Language - Max/MSP

Max/MSP, developed by Cycling74 is a visual programming language for creating music and media applications.

Introduction

Only Max/MSP 4.5 or higher is supported.

Quick Downloads

Just need the Max/MSP drivers, libraries, and examples? Here they are:

API Documentation:
Should we include the next 2 links?

• General API (more help on functions common to all Phidgets)
• Device Specific APIs (more help on functions specific to your Phidget)

Max/MSP Library and Example Code:

• Windows
• Mac OS X

Libraries and Drivers:

• 32 bit Windows (drivers, with libraries)
• 64 bit Windows (drivers, with libraries)
• General Linux Libraries ( Linux Library Setup Instructions)
• General Mac OSX Libraries ( Mac OS X Library Setup Instructions)

Getting started with Max/MSP

If you are new to writing code for Phidgets, we recommend starting by running, then modifying existing examples. This will allow you to:

• Make sure your libraries are properly linked
• Go from source code to a test application as quickly as possible
• Ensure your Phidget is hooked up properly

Instructions are divided up by operating system. Choose:

• Windows 2000 / XP / Vista / 7
• Mac OS X

Windows(2000/XP/Vista/7)

Libraries

• Windows Library and Examples
• Mac OS X Library and Examples

Description

Max/MSP programs on Windows depend on the following files, which the installers above put onto your system:

• phidget21.dll contains the actual Phidgets library, which is used at run-time. If you used our installer, it's already correctly placed in C:\Windows\System32. It can be manually installed - check our Manual Installation instructions.

You will also need one of the following two files, depending on the .NET framework version you are targeting:

• Phidget<Device Name>.mxe is the Phidgets library for your specific device. Please make sure the .mxe file corresponds with the device you are using. For example, if you are using the PhidgetInterfaceKit, you will need the PhidgetInterfaceKit.mxe It is to be placed in the same directory as your .help file

Use Our Examples

Please start by downloading the Max/MSP Examples. These examples were written in Visual Studio 2005 and 2008, but Visual Studio 2010 will easily upgrade them.

• Max/MSP Examples

To run the examples, you first download them from above and unpack them into a folder. To load all projects in Visual Studio, go to File | Open | Project, and open AllExamples/AllExamples.sln or AllExamples/AllExamples_vs2008.sln for Visual Studio 2005 and 2008, respectively.

If you are opening the Phidget examples in Visual Studio 2010, you will need to go through the Visual Studio Conversion Wizard to convert the 2005 or 2008 project.

This will load all of the examples available for C#, and then you can set your main project to be the one that matches your device. If you aren't sure what the software example for your device is called, check the software object listed in the Getting Started guide for your device.

The only thing left to do is to run the examples! Click on Debug -> Start Debugging. Please note that the projects, by default try to find the Phidget21.NET.dll in the C:\Program Files\Phidgets. If you have it installed in another location, please change the path accordingly. If you are receiving an error message regarding that the namespace Phidgets cannot be found, please re-add the reference to Phidget21.NET.dll. Please see the next section for details.



Once you have the C# examples running, we have a teaching section below to help you follow them.

Write Your Own Code

When you are building a project from scratch, or adding Phidget function calls to an existing project, you'll need to configure your compiler / development environment to properly link the Phidget C# libraries. To begin:

• Generate a new Visual C# Windows Applications project with a descriptive name such as PhidgetTest.

• Add a reference to the .NET Phidgets library.

• Under the .NET tab, select Phidget21.NET.dll.

If you used our installer, these files are installed in C:\Program Files\Phidgets, by default. If it does not appear in this list, then you can browse to the Phidget Framework installation directory and add the file.

Then, in your code, you will need to include the Phidget library:

  using Phidgets;
  using Phidgets.Events;

The project now has access to the Phidget21 function calls and you are ready to begin coding.

The same teaching section which describes the examples also has further resources for programming your Phidget.

Mac OS X

Max/MSP has excellent support on Mac OS X.

The first step in using C# on Mac is to install the Phidget libraries. Compile and install them as explained on the getting started guide for your device. Then, the OS - Mac OS X page also describes the different Phidget files, their installed locations, and their roles....

Follow The Examples

By following the instructions for your operating system and compiler above, you probably now have a working example and want to understand it better so you can change it to do what you want. This teaching section has resources for you to learn from the examples and write your own.

Next, comes our API information. These resources outline the Max/MSP Phidget functions:

Common Problems and Solutions/Workarounds

Here you can put various frequent problems and our recommended solutions.