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----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Richard Dobson" 
To: 
Sent: Tuesday, August 18, 2009 3:59 PM
Subject: [Csnd] Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: csoptions idea...


> Art Hunkins wrote:
>> -1 (as you might guess).
>>
>> My  are set up for the "average" system and the "average" 
>> requirements of my realtime compositions.
>>
>
> What's an "average" system?

An "average" system is relatively recent (realtime for me is not feasible 
more than 8 years ago or so), one audio output device, and if needed, one 
MIDI input (USB devices take MIDI input device numbers, at least in 
Windows). My buffer settings are relaxed, as latency is not a great issue 
for me.

>
>>
>> One crucial  element for me is -M0 or not (or the Linux 
>> equivalent). In many cases, if -M0 is not there, the performer is 
>> unlikely to know what went wrong.
>>
>
> In my case this is moot; most of the time I have no Midi device plugged in 
> (USB again...), and at other times I have two - and will then typically be 
> using the second device, not the first.
>
>> Some performers will need to edit (for their hardware, as you say); 
>> they'd have to edit .csoundrc as well.
>>
>
> If users have to edit that every time, how is that less tiresome than 
> editing CsOptions? The whole idea (I ~thought~) of .csoundrc was to setup 
> the standard options for ~your~ csound on ~your~ machine, once and once 
> only, to be changed hardly ever. Someone like me with hardware that is 
> decidedly variable might accept the need to edit it, but on the putative 
> "average" machine it would presumably only need to be done once - this 
> audio device, that Midi device, these buffer settings, and so on.
>

It isn't more or less tiresome; it's the same. But I'm all for one less file 
to cope with.
Edit  once for your system and you are good to go. I guess it's a
question of whether you view the issue from a "realtilme composer's" POV 
(wanting
to set options for a wide array of potential performance systems), or from a 
"performer's" or delayed playback
POV (have everything work "out of the box" for your own system).

> The thing is - speaking in terms of the user of an average machine - I 
> have just one of those, but I might want to play 1001 csds from around the 
> planet, each of which is electing to configure my setup in a different 
> way!
>
> To put it another way - as described here:
> http://www.csounds.com/manual/html/CommandTop.html#CommandOrder
>
> IMO the order is back to front - CsOptions (assuming losing that is not an 
> option) and .csoundrc should be swapped in order.

I, of course, am overjoyed that  overrides everything except 
commandline
options, which I don't use in any case (and would hate to keep typing out if 
I did). I
don't really care what happens to .csoundrc.

>
> I suppose what I/we really need is a single csound flag option to choose 
> either .csoundrc or the CsOptions (or even more simply - to ignore 
> CsOptions). I would put that in my .csoundrc and be a happy bunny!
>

I'd be happy with such a commandline flag for either the commandline or 
,
but not .csoundrc. I'm not likely to have the latter in my system (nor are 
those who
opt for my "stripped down" distros).

Art Hunkins

>
> Richard Dobson
>
>
>
>
> Send bugs reports to this list.
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> csound" 



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Art Hunkins wrote:
..
> It isn't more or less tiresome; it's the same. But I'm all for one less 
> file to cope with.
> Edit  once for your system and you are good to go. I guess 


But this is the whole point. We are (well, I am) talking about 
distributing csds to other people (and using one from other people). 
Sure, I can edit CsOptions for ~my~ csds I am playing on ~my~ system, 
but any time I use someone else's csd (such as yours, for example), 
~they~ have in effect changed my settings. I don't want them to.

My .csoundrc is the place for me to store ~my~ settings for ~my~ 
machine. That is what I shodul edit once and be good to go. Those 
settings have nothing to do with anybody else's machine. The csd is a 
way of bundling sco and orc files in one file, and that is a very good 
idea. But embedding some arbitrary bunch of machine-specific settings in 
the same file makes no sense to me at all; any more than I should expect 
you to use all my mac "preferences" settings or PC environment settings, 
merely because "they work for me".


Richard Dobson



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