Hi,
does anybody know a solution to auto generate an on-parent-gui for abstractions ?

My first idea is to python-parse the pd file to find the nearest comment for each in/outlets in order to create the gui.

How can I show creation arguments in the canvas label ?
Another question is the icon integration : which object to use ? how to deal with size and placement ?

@FFW donecanvas.txt
You can use [donecanvasdialog( to change the gop properties. When you right-click on a patch and choose Properties, all of that stuff is contained in the [donecanvasdialog( message. The format is this:

[donecanvasdialog <x-units> <y-units> <gop> <x-from> <y-from> <x-to> <y-to> <x-size> <y-size> <x-margin> <y-margin>(

The <gop> argument is 0 = gop off; 1 = gop on, show arguments; and 2 = gop on, hide arguments.

You can [send] the message to the abstraction just like you would with dynamic patching. If it's an abstraction, I'd recommend using [namecanvas] so you can give it a unique $0 name. Also, you should immediately follow it with a [dirty 0( message, otherwise you'll get some annoying "do you want to save" dialogs popping up:

[donecanvasdialog <args>, dirty 0( [namecanvas $0-myabs]
|
[send $0-myabs]

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

AND [coords( can be more easily used than donecanvasdialog for graphs.
https://puredata.info/docs/developer/PdFileFormat

But you will still need to place the guis that you want to show through the gop window within its range.
I can't see how that could be automated...... but most things are possible in Pd one way or another.
Maybe using [find( [findagain( messages to the abstraction followed by an edit+move, but then the parent would need to know the names of the guis required.
The Python parse method might work better for that?
David.

@whale-av Thank you.
I think the GUI has to be created once and saved, it doesn't need dynamic patching. That's why I like python.

Doesn't exist a python module to parse pd files ?

@FFW I don't know much about Python, but think it unlikely that a module exists. Google will know.
The Pd file format is bespoke and detailed in the link above.

The patch window will not show inlet names as in your screenshot. You will need to add canvasses with text labels within the abstraction.
David.

Hi, Today I push my first usable PDParser.py here: https://github.com/FlachyJoe/FCPDWorkbench/tree/main/dev_tools/python
It still leaks some implementation for floatatom, signalatom and array but it works with simplest patches.

This is the work of pd-beautician.py, left input results in right autogenerated GUI: