[declare -path path/to/library]
this only takes effect when opening the patch. This method has several advantages over the path preference of the application. For instance that you can redistribute a patch with a folder where the abstractions are in and you can declare that relative path in your patch.
Yes, you can do that.
Or alternatively...I am working with a percussionist who has to run his patches on a Mac. I have a version of the external I am using for a Mac inside a folder ext/ which is inside the directory that contains the patch.
Instead of typing the name of the object into the object box when it is created [gemnotes_counter] I type... [ext/gemnotes_counter] and the external is always the right version, since I make sure the extern is distributed with the patch. I also have versions for Windows and Linux in the same folder, so in theory I could run it on any machine... But if you see my previous post on "Too many objects" you'll find it doesn't work on Windows. Ah well, it doesn't have to, yet ;-)
Ed