Cache Modulator/Component Object

[dnaldoog]

If you have a uiSlider for example named "cutoff" and you want to change the value in lua, we can write code like:

• panel:getModulatorByName("cutoff"):setModulatorValue(newValue,false,true,false)
• panel:getModulatorByName("cutoff"):getComponent():setValue(newValue,true)
• panel:getComponent("cutoff"):setValue(newValue,true)

When this call is made, the whole list of panel objects is traversed looking for the component "cutoff".

This is inefficient, so in order to speed up this process we can assign a variable name in lua that references the object "cutoff". This variable reference is usually declared in a function within the Ctrlr program interface area Called when the panel has finished loading. Let's call it init().

Instead of calling panel:getModulatorByName("cutoff"):setModulatorValue(20,false,true,false), as above, you initialise it by:
cutoff = panel:getModulatorByName("cutoff") in init(). Now in your code you can do:
cutoff:setModulatorValue(20,false,true,false) in your callback functions. This should be faster.

---

There is another way of doing this using Memoizing, a kind of run-time optimisation, which uses lua metatables to do the same thing.

_mod.cutoff:setModulatorValue(20,false,true,false) is called instead.
Or if the component name has spaces or funny characters:
_mod("cutoff value"):setModulatorValue(20,false,true,false) or _mod["cutoff value"]:setModulatorValue(20,false,true,false)

in a loop you can do things like:

t = {"cutoff", "resonance", "attack"}
for i, v in ipairs(t) do
    _mod(v):setModulatorValue(i, false, true, false)
    -- or _mod(v):setValue(i,true)
end

• The table name I use here _mod is entirely optional and can be changed to any legal variable/table name.
• I have it set up so that depending on the uiType a different component object is called:

so _mod.mylabelL:setText() actually calls and is a reference for:

panel:getLabelComponent("myLabelL"):setText()

One advantage when compared to the init() script way is that while in development any variable can be created on the fly and will subsequently be cached as a variable without having to close and reload the program/Ctrlr after adding a new variable to init() in the old way. But, really the end result is the same as the init() method.

Note that the first time a call is made to the cached version the underlying panel:getModulatorByName() is called. All subsequent calls will access the lua variable in the table _mod. (memoizing)

Here is the code for this. Comment out certain groups of modulators if you want to use Ctrlr properties like modulatorCustomIndex etc; otherwise we access the JUCE component directly. Add the following code as you would add a global table in a separate virtual file in Ctrlr i.e. Add Method.

mt = {}
mt.__call = function(t, k)
    return t[k]
end

mt.__index = function(t, k)
    local uiType = panel:getComponent(k):getProperty("uiType")
    if uiType == "uiLabel" then
        t[k] = panel:getLabelComponent(k)
    elseif uiType == "uiLCDLabel" then
        t[k] = panel:getLCDLabelComponent(k)
    elseif uiType == "uiToggleButton" then
        t[k] = panel:getToggleButtonComponent(k)
    elseif uiType == "uiButton" then
        t[k] = panel:getButtonComponent(k)
    elseif uiType == "uiImageButton" then
        t[k] = panel:getImageButtonComponent(k)
    elseif uiType == "uiCombo" then
        t[k] = panel:getComboComponent(k)
    elseif uiType == "uiListBox" then
        t[k] = panel:getListBoxComponent(k)
    elseif uiType == "uiFileListBox" then
        --[[ THESE ARE COMMENTED OUT SO WE CAN ACCESS getModulatorValue() etc
	elseif uiType == "uiSlider" then
    	t[k] = panel:getSliderComponent(k)
	elseif uiType == "uiImageSlider" then
    	t[k] = panel:getImageSliderComponent(k)
	elseif uiType == "uiFixedSlider" then
    	t[k] = panel:getFixedSliderComponent(k)
	elseif uiType == "uiFixedImageSlider" then
    	t[k] = panel:getFixedImageSliderComponent(k)
--]]
        t[k] = panel:getFileListBoxComponent(k)
    else
        t[k] = panel:getModulatorByName(k) -- get the default Ctrlr object DON'T COMMENT OUT!
    end
    return t[k]
end

_mod = {}

setmetatable(_mod, mt) -- change the table name _mod to anything you like

---

In this example panel , first open the console window. On first run, or after recompiling, you will notice various messages print to console, but only once. All subsequent calls to panel components are now cached or memoized.

