_externals/KTT) and the corresponding help files 
in max-help/3rd_party-help

kasper
-- 
  Kasper T. Toeplitz
noise, composition, bass, computer
http://www.sleazeArt.com

Exactly how my thinking went. I can place my abstraction (I'm still learning the precise idioms), but when I select it, and get help (from under the "Help" menu), the Max windows gives me an error, exmplaing that no help file has been found.

I even tried putting my help file within the externals folder and finally one within it.

Is there a way to set the search path for things like help files? I double checked the name of the help file — it's "kind" from Get Info on the Mac is "Max patcher (binary)"

Harumph..any other ideas to try out? It'd be nice if I could get to the Help for the abstraction easier — it has a quick and easy way to test some of the parameters here.

Julian Bleecker
http://research.techkwondo.com


for instance i have a "delmono" abstraction in a sub-folder of 

"externals" and "delmono.help" in a sub-folder of max-help

choosing "help" for delmono (or option -kliking on it) sure brings 

for instance i have a "delmono" abstraction in a sub-folder of 
"externals" and "delmono.help" in a sub-folder of max-help

choosing "help" for delmono (or option -kliking on it) sure brings 
the help file

> Harumph..any other ideas to try out? It'd be nice if I could get to

> the Help for the abstraction easier — it has a quick and easy

> way to test some of the parameters here.

Does your help file open at all? I mean with a double click? It should 

You might have misspelled it. To make sure its the same spelling, take 

the orginal , copy out the name, rename the helpfile with paste and just 

Its not a search path issue, if you place it at the same place as other 

working helpfiles and it doesn't work, then either the name is 

Julian wrote:
> Harumph..any other ideas to try out? It'd be nice if I could get to
> the Help for the abstraction easier — it has a quick and easy
> way to test some of the parameters here.

Does your help file open at all? I mean with a double click? It should 
work...
You might have misspelled it. To make sure its the same spelling, take 
the orginal , copy out the name, rename the helpfile with paste and just 
changing the .pat into .help...

Its not a search path issue, if you place it at the same place as other 
working helpfiles and it doesn't work, then either the name is 
incorrect, or its not a Max patch...

-- 
Stefan Tiedje------------x-------
--_____-----------|--------------
--(_|_ ----|-----|-----()-------
-- _|_)----|-----()--------------
----------()--------www.ccmix.com


Well, I figured out the problem — the file I had for help was text, and I hadn't saved it as a binary. Now, I'm not 100% sure, being a max/msp newbie, why that made a difference, but it did. And now it works. Thanks for your suggestions and help!

> Well, I figured out the problem — the file I had for help was

> text, and I hadn't saved it as a binary. Now, I'm not 100% sure,

> being a max/msp newbie, why that made a difference, but it did. And

> now it works. Thanks for your suggestions and help!

I don't know if you are on windows or a Mac. On windows the extension

defines solely the type. the format of a file is usually bound to the

type, but its a different thing. The OS does know nothing about formats,

The format a patcher is saved is binary or text both work in help files.

The extension of a help file has to be .help!

If you are on windows and switched off the "show extensions" flag things

might be messed up a bit, because a file mypatcher.help.txt or a

mypatcher.help.pat would not be found as help file though in your

It has to be mypatcher.help including all hidden parts...

Julian wrote:
> Well, I figured out the problem — the file I had for help was
> text, and I hadn't saved it as a binary. Now, I'm not 100% sure,
> being a max/msp newbie, why that made a difference, but it did. And
> now it works. Thanks for your suggestions and help!

I don't know if you are on windows or a Mac. On windows the extension
defines solely the type. the format of a file is usually bound to the
type, but its a different thing. The OS does know nothing about formats,
only about types (the .xxx extension)
The format a patcher is saved is binary or text both work in help files.
The extension of a help file has to be .help!
If you are on windows and switched off the "show extensions" flag things
might be messed up a bit, because a file mypatcher.help.txt or a
mypatcher.help.pat would not be found as help file though in your
browser it would show mypatcher.help.
It has to be mypatcher.help including all hidden parts...

-- 
Stefan Tiedje------------x-------
--_____-----------|--------------
--(_|_ ----|-----|-----()-------
-- _|_)----|-----()--------------
----------()--------www.ccmix.com

Yeah, thanks — I pretty much assumed I had got all the details you described below, all of which I had exercised trying to get it to take. I honestly don't know precisely what happened here. The help file itself started out as text — and when I opened it in Max/MSP (OSX), it would open as a window containing text, every time. When I copied the text while it was in a window in Max/MSP and then did something like create from copied under the file menu (don't have Max/MSP right in front of me, but the menu option was something like that), it created a patcher, but graphically. Saving that, and then putting it in the correct folder with the correct .help name works.

