buffer~ viewer and editor Use the waveform~ object to view or edit the contents of a buffer~. Cycling '74 MSP MSP U/I Display Start (ms) TEXT_HERE Display Length (ms) TEXT_HERE Selection Start (ms) / (list) Selection Start - Selection End TEXT_HERE Selection End (ms) TEXT_HERE Link In (for multi-channel viewing) TEXT_HERE Display Start (ms) TEXT_HERE Display Length (ms) TEXT_HERE Selection Start (ms) TEXT_HERE Selection End (ms) TEXT_HERE Mouse Output (x,y,state) TEXT_HERE Link Out (for multi-channel viewing) TEXT_HERE TEXT_HERE TEXT_HERE Function depends on inlet A bang in any inlet will cause waveform~ to dump/output the value to which it is set specific to the inlet in which the bang is received. Function depends on inlet (data converted to floats) Converted to float specific to each inlet.

In left inlet: Sets the display start time in milliseconds. Changing this value will offset and/or zoom the view, so that the requested time in the buffer~ sample data is aligned to the left edge of the display. The default is 0 (display starts at the beginning of the target buffer~).

In 2nd inlet: Sets the display length in milliseconds. The default is the length of the buffer~.
In 3rd inlet: Sets the start time of the selection range in milliseconds.
In 4th inlet: Sets the end time of the selection range in milliseconds. Function depends on inlet In left inlet: Sets the display start time in milliseconds. Changing this value will offset and/or zoom the view, so that the requested time in the buffer~ sample data is aligned to the left edge of the display. The default is 0 (display starts at the beginning of the target buffer~).

In 2nd inlet: Sets the display length in milliseconds. The default is the length of the buffer~.
In 3rd inlet: Sets the start time of the selection range in milliseconds.
In 4th inlet: Sets the end time of the selection range in milliseconds. Receive link data from other waveform~ objects In 5th inlet: The 5th inlet provides a link input, which allows any number of waveform~ objects to share their start, length, select start, and select end values. Whenever any of these values changes, waveform~ sends them all as a list out its right outlet. If this outlet is connected to the link input of another waveform~ object, it will be updated as it receives the lists.

To complete the circuit, the second waveform~ object's list output can be connected to the link input of the first. Then, changes in either one (via mouse clicks, etc.) will be reflected in the other. This is mainly useful when the waveform~ objects are viewing different channels of the same buffer~. Any number of waveform~ objects can be linked in this fashion, forming one long, circular chain of links. In this case waveform~ will prevent feedback from occurring. Function depends on setmode attribute Click and drag behavior for the waveform~ object varies according to the object's mode of operation (see the setmode attribute). Specify beats per minute as the time reference unit Specifies beats per minute as the time reference unit, relative to a tempo and number of beats per bar, both of which you can set with the bpm message. waveform~ can also calculate a tempo that fits your current selection, via the setbpm message. Set the minimum drawing interval in milliseconds when a waveform~ object is redrawn The word buftime, followed by a number between 20 and 60000, sets the minimum drawing interval in milliseconds when a waveform~ object is redrawn due to changes in its associated buffer~ object. Setting a higher number value will make some difference in CPU utilization. The default value is 500ms. Crop the buffer~ contents to the current selection The crop message will trim the audio data in the target buffer~ to the current selection. It resizes the buffer~ to the selection length, copies the selected samples into it, and displays the result at default settings. The buffer~ is erased, except for the selected range. This is a "destructive edit," and cannot be undone. Draw a vertical line on the display The word line, followed by a integer or floating point value representing a time in milliseconds, will cause a vertical line to be superimposed on the waveform display at the millisecond point indicated by the argument. The purpose of this is to be able to visually indicate where the playback point of the waveform is at any given moment. If the argument of line is a negative value, the vertical line will be hidden.
The word line, followed by a symbol, defines the unit used to display the line. The options are:

bpm: beats per minute
ms: milliseconds (the default)
phase: phase (range 0. - 1.0)
samples Set legacy mouse response mode This is a legacy message - this functionality is now provided by the setmode attribute. Click and drag to manipulate the buffer contents The way that the waveform~ object responds to clicking and dragging varies according to how the object is configured using the setmode attribute. Determine when start and end mouse output is sent The word mouseoutput, followed by a symbol argument, determines when selection start and end values are sent in response to mouse activity. Only the selection start and end (outlets 3 and 4) are affected. Mouse information is always sent from outlet 5, regardless of the mouseoutput mode. Valid symbol arguments are, none, down, up, downup, and continuous.

