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<H2>Chapter 1: Introduction</H2>
<P> This is the official HTML manual for Pure Data, a patchable
computer music environment for audio analysis, synthesis and digital
signal processing in real time (aka "Live Electronics"). Pd can be
extended with third-party libraries for additional computer music
features, multimedia capabilities and more, making Pd a programming
environment also for video, graphics, interfacing with arduino, etc.
<P> Pd is commonly used for live music performance, VeeJaying, sound effects,
composition, audio analysis, interfacing with sensors, using cameras,
controlling robots, designing apps, procedural audio for games or even
interacting with websites. Because all of these various media are handled as
digital data within the program, many fascinating opportunities for
cross-synthesis between them exist. Sound can be used to manipulate video,
which could then be streamed over the internet to another computer which might
analyze that video and use it to control a motor-driven installation and whatnot.
<P> The latest version of this manual is found online
at <A href="http://msp.ucsd.edu/software.html">
http://msp.ucsd.edu/software.html</A>,
along with the downloads of the
latest Pd releases.
<H3> <A href="#s1.1" id="s1.1"> 1.1. Guide to Pd's documentation </A> </H3>
<P> Besides this HTML manual, you'll find the 'doc' folder with more documentation
resources in Pd's installation folder, which is also accessible through the
<b>Help menu</b>. Here's an overview of its structure:
<PRE>
Pd/
├── doc/
├── 1.manual/
├── 2.control.examples/
├── 3.audio.examples/
├── 4.data.structures/
├── 5.reference/
├── 6.externs/
├── 7.stuff/
├── 8.topics/
</PRE>
<UL>
<LI>The first subfolder <b>1.manual</b> includes this HTML manual and consists of 6 sections:
<UL>
<LI> This <A href="chapter1.htm"> introduction </A>
<LI> A <A href="chapter2.htm"> theory of operations</A>, explaining how Pd works
<LI> Instructions on <A href="chapter3.htm"> installing and configuring Pd</A>
<LI> Information on managing <A href="chapter4.htm"> externals </A>
<LI> The <A href="chapter5.htm"> changelog </A>
<LI> Instructions on <A href="chapter6.htm"> building Pd from source </A>
</UL>
<LI>Next, there's a series of tutorial patches, starting with <b>2.control.examples</b>,
which serve as an introduction to Pd's "control" structure (as opposed to audio
functions which are covered next).
<LI><b>3.audio.examples</b> includes a set of examples that are also part of Miller
Puckette's book "The Theory and Technique of Electronic Music".
The book is freely available online at
<A href="http://msp.ucsd.edu/techniques.htm"> http://msp.ucsd.edu/techniques.htm</A>.
<LI><b>4.data.structures</b> is the last tutorial, giving an introduction to Pd's Data
Structures feature, also described in this manual in section
<A href="chapter2.htm#s2.10">2.10 Data Structures</A>.
<LI>In the <b>5.reference</b> folder, you find the help patches for all objects.
<LI>The <b>6.externs</b> folder includes instructions on how to write externals,
including sample C code for different use cases. More information on externals
is found in <a href="chapter4.htm">Chapter 4: Externals </a> of this manual.
<LI>In the <b>7.stuff</b> folder, you'll find additional patches to explore.
<LI>The last subfolder <b>8.topics</b> includes extra documentation with more details on
specific topics that is referred in the help files.
</UL>
<H3> <A href="#s1.2" id="s1.2"> 1.2. The Help menu </A> </H3>
<P> This section describes Pd's <b>Help menu</b>, which offers shortcuts
to the documentation and other resources. "Pd Help" opens this HTML manual.
<figure>
<IMG src="1.2.1.png" ALT="pd help">
<figcaption><u>Fig. 1.2.1</u> The Help menu</figcaption>
</figure>
<P> The "Browser..." entry opens Pd's internal file document browser. The
"Pure Data" folder shown on top of this file browser points to the 'doc'
folder (just explained above) and it's a quick way to navigate and open
the manual, particular help files, examples from the tutorials, etc.