[Ted-juh]

It's like you said, another way of doing things, but the fact that you don't have to close Ctrlr each time you add a modulator to the init file is very convenient.

Nice method :)

[dobo365]

Tbh, I don't understand why you should restart Ctrlr to get the init done...
In all my panels I have such init method (I call it AssignModulators) where I do all necessary assignments to variables
modCutoff = panel:getModulatorByName("Cutoff")

If you are changing it during development, just run it in the console window...
AssignModulators()

May be there is something I didn't understand...

And another remark is that when writing code, be sure to be able to understand it later on for maintenance.
So avoid too cryptic things.

John is used to work with the tables and the i,v in ipairs loops and that's fine
I prefer something more readable (more old fashion / classical) even if I understand what the i,v loops are doing
What I mean by that is that you should write code the way you fell comfortable with and that will be easy to adapt later on if necessary.

[dnaldoog]

Tbh, I don't understand why you should restart Ctrlr to get the init done... In all my panels I have such init method (I call it AssignModulators) where I do all necessary assignments to variables modCutoff = panel:getModulatorByName("Cutoff")

If you are changing it during development, just run it in the console window... AssignModulators()

May be there is something I didn't understand...

And another remark is that when writing code, be sure to be able to understand it later on for maintenance. So avoid too cryptic things.

John is used to work with the tables and the i,v in ipairs loops and that's fine I prefer something more readable (more old fashion / classical) even if I understand what the i,v loops are doing What I mean by that is that you should write code the way you fell comfortable with and that will be easy to adapt later on if necessary.

Hi Goodweather!

That is true that you can just run a function like AssignModulators() again to regenerate the lua variables - All this time I didn’t know you can run a function from the console like that!

I was more referring to the way I used to do it, which was declare the variables in the init() function, but maybe that wasn't the most efficient way looking back. In doing that I had to close the panel and restart.

The good thing about the system I have here is that you don't have to come up with new names for lua variables if the modulator name is not legal for lua. You also don't have to refer back in code to the lua variable, which you might have to look up sometimes (if it's not identical to the modulator name).

An example of why this way is more efficient in development:
Imagine you have a function that needs to access another modulator’s value. You lookup the modulator name in Ctrlr by clicking on it. With my way you can just copy the name and access with the methods above. In the case of the old way you would need to know the lua variable name that that modulator is assigned to. So in this case there’s much less work involved.

Also in your AssignModulators function you are essentially potentially declaring dozens of global variables. With my method, variables names have restricted scope which is better programming practice it seems universally agreed.

Recently I try to name a control exactly as in the manual to keep track of everything, so for example in the Yamaha TX81-Z there is a parameter called Operator 4-1 On/Off (bits 0-3) - with my system I can name a modulator _m("Operator 4-1 On/Off (bits 0-3)"):getModulatorValue() - so for me it's more straightforward actually and involves less typing!

Also declaring a lua variable like

lfod= panel:getModulatorByName(“lfo delay”) means you might have to type in lfod:getComponent() if you are accessing JUCE methods. More typing I guess. Also when coming back to code months later there would be no need to look up what lfod is actually referring to, although if you have a good naming scheme maybe that wouldn’t be necessary.

As is so often the case with coding there are a million possibilities- this is just one and may not suit everyone. 😉

[dnaldoog]