none- Selection start and end values are not sent in response to mouse activity. Sending the mouseoutput message with no argument has the same effect as the same message with the argument none.
down- Causes the current selection start and end values to be sent (from outlets 3 and 4) only when you click inside the waveform~.
up- Causes selection start and end to be sent only when you release the mouse button, after clicking inside the waveform~.
downup- Causes selection start and end to be sent both when you click inside the waveform~, and when the mouse button is released.
continuous- Causes selection start and end to be sent on click, release, and throughout the drag operation, whenever the values change. Link waveform~ to a named buffer~ object and display contents Identical to the set message. The word name, followed by a symbol which is the name of a buffer~ object, links waveform~ to the target buffer~, which is drawn with default display values. An optional int argument sets the channel offset, for viewing multi-channel buffer~ objects. The name of the linked buffer~ is copied to the buffername attribute and the channel offset is copied to the chanoffset attribute. Both are saved with the patcher.

If the name message is sent with no arguments, it will clear the waveform~. Normalize the buffer~ contents The word normalize, followed by a float, will scale the sample values in the target buffer~ so that the highest peak matches the value given by the argument. This can cause either amplification or attenuation of the audio, but in either case, every buffer~ value is scaled, and this activity cannot be undone. Replace buffer contents and display new contents The word replacebuffercontents, followed by a symbol argument, will replace the current contents of the buffer with which the waveform~ object is associated and display the new buffer contents. Link waveform~ to a named buffer~ object and display contents Identical to the name message. The word set, followed by a symbol which is the name of a buffer~ object, links waveform~ to the target buffer~, which is drawn with default display values. An optional int argument sets the channel offset, for viewing multi-channel buffer~ objects. The name of the linked buffer~ is copied to the buffername attribute and the channel offset is copied to the chanoffset attribute. Both are saved with the patcher.

If the set message is sent with no arguments, it will clear the waveform~. Calculate a new tempo based on the current selection range The word setbpm, with no arguments, causes waveform~ to calculate a tempo based on the current selection range. It automatically changes the display time unit to bpm, as if you had sent the message unit bpm. A tempo is selected such that the selection range constitutes a logical multiple or subdivision of the bar, preserving the current beats per bar value, and attempting to find the closest value to the current tempo that satisfies its criteria. When a suitable tempo is selected, the offset parameter is adjusted so that the start time of the selection range falls exactly on a bar line.

The result is that the selection area will be framed precisely by a compatible tempo. One use of this technique is to quickly establish time labels and tick marks for a section of audio. After selecting a bar as accurately as possible, sending the setbpm message and turning on snap to label allows immediate quantization of the selection range to metric values.

If the target buffer~ contains an audio segment that is already cropped to a logical number of beats or bars, the best technique is to select the entire range of the buffer~ (with messages to the select start and end inlets), followed by the setbpm message. If the buffer~ is cropped precisely, the resulting tempo overlay should be quite accurate, and immediately reveal the tempo along with metric information.

When a new tempo is calculated, it is sent from the rightmost outlet (the link outlet), to update any linked waveform~ objects, and to be used in whatever manner required by the surrounding patch. Sets the snap mode of the selection range The word snap, followed by a symbol argument, Sets the snap mode of the waveform~ selection range. snap causes the start and end points of the selection to automatically move to specific points in the buffer~, defined by the snap mode. Possible arguments are none, grid, and zero.

none- Disables snap to allow free selection. This is the default. The snap message with no argument has the same effect.
grid- Specifies that the selection start and end points should snap to the vertical grid lines, as set by the grid message. Since the spacing of the grid lines is affected by the current time measurement unit, and by the offset value (if an offset has been specified), snap to grid will be affected by these parameters as well.
tick- Causes the selection start and end to snap to the tick divisions specified by the ticks message.
zero- Instead of snapping the selection to a uniform grid, this mode searches for zero-crossings of the buffer~ data. These are defined as the points where a positive sample follows a negative sample, or vice-versa. This can be useful to find loop and edit points. Revert waveform selection to previous start and end points This mode works for waveform~ selection only. It causes the selection start and end points to revert to their immediately previous values. This is helpful when you are making fine editing adjustments with the mouse and accidentally click in the wrong place, or otherwise cause the selection to change unintentionally. Repeated undo commands will toggle between the last two selection states. Set the unit of time measurement used by the display The word unit, followed by a symbol argument, sets the unit of time measurement used by the display. Valid symbol arguments are ms, samples, phase, and bpm.

