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Setting Debugging preferences

The Debugging category of the Max Preferences window shows some settings broadly associated with debugging and tracing tasks in Max, such as interacting with the Max scheduler, signal probing and matrix probing features, and the use of Watchpoint.


As a default, you can start and stop the Max scheduler by holding down the Command Key (Macintosh) or Control Key (Windows) and typing a period. This feature may be disabled. It may be useful to disable this feature in Standalone applications, in some cases (so that users don't accidentally stop the scheduler).

Disabling scheduler stopping

  • Choose Preferences from the Max menu (Macintosh) or the Options menu (Windows) to show the Preferences Window. Locate the Debugging category and click in the Disable Scheduler Stopping checkbox. You can uncheck the checkbox to enable this feature.

By default, signal and matrix probing are enabled when you launch Max. Besides the personal matter of whether you'd like these features available on launching Max, you may also wish to disable these features in Standalone applications.

Disabling/enabling signal and matrix probing

  • Choose Preferences from the Max menu (Macintosh) or the Options menu (Windows) to show the Preferences Window. Locate the Debugging category and click in the Save Watchpoints in Patcher checkbox. You can uncheck the checkbox to disable this feature.

Configuring Max to save watchpoints

  • Choose Preferences from the Max menu (Macintosh) or the Options menu (Windows) to show the Preferences Window. Locate the Debugging category and click in the Save Watchpoints in Patcher checkbox. You can uncheck the checkbox to disable this feature.