Parameter Options

TANGENTCATS
Home of VASTprogrammer

VASTprogrammer

User's Guide

Parameter Options (LOPTS)

Right-clicking or <ctrl>-clicking (holding down the <ctrl> key and clicking) on a hotspot will invoke the "options" popup menu if options have been learned for that field using the LOPTS command. If this field is a number from a range of numeric values, then a slider control will pop up instead.
Command LOPTS [<start>] - This command causes VP to go through a special algorithm that searches for type-in equivalents for the various option values for a currently selected hotspot. These are remembered and stored in the metafile and reused over and over when the user right-clicks on the hotspot. The search algorithm usually starts at "0" but if the optional <start> parameter is specified, then the algorithm will start searching at that value. Sometimes fields exhibit odd behavior. If the algorithm should keep searching for an inordinate amount of time it might be best to stop it; this can be done by clicking on the main screen.
Command LOPTS INC - In some cases the normal LOPTS command might recognize the field as taking on a continuous range of numeric values rather than a set of finite options. If this happens, the LOPTS INC command can be used. It works somewhat like the normal LOPTS command except that it will recognize numeric values as a set of finite options. More simply, if LOPTS doesn't do what you'd like for numeric valued fields, give LOPTS INC a try.
Once the options for a hotspot have been learned, the user can also type-in values symbolically. For example, if a field can take on one of the values ppp, pp, p, ... ff, fff, then the user could simply type "pp" and the field would take on that value.
Command REMOPTS - This command undoes the effect of the LOPTS command(s)for a field. It causes option values to be removed (i.e., forgotten).
Command UPOBS [<bank_number>] - There are a number of "special" hotspots on VP that contain the names of various types of objects. VP will supply these names as options when right-clicking on those fields. Fetching object names for the Kurzweil is a relatively slow process (it can take up to a minute or more), so it would be inconvenient for VP to fetch this information every time it was needed. This command allows you to tell VP when a new copy of this information should be fetched. For example, after a new and important object has been created. Typing UPOBS causes VP to fetch this information from the Kurzweil and save it away in the metafiles (database). Supplying the optional <bank_number> parameter (0-9) causes VP to fetch only information from that bank; otherwise all banks are fetched.

One of the neat-o things that VP allows you to do is reference values in a symbolic manner (like typing "MWheel" or "MIDI12"). One class of values--object names-- is special. On most fields you can LOPTS them to record all possible option values for the field and reuse them over and over (they are stored in the metafile). For fields that contain object names there is a much better way--the UPOBS command. UPOBS asks the Kurz for all of the object names of all object types and saves them in the metafile. After you do this, you can right-button (or Ctrl-<click>) on a field to get this list of object names of the appropriate type.

Don't try to LOPTS on the Program names, use UPOBS. In theory LOPTS should work, but I haven't tried it lately and it is much slower and not nearly as robust as UPOBS.

Any time you create new object names, and you want them to appear in the popup menus, you will need to run UPOBS again. You can give UPOBS an optional parameter, <bank_number> (i.e. UPOBS 1), that will only update names from that bank--which is much faster if there are new object names only in a single bank (a very common case I suspect).

In general, any field that contains an object name does not (should not) be LOPTSed. UPOBS takes care of these.

LOPTS finishes on its own most of the time, but on occasion you have to Cancel it manually.

Look Inside

Program Object

Setup Object