Problem: Unique objects exist in more than one library with the same name, but different function, with no ombudsman or czar to arbitrate who gets the name. This forces library loading order to be an issue: IEM's gate vs cyclone's gate.
So I offer two thoughts: (if this has been discussed before, I couldn't find it.)
- If, at load time, external objects maintained their library name
persistently, then objects could be absolutely selected from a particular library at creation time in the patch. This would eliminate the effect of library loading order and increase reliability. So instead of [prob 2 4 5] someone publishing a patch could specify [mJlib/prob 2 4 5] to guarantee correct operation, and alert the user immediately to the required library, with no further documentation needed..
- If Pd had a option to enable/disable "object path display" in the GUI,
ALL object names could be displayed with their library path or not, in edit mode.
Advantages:
- No need to make up ridiculous non-mnemonic names for objects which have
nothing to do with their function, simply to avoid a dreaded name collision. 2. No more torture for users trying to figure out why patches don't work, especially for objects without documentation which shall remain unnamed here.
Disadvantage(s): Not backwards compatible. However, the patch or abstraction can be easily edited as text to remove the offending path, and it STILL alerts the user to the need for the correct library..
It's just a thought.
L