This topic has come up several times on the Max forums, but I never remember what to search/where to look to find the various ; max messages you can use to issue commands to Max. Typically, Gregory Taylor recommends that searching for “messages to max” (in Max’s search box) will point you in the right direction to find the ‘Controlling Max with Messages’ vignette. There are several other useful resources about messages to Max, so I am echoing them here for future reference.
The Technical Notes section of the Max 8 Documentation not only contains links to a list of ; max messages, but also contains a handy collection of things such as messages to control MSP and Jitter (links below), and lead me to re-find a few other things that I tend to forget about (like being able to send messages to a receive object by name).
- A series of Max specific messages beginning with
; max, eg; max externs; max launchbrowser https://docs.cycling74.com/max8 - A series of MSP specific messages beginning with
; dsp, eg; dsp start; dsp open - A series of Jitter specific messages beginning with
; jitter, eg; jitter html_ref jit.histogram; jitter javaload 1
There are times when it can be useful to send messages to receive objects with a standalone message too. Messages to receive objects can be sent by replacing ‘max’ with the name argument of the receive object, ie. ; foo bar sends the message bar to receive foo. Placeholders also work here, eg. sending bar into ; foo $1 will have the same result.
A side note: the Technical Notes page also includes several links to ‘functional listings’ of objects grouped by their ‘subject’:
- A Functional Listing of all Max Objects grouped by subject (eg. control, lists, math, MIDI)
- A Functional Listing of all MSP Objects grouped by subject (eg. filters, functions, sampling, synthesis)
- A Functional Listing of all Jitter Objects grouped by subject (eg. audio, compositing, OpenGL, spatial)
This is a useful way to find related objects other than via their help patches.