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vstscan Reference

Audio Plugin Scanner

vstscan

Description

Vstscan provides an interface to audio plugin scanning so that this functionality may be presented in patchers and standalones. You can use vstscan to build menus of plugin names for use in patcher code.

Arguments

None.

Attributes

Common Box Attributes

annotation [symbol]

Sets the text that will be displayed in the Clue window when the user moves the mouse over the object.

background [int] (default: 0)

Adds or removes the object from the patcher's background layer. background 1 adds the object to the background layer, background 0 removes it. Objects in the background layer are shown behind all objects in the default foreground layer.

color [4 floats]

Sets the color for the object box outline.

fontface [int]

Sets the type style used by the object. The options are:

plain
bold
italic
bold italic Possible values:

0 = 'regular'
1 = 'bold'
2 = 'italic'
3 = 'bold italic'

fontname [symbol]

Sets the object's font.

fontsize [float]

Sets the object's font size (in points). Possible values:

'8'
'9'
'10'
'11'
'12'
'13'
'14'
'16'
'18'
'20'
'24'
'30'
'36'
'48'
'64'
'72'

hidden [int] (default: 0)

Toggles whether an object is hidden when the patcher is locked.

hint [symbol]

Sets the text that will be displayed in as a pop-up hint when the user moves the mouse over the object in a locked patcher.

ignoreclick [int] (default: 0)

Toggles whether an object ignores mouse clicks in a locked patcher.

jspainterfile [symbol]

JS Painter File

patching_rect [4 floats] (default: 0. 0. 100. 0.)

Sets the position and size of the object in the patcher window.

position [2 floats]

g/s(set)

Sets the object's x and y position in both patching and presentation modes (if the object belongs to its patcher's presentation), leaving its size unchanged.

presentation [int] (default: 0)

Sets whether an object belongs to the patcher's presentation.

presentation_rect [4 floats] (default: 0. 0. 0. 0.)

Sets the x and y position and width and height of the object in the patcher's presentation, leaving its patching position unchanged.

rect [4 floats]

g/s(set)

Sets the x and y position and width and height of the object in both patching and presentation modes (if the object belongs to its patcher's presentation).

size [2 floats]

g/s(set)

Sets the object's width and height in both patching and presentation modes (if the object belongs to its patcher's presentation), leaving its position unchanged.

textcolor [4 floats]

Sets the color for the object's text in RGBA format.

textjustification [int]

Sets the justification for the object's text. Possible values:

0 = 'left'
1 = 'center'
2 = 'right'

varname [symbol]

Sets the patcher's scripting name, which can be used to address the object by name in pattr, scripting messages to thispatcher, and the js object.

Messages

listau

Arguments

types [list]
List AudioUnit plug-ins via the vstscan object's leftmost outlet. Each entry is preceded by the selector plug_au. The optional arguments instrument, effect and blacklist can be used alone or in combination to restrict the listing the the desired type of plug-in.

listvst

Arguments

types [list]
List VST plug-ins via the vstscan object's leftmost outlet. Each entry is preceded by the selector plug_vst. The optional arguments instrument, effect and blacklist can be used alone or in combination to restrict the listing the the desired type of plug-in.

listvst3

Arguments

types [list]
List VST3 plug-ins via the vstscan object's leftmost outlet. Each entry is preceded by the selector plug_vst3. The optional arguments instrument, effect and blacklist can be used alone or in combination to restrict the listing the the desired type of plug-in.

scan

Arguments

scanmode [list]
Re-scan the system plug-in folders for new plug-ins. On MacOS, this is generally (for VST plug-ins) /Library/Audio/Plug-ins/VST/ , while on Windows this is the folder specified in the VSTPluginsPath string value under the registry key HKLM\Software\VST. The scanning process will cause info files to be generated in Max's preferences folder and added to the search path.

As of Max 8, there are two scanning modes. The minimal/fast scanning method quickly gathers information about plug-ins based on files on disk without accessing the plug-ins, while complete/slow scanning performs a full scan of installed plug-ins, accessing the plug-ins to determine compatibility and features. The "slow" scan is only slow once, future runs perform a quick update to determine any changes to the last-scanned state of the operating system.

The scanmode argument can be used to specify the type of scanning:
  • 0 or default (default): perform the default complete/slow scan. If minimal/fast scanning was previously selected, enable complete/slow scanning and perform a full scan. If complete/slow scanning is already enabled, perform a quick update scan.
  • 1 or partial: if any plug-ins were blacklisted by previous scans, reset the blacklist state of those plugins and perform an update scan.
  • 2 or full: completely reset the information gathered by previous scans and perform a full scan.
  • 3 or reset: reset the scanning state and select minimal/fast scanning.

See Also

Name Description
vst~ Host VST, VST3 and Audio Unit plug-ins