Now my questions are more along the lines of how Max/MSP treats a file containing text (regardless of the name) as opposed to one that is "binary" — and how exactly it tells the difference. Back in the early '90s when I was at Data General (!) writing software, we used the "magic numbers" idiom to distinguish files — first handful of bytes were reserved for unique codes to determine what, semantically, a data file was — executable code? data for processing? preferences?

So, when a Max/MSP file becomes "binary" — what does that mean, exactly?

Now my questions are more along the lines of how Max/MSP treats a file containing text (regardless of the name) as opposed to one that is "binary" — and how exactly it tells the difference. Back in the early '90s when I was at Data General (!) writing software, we used the "magic numbers" idiom to distinguish files — first handful of bytes were reserved for unique codes to determine what, semantically, a data file was — executable code? data for processing? preferences? 

> Now my questions are more along the lines of how Max/MSP treats a 

> file containing text (regardless of the name) as opposed to one 

> that is "binary" — and how exactly it tells the difference. 

> Back in the early '90s when I was at Data General (!) writing 

> software, we used the "magic numbers" idiom to distinguish files 

> — first handful of bytes were reserved for unique codes to 

> determine what, semantically, a data file was — executable 

> code? data for processing? preferences?

> So, when a Max/MSP file becomes "binary" — what does that 

A binary file basically stores numeric data in binary rather than the 

ASCII decimal used in text files. I thought for a moment that there 

was some tokenization going on, but on second thought probably very 

little if any. If you were programming at DG I assume you know what 

In the 2000s a lot of software uses one of several processes 

collectively known under the highly technical term of "sniffing". I'm 

not sure exactly what form of sniffing Max/MSP uses, but generally it 

consists of opening a file and attempting to parse it. So skip the 

magic number perfume and just check what the contents smell like.

If you hexdump a couple of Max files you'll get the general gist. No, 

there is no published file spec, so don't ask unless you want 

responses sounding like Steven Moore playing Marvin the Paranoid 

Android (though Alan Rickman also did a great Marvin).

Peter Castine +--> Litter Power & Litter Bundle for Jitter

iCE: Sequencing, Recording & |home | chez nous|

Interface Building for |bei uns | i nostri|

> Now my questions are more along the lines of how Max/MSP treats a  
> file containing text (regardless of the name) as opposed to one  
> that is "binary" — and how exactly it tells the difference.  
> Back in the early '90s when I was at Data General (!) writing  
> software, we used the "magic numbers" idiom to distinguish files  
> — first handful of bytes were reserved for unique codes to  
> determine what, semantically, a data file was — executable  
> code? data for processing? preferences?
>
> So, when a Max/MSP file becomes "binary" — what does that  
> mean, exactly?

A binary file basically stores numeric data in binary rather than the  
ASCII decimal used in text files. I thought for a moment that there  
was some tokenization going on, but on second thought probably very  
little if any. If you were programming at DG I assume you know what  
that means.

In the 2000s a lot of software uses one of several processes  
collectively known under the highly technical term of "sniffing". I'm  
not sure exactly what form of sniffing Max/MSP uses, but generally it  
consists of opening a file and attempting to parse it. So skip the  
magic number perfume and just check what the contents smell like.

If you hexdump a couple of Max files you'll get the general gist. No,  
there is no published file spec, so don't ask unless you want  
responses sounding like Steven Moore playing Marvin the Paranoid  
Android (though Alan Rickman also did a great Marvin).

--------------    http://www.bek.no/~pcastine/Litter/    -------------
Peter Castine             +--> Litter Power & Litter Bundle for Jitter

> Is there a way to set the search path for things like help files? I double checked the name of the help file -- it's "kind" from Get Info on the Mac is "Max patcher (binary)"

> Harumph..any other ideas to try out? It'd be nice if I could get to the Help for the abstraction easier -- it has a quick and easy way to test some of the parameters here.

normally you can put helpfiles everywhere in the 

when i create stuff.mxb and stuff.help they work als

as exspected when the patch is the photoshop folder

and the helpfile on the desktop, as long as these archives

i have never used the "help" command from the manu though,

> Is there a way to set the search path for things like help files? I double checked the name of the help file -- it's "kind" from Get Info on the Mac is "Max patcher (binary)"
>
> Harumph..any other ideas to try out? It'd be nice if I could get to the Help for the abstraction easier -- it has a quick and easy way to test some of the parameters here.

normally you can put helpfiles everywhere in the 
searchopath - as well as abstractions.
when i create stuff.mxb and stuff.help they work als
as exspected when the patch is the photoshop folder
and the helpfile on the desktop, as long as these archives
are in the search path.
i have never used the "help" command from the manu though,
only the right-click on the object box.


installing a patcher binary's help file