ms- Sets the display unit to milliseconds. This is the default.
samples- Causes time values to be shown as sample positions in the target buffer~. The first sample is numbered 0, unless the display has been shifted by the offset message.
phase- Causes time to be displayed according to phase within the buffer~, normalized so that the 0 refers to the first sample, and 1 refers to the last. This type of measurement unit is especially relevant when working with objects that use 0-1 signal sync, such as phasor~ and wave~.
bpm- Specifies beats per minute as the time reference unit, relative to a tempo and number of beats per bar, both of which you can set with the bpm message. waveform~ can also calculate a tempo that fits your current selection, via the setbpm message. Allow Drag & Drop Toggles drag & drop functionality. Ruler BPM Specifies beats per minute as the time reference unit relative to a tempo and number of beats per bar, both of which you can set with the bpm message. waveform~ can also calculate a tempo that fits your current selection, via the setbpm message. Ruler Beats Toggles the display of time in beat units if the waveform~ object is set to display time in bpm units (set using the setunit attribute). The default is 0 (off). Background color Sets the background color in RGBA format used to paint the entire object rectangle before the rest of the display components are drawn on top. TEXT_HERE TEXT_HERE Buffer object name Sets the name of the buffer~ object. Channel offset for display Specifies a given channel in a multi-channel audio file to be displayed. Channel numbering starts at 1, and values must be in the range 1-4. TEXT_HERE TEXT_HERE TEXT_HERE TEXT_HERE TEXT_HERE TEXT_HERE TEXT_HERE TEXT_HERE Clip draw enable When set to 1, will cause values being edited in draw mode to be clipped to the range of the display (as determined by the vzoom message). clipdraw 0 disables clipping, allowing values to be scaled freely beyond the range of the window. The default is 0, no clipping. Snap selection to grid toggle Specifies that the selection start and end points should snap to the vertical grid lines, as set by the grid message. Since the spacing of the grid lines is affected by the current time measurement unit, and by the offset value (if an offset has been specified), snap to grid will be affected by these parameters as well. Grid Color Sets the gridcolor in RGBA format. The gridcolor attribute is mapped to the elementcolor style color. Invert Waveform Colors Toggles inverting the colors used for selected and non-selected portions of the waveform~ object's display. The default is 0 (non-inverted). TEXT_HERE TEXT_HERE Numerical time measurement display toggle Toggles the display of the numerical labels of time measurement across the top of the display. Any non-zero int causes the labels to be drawn. An argument of 0, or no argument, disables them. TEXT_HERE TEXT_HERE TEXT_HERE TEXT_HERE Ruler area click and drag toggle Toggles clicking and dragging in the ruler area of the waveform~ display. The default is enabled. Label and time measurement marking shift Causes all labels and time measurement markings to be shifted by a specified number of milliseconds. Snap behavior is shifted as well. offset can be removed by sending the message offset 0., or the offset message with no argument. Mouse activity for start/end value mode select Determines when selection start and end values are sent in response to mouse activity. Only the selection start and end (outlets 3 and 4) are affected. Mouse information is always sent from outlet 5, regardless of the selected mode.
none: Selection start and end values are not sent in response to mouse activity. Sending the outmode message with no argument has the same effect as the same message with the argument none.
down: Causes the current selection start and end values to be sent (from outlets 3 and 4) only when you click inside the waveform~ object's display.
up: Causes selection start and end to be sent only when you release the mouse button, after clicking inside the waveform~ object's display..
downup: Causes selection start and end to be sent both when you click inside the waveform~ object's display., and when the mouse button is released.
continuous: Causes selection start and end to be sent on click, release, and throughout the drag operation, whenever the values change. Waveform output drag value toggle Toggles outputting values from the waveform~ object while dragging. The default is 0 (send values while dragging) inverting the colors used for selected and non-selected portions of the waveform~ object's display. The default is 0 (output data while dragging). Legacy select color alpha This attribute is used to import older patches that contain waveform~ objects. Previously, the selection rectangle is painted using two legacy messages (rgb2 and rgb7) and a "blend" transfer mode. Max uses the alpha channel to set the selection color, and will automatically apply this attribute to older version patches containing this object. rectangle. Rectangular selection range color Sets the selection rectangle color which identifies the selection range in RGBA format. Mouse activity mode Determines how the waveform~ object responds to mouse activity. Set display only mode Causes waveform~ to enter a "display only" mode, in which clicking and dragging have no effect. For convenience, and to add custom interface behavior, mouse activity is still sent according to the mouseoutput mode. A mode message with no argument has the same effect as mode none. Set default display mode Sets the default display mode of the waveform~ object. In select mode, the cursor appears as an I-beam within the waveform~ display area. You can click and drag with the mouse to select a range of values. Mouse activity