What I found in practice is that it is good to have two caching tables, one for panel:getModulatorByName() and a separate one for panel:getComponent()

ct = {}
ct.__call = function(t, k)
    return t[k]
end
mt = {}
mt.__call = function(t, k)
    return t[k]
end

ct.__index = function(t, k)
    local uiType = panel:getComponent(k):getProperty("uiType")
    if uiType == "uiLabel" then
        t[k] = panel:getLabelComponent(k)
    elseif uiType == "uiLCDLabel" then
        t[k] = panel:getLCDLabelComponent(k)
    elseif uiType == "uiToggleButton" then
        t[k] = panel:getToggleButtonComponent(k)
    elseif uiType == "uiButton" then
        t[k] = panel:getButtonComponent(k)
    elseif uiType == "uiImageButton" then
        t[k] = panel:getImageButtonComponent(k)
    elseif uiType == "uiCombo" then
        t[k] = panel:getComboComponent(k)
    elseif uiType == "uiListBox" then
        t[k] = panel:getListBoxComponent(k)
    elseif uiType == "uiFileListBox" then
        t[k] = panel:getListBoxComponent(k)
    elseif uiType == "uiSlider" then
        t[k] = panel:getSliderComponent(k)
    elseif uiType == "uiImageSlider" then
        t[k] = panel:getImageSliderComponent(k)
    elseif uiType == "uiFixedSlider" then
        t[k] = panel:getFixedSliderComponent(k)
    elseif uiType == "uiFixedImageSlider" then
        t[k] = panel:getFixedImageSliderComponent(k)
        t[k] = panel:getFileListBoxComponent(k)
    else
        t[k] = panel:getModulatorByName(k) -- get the default Ctrlr object DON'T COMMENT OUT!
    end
    return t[k]
end
mt.__index = function(t, k)
    t[k] = panel:getModulatorByName(k)
    return t[k]
end

_m, _c = {}, {}
setmetatable(_c, ct) 
setmetatable(_m, mt) 

So now you could call a uiSlider named cutofffor example using

_c.cutoff:getProperty("uiButtonColourOn", "ffffffff", true)
_m.cutoff:getProperty("modulatorCustomIndex")

[dnaldoog]

Updated code: Added a flag myDebug for more verbose assertion about any missing modulators.
Set a global variable myDebug=true somewhere in your code.

mt = {}
mt.__call = function(t, k)
    return t[k]
end

mt.__index = function(t, k)
    if myDebug then
        assert(panel:getModulator(k),sf("\n\npanel:getComponent(\"%s\") not found!", k))
    end
    local uiType = panel:getComponent(k):getProperty("uiType")
    if uiType == "uiLabel" then
        t[k] = panel:getLabelComponent(k)
    elseif uiType == "uiLCDLabel" then
        t[k] = panel:getLCDLabelComponent(k)
    elseif uiType == "uiToggleButton" then
        t[k] = panel:getToggleButtonComponent(k)
    elseif uiType == "uiButton" then
        t[k] = panel:getButtonComponent(k)
    elseif uiType == "uiImageButton" then
        t[k] = panel:getImageButtonComponent(k)
    elseif uiType == "uiCombo" then
        t[k] = panel:getComboComponent(k)
    elseif uiType == "uiListBox" then
        t[k] = panel:getListBoxComponent(k)
    elseif uiType == "uiFileListBox" then
        t[k] = panel:getSliderComponent(k)
    elseif uiType == "uiImageSlider" then
        t[k] = panel:getImageSliderComponent(k)
    elseif uiType == "uiFixedSlider" then
        t[k] = panel:getFixedSliderComponent(k)
    elseif uiType == "uiFixedImageSlider" then
        t[k] = panel:getFixedImageSliderComponent(k)
    elseif uiType == "uiCustomComponent" then
        t[k] = panel:getComponent(k)
    elseif uiType == "uiProgressBar" then
        t[k] = panel:getComponent(k)
    elseif uiType == "uiTabs" then
        t[k] = panel:getComponent(k)
    else
        t[k] = panel:getModulatorByName(k)
    end

    return t[k]
end

_c = {}

setmetatable(_c, mt)

mtm = {}
mtm.__call = function(t, k)
    return t[k]
end

mtm.__index = function(t, k)
    if myDebug then
        assert(panel:getModulator(k),sf("\n\npanel:getModulator(\"%s\") not found!", k))
    end
    t[k] = panel:getModulatorByName(k)
    return t[k]
end

_m = {}

setmetatable(_m, mtm)

https://sourceforge.net/projects/ctrlr-utilities/files/developer%20tools/template/