Object Quickref

Many Max objects will accept a variety of different kinds of messages. While Assistance provides a very brief description of the most commonly used messages to a Max object, you can get a list of all the messages the object understands using the Quickref contextual menu. You can use the Quickref menus as an aid to Max patching, automatically creating message boxes that contain messages to an object from the Quickref listing.

The Quickref pop-up menu displays

• A listing of the messages the Max object accepts
• Menu items that let you open Reference pages and Help files for the item.
• Menu items that let you send a message to the Max object without using a patch cord, and to query the output of the object

The Quickref menu gives you a short summary of each message and its syntax. The format of a Quickref listing is:

• The name of the message
• The message type (int / float / symbol / array) for any additional messages [in square brackets]. If there the message is followed by a list, the number of items in the list is also shown in square brackets (e.g., color [float array[4]] means that the object expects a message that begins with the symbol color and is followed by a list of 4 floats)
• The message’s default value, in parentheses (e.g. val = 0.73 0.82 0.63 1.00)