will cause waveform~ to generate update messages, according to the mouseoutput setting. Set loop display mode Sets an alternative loop selection style that uses vertical mouse movement to grow and shrink the selection length, while horizontal movement is mapped to position. This works well to control a groove~ object. When loop mode is selected, moving your cursor inside the display area changes its appearance to a double I-beam. Set move display mode Sets the move display mode of the waveform~ object. This mode allows you to navigate the waveform~ view. Vertical mouse movement lets you zoom in and out, while horizontal movement scrolls through the time range of the x-axis. Clicking on a point in the graph makes it the center reference point for the rest of the mouse event (until the mouse button is released). This lets you "grab" a spot and zoom in on it without having to constantly re-center the display. Set draw display mode Sets the draw display mode of the waveform~ object. This mode allows you to edit the values of the target buffer~, using a pencil tool. Clicking and dragging in draw mode directly changes the buffer~ samples, and can not be undone. Sample values are interpolated linearly as you drag, resulting in a continuous change, even if you are zoomed out too far to see the individual samples. Time measurement unit Sets the unit of time measurement used by the display. Set timing to milliseconds Sets the display unit to milliseconds (the default). Set timing to sample position in the buffer~ Causes time values to be shown as sample positions in the target buffer~. The first sample is numbered 0, unless the display has been shifted by the offset message. Set timing to phase within the buffer~ Causes time to be displayed according to phase within the buffer~, normalized so that the 0 refers to the first sample, and 1 refers to the last. This type of measurement unit is especially relevant when working with objects that use 0-1 signal sync, such as phasor~ and wave~. Set timing to beats per minute Specifies beats per minute as the time reference unit, relative to a tempo and number of beats per bar, both of which you can set with the bpm message. waveform~ can also calculate a tempo that fits your current selection, via the setbpm message. Snap mode Sets the snap mode of the waveform~ selection range. snap causes the start and end points of the selection to automatically move to specific points in the buffer~, defined by the snap mode. Disable snap Disables snap to allow free selection (the default). Snap start and end point to vertical grid lines Specifies that the selection start and end points should snap to the vertical grid lines, as set by the grid attribute. Since the spacing of the grid lines is affected by the current time measurement unit, and by the offset value (if an offset has been specified), snap to grid will be affected by these parameters as well. TEXT_HERE TEXT_HERE Style Sets the style to be applied to the object. Styles can be set using the Format palette. Show Horizontal Tick Marks Specifies the number of ticks that should be drawn between each grid line. The default is eight. An argument of 0, or no argument, disables the tick marks. Show Volume Indicators Toggles the drawing of vertical axis labels along the rightmost edge of the waveform~ display. Any non-zero number causes the labels to be drawn. An argument of 0, or no argument, disables them. Waveform Vertical Offset Sets the vertical offset of the waveform~ display. A value of 0. places the x-axis in the middle, which is the default. Show Vertical Tick Marks Disables or enables display of the vertical axis tick marks along the left and right edges of the waveform~ display. Any non-zero int causes the tick marks to be drawn. An argument of 0, or no argument, disables them. Waveform Vertical Zoom Sets the vertical scaling of the waveform~ display. Waveform Color Sets the foreground color in RGBA format used to draw the buffer~ data as a waveform graph. The waveformcolor attribute is mapped to the color style color. Zoom orientation Change the zoom orientation depending on mouse direction. Zoom when mouse is moved up Zoom when mouse is moved down Out 1st outlet: The display start time of the waveform in milliseconds.

Out 2nd outlet: The display length in milliseconds.

Out 3rd outlet: The start time of the selection range in milliseconds.

Out 4th outlet: The end time of the selection range in milliseconds. Out 5th outlet: This is the mouse outlet, which sends information about mouse click/drag/release cycles that are initiated by clicking within the waveform~ object. The list contains three numbers.

The first number is a float specifying the horizontal (x) position of the mouse, in 0-1 scale units relative to the waveform~ object. x is always 0 at the left edge of the waveform~, and 1. at the right edge.

The second number in the list is the floating-point y value of the mouse, scaled to match the buffer~ values. With the default vzoom= 1. and voffset= 0., the top of the waveform~ gives a y value of 1, and the bottom is -1.

Finally, the third number in the list is an int that indicates which portion of the mouse event is currently taking place. On mouse down, or click, this value is 1. During the drag, it is 2, and on mouse up it is 0. These can be helpful when creating custom responses to mouse clicks. Note that a drag (2) message is sent immediately after the mouse down (1) message, whether the mouse has moved or not, to indicate that the drag segment has begun.

Out 6th outlet: waveform~ outputs a list containing its display start time, display length, selection start time, and selection end time, whenever one of these values changes (by mouse activity, float input, etc.). See the link input information above for more information.