<figure>
<IMG src="1.2.2.png" ALT="browser">
<figcaption><u>Fig. 1.2.2</u> The Help browser accessing the Pd's documentation folder</figcaption>
</figure>
<P> In this browser window, you'll also find the "externals" installed on your
system. By default, Pd comes with an 'extra' library, so you'll find these
externals here even if you have not yet installed anything.
<P> The 'List of objects' entry of the <b>Help menu</b> opens a patch that
includes a list of all native objects with brief explanations.
<figure>
<IMG src="1.2.3.png" ALT="list of objects">
<figcaption><u>Fig. 1.2.3</u> The help-intro patch with a list of all internal objects</figcaption>
</figure>
<P> The 'puredata.info' entry opens <a href="http://www.pure-data.info/">
pure-data.info</a>, an extensive Pd community website that aims to be the central
resource for Pd, from downloads to forums, member pages, extra documentation resources
and a patch exchange.
<P> The 'check for updates' entry just opens <a href="http://msp.ucsd.edu/software.html">
http://msp.ucsd.edu/software.html</a> for you to check if there is a new Pd version for
download.
<P> The 'report a bug' entry opens the <A href=https://github.com/pure-data/pure-data/issues>
Pd issue tracker</A> on github, where you can find known bugs and also report them.
<P> The <b>Help menu</b> also allows you to find and download externals with the "Find
externals" entry, which opens a Pd extension manager. This is described more detailed in
<A href="chapter4.htm#s4.3.2">4.3.2 How to Download Externals from Pd</A>.
<H3> <A href="#s1.3" id="s1.3"> 1.3. Other resources </A> </H3>
<P> The Pd source code is found on github, on the
<A href=https://github.com/pure-data/pure-data/> Pd GitHub project page</A>. This project
also includes a repository that focuses on Pd's documentation, called
<A href=https://github.com/pure-data/pddp>pddp (Pure Data Documentation Project)</A>.
This repository also has an <A href=https://github.com/pure-data/pddp/issues> issue tracker</A>
for issues related to the documentation.
<P> Most of the interesting news related to Pd show up on the Pd mailing list,
maintained by IOhannes zmölnig. To subscribe or browse the archives,
visit: <A href="https://lists.puredata.info/listinfo/pd-list">
https://lists.puredata.info/listinfo/pd-list</A>. This is the best source of
recent information regarding installation problems and bugs. It is perfectly
reasonable to post "beginner" questions on this list; alternatively you can
contact [email protected] for help. Many extensions for Pd also get announced on the
mailing list.
<P> Other community resources online include the <A href="http://forum.pdpatchrepo.info/">
Pd forum</A>, a <A href="https://telegram.me/puredata ">Pd telegram group</A>, a
<A href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/4729684494 ">Facebook group</A> and a
<A href="https://discord.gg/bcPZcKQkmW">Discord channel</A>. Here, you can find many users
that can help you with basic instructions and troubleshooting as well as other interactions
with the community.
<H3> <A href="#s1.4" id="s1.4"> 1.4. Other flavors </A> </H3>
<P> Pure Data, being an open source project, can be forked into alternative projects that
are developed independently. These forks are also known as "different flavors" of Pd.
This manual covers the official Pure Data distribution by Miller Puckette, which is also
known as the "Vanilla" flavor of Pd, so it's commonly referred to "Pd Vanilla".
<P> Other Pd flavors mainly focus on two things, modifying the GUI to offer more user-friendliness
and extending its default features with pre-installed externals. Notably, the PlugData fork
also allows you to run Pd as a plugin in any DAW.
<P> A very important and historical flavor of Pd was Pd-extended, which has been discontinued
in 2014. This used to come with a vast collection of externals. Many Pure Data tutorials
out there are based on this distribution. You can still follow Pd-extended tutorials if you
install the necessary libraries, but note that these tutorials are very outdated and don't
include many goodies that have been included in Pd Vanilla over the last years, like the
<b>[clone]</b> object, <b>[savestate]</b>, <b>[file]</b>, multichannel connections and many
more.
<P> The currently active and main flavors of Pd are presented on the front page
of <A href="https://puredata.info/"> https://puredata.info/</A>. Note that some
forks may introduce incompatibilities and not be fully up to date with Pd Vanilla.
For forks that are fully compatible, the information in this manual should also apply
for the most part.
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