Data Monitoring Objects

A number of Max objects can be used to observe what's going on in your patch. Connect these objects to a source of data to see what is going on.

Note: in many cases, rather than add additional objects to your patch, you can use watchpoints, or the signal or matrix probes to observe messages and data.

Objects that Display Numbers and Messages

• The print object posts anything it receives to the Max Console. This is useful if you want to look at a sequence of numbers or messages and might miss something happening rapidly.
• The number box shows integer or floating-point numbers it receives.
• Connect a source of messages or data to the right inlet of the message box and the box will change to display what was received (no prepend set required).
• The number~ object is the audio equivalent of the number box. Other MSP objects that display signals include meter~, levelmeter~, scope~, and spectroscope~.
• The jit.cellblock object can be used to show matrix data numerically.

Objects that Capture Data

• The print object can be used to capture data if you don't mind looking it in the Max Console.
• The capture captures data in variety of formats for examination in a text window.
• The capture~ is the equivalent of the capture object for audio signal data.
• With a little more work, the text, table, and coll objects can be used to store sets of data.

Objects that Report Performance Information

• To determine the amount of absolute time something takes, use the cpuclock object.
• To determine the amount of logical (scheduler) time something takes, use the timer object.
• To measure the frame rate of a Jitter patch, use the jit.fpsgui object.
• To measure audio CPU utilization, use the adstatus cpu object.