Sending device parameter names to controllers via API

[agent314]

Not strictly Max for Live related, but does anybody have any experience or resources/documentation to share regarding how to dynamically send device parameter names to an external controller (in my case, a TouchOSC device)?

I've got my TouchOSC controls set up with a remote script to enable blue hand functionality, but I'd really love to be able to have the parameter names populate a text label above each so I can see at a glance what controls what.

I'm looking at the decompiled control surface scripts to try to see how the data gets passed to a device like Push2, but I can't figure out what code actually sends data to the controller.

I can find the path to the device params in the LOM but don't know how that actually gets output.

[[jur]]

Download the "Maxforlive building tools" pack. You'll find device(s) that will help you understand how to get the parameters names.
Then I guess you'll have to look into the [udpsend] object to send via OSC those to your controller.

[agent314]

I've taken a look at those before, but the are only for M4L tooling, correct?

As I understand it the M4L API itself can't talk to any Control Scripts etc. to serve up parameter names or values to a controller in a dynamic way a la the bluehand functionality

[chapelier fou]

It would be impossible since there is no standard do « display text in midi controllers ».
But in case of TouchOSC, sending text with [udpsend] will work but you’ll have to figure out how to display the strings in TouchOSC.
No idea how simple it is.

[agent314]

I understand there's no way to send text via MIDI since it's not a supported data type - that's where I'm hoping the Python API could come in.

I'm a little confused though, because the Python control scripts all just seem to be collections of class definitions, and I can't see anywhere that any class methods are actually called.

[zsteinkamp]

Check out my project that does just this.

https://github.com/zsteinkamp/m4l-zs-Knobbler3

I decided to use OSC to send the track/device/param name to TouchOSC. I also use OSC to send value updates (both from the computer to ipad and ipad to computer), since I got tired of wifi MIDI being so flaky. OSC works so much better.

Happy to talk more about this project!

I tried to make it easy to understand for someone looking at it (lots of comments in the patcher, bpatchers, and javascript code). I also went down first the sysex path, then looking at the Python API for control surfaces, but doing it with OSC has ended up being a bulletproof implementation. I use it every day.

For updating stuff in TouchOSC --
If you send TouchOSC a message like "/text1 Foobar", and there is a "text1" LABEL object in your TouchOSC layout that receives that OSC message, then that label will now read "Foobar".

[agent314]

Holy moly, at first glance this appears to be exactly what I am looking for!

Thank you for making and sharing this - eager to dig in

[zsteinkamp]

Cool deal. Let me know how it goes, if you run into any trouble, etc.