ok got it... thanks for info!
yeah i was also thinking something like this might be useful for abbreviations for example [mfn] creates [makefilename]
what would be the use of say "set sys_searchpath {}" or "set startup_flags {}" which should be library level loading not GUI according to your logic no? but then again it would load paths prior to user patching which seems to make sense. Or might there be a difference between substitutions in real-time while patching and initializing a path when a gui-plugin loads....
i am aware i am rambling at this point because i am just trying to understand a little more of what IS possible with a gui-plug, what is not possible, or what IS possible but is unnecessary.
a real world case scenario is class room situation (i am dealing with it this semester) where at one point in the past I just made students install pdx and we were all on the same page. it becomes difficult to troubleshoot when each student has something slightly different going on. so my idea was to have some kind of master gui-plug + class lib they just drop in ~/Library/Pd and we all Rock & Roll to the same beat...
i believe deken (can we all agree this is awesome!) solves a number of probs of this sort in the wake of pdx demise BUT it is only for libs NOT for other standardizations that might make it easier to teach.... but then again maybe object abbreviations or substitutions would just make more complications.
cheers
m