Hello everybody:
Here I'm sharing a python script that contains two classes to instance using the amazing pyext library. One of these two classes converts messages and numbers to a series of its ascii character codes along with an index number, so one can store a message right away in a table. The other class does the inverse job.
There is a patch that tries to show how this is implemented, á la help-patch.
This works by putting the script into the <whateverComesFirst>/pyext/py-master/scripts/ folder so the pyext external can 'see' it. <edit> I am using Pd-vanilla 0.47-1 on Debian Stretch </edit>
Well, let me know if this is useful to anyone if you want.
Best regards.

Sumidero

cast.py
symbtoascii-help.pd

@sumidero You can build something similar in vanilla: toascii-fromascii.zip (updated)

But of course most of the time it is easier just to store messages in [text].

Edit: The above patches use [list store] which i believe is available only in 0.48 and above. For debian stretch there is a backports package that has the recent Pd version: https://packages.debian.org/stretch-backports/sound/puredata
Edit 2: bug fixed

Thanks for the info! I'll check on that soon.

@sumidero Just tried your patch with pyext actually installed and realized that you probably just want to convert a message (containing spaces) to a symbol, which is actually even easier than what i did above, using [list tosymbol]: toascii-0.47.zip

This version of [toascii] should also work with 0.47, but requires list-abs for [list-drip].

Or combined:
message2symbol.zip (0.47)
message2symbol.zip (0.48+)

@sumidero An abstraction exists for [list-drip] if you need to stay with plain vanilla (pre 0.48)...... list-drip.pd
As @ingox has shown [store] can be used to achieve that from vanilla 0.48 onward.....
David.

Thanks @ingox, @whale-av. Maybe sometimes I try to reinvent the wheel, ha ha. I'll try to get version 0.48 from backports then.
Best regards.

sumidero

@ingox first of all, thanks so much for the vanilla toascii abstraction. It works wonders! Other than thanking you I am here to ask you two things:

1. I find it mindblowing that to convert a symbol to a list (unicode, not ascii) in vanilla we have to go through all that convoluted process, while the zexy library with the symbol2list object did it elegantely in one move. Most probably all the convolution was done in the backend of the object itself, but still: am I missing something? Why doesn't vanilla offer an easy and straightforward way to convert a symbol exactly as is to a unicode list? Just thinking out loud, 'been banging my head for the last hour trying to find an easier way.
2. If I were to use your toascii.pd abstraction in an Arduino communication example patch to share on GitHub, how would you like me to reference you in the patch? Do you have a standard ref. to stick in a comment inside the patch? I tried to see if you had already uploaded it on GitHub but it seems like you didn't!

Thanks again!

@iNicco This is minor stuff, you can just use it without reference.

As to what is part of vanilla is the individual decision of Miller Pucket and the core team. Many things might be desireable, but they only include what they feel like and want to maintain. As it is FLOSS and modular and can be extended, everybody can use it as they wish. Looking at it from another perspective, some people like myself belong to a crazy purist do-everything-in-vanilla cult, whereas you can just use an external and be happy. Or in this case you can use my abstraction and just enjoy your day, while still belonging to the cult if you so wish.

Just to clarify: All patches i posted in this thread are now in the public domain. Have fun.

@ingox I am writing this comment after a few months because today I stumbled inadvertently into a super simple vanilla solution to our problem.

Instead of using your vanilla toascii abstraction (that works wonders, don't get me wrong) you can just feed the full ascii string to the [fudiparse] object, and that will convert it for you!

Now my question is: am I missing something? Will this lead to problems? Or is it actually the "from ASCII to message" that we've been all dreaming of?

@iNicco Thanks, didn't know that existed

[fudiparse] is part of vanilla since summer 2017 (PD 0.48.0). i also did not know. very useful (always used some other solutions).