giuliomoro Hi, could you exactly explain how to do that? it doesn't seem to work for me...i have a patch .pd with a external library object; which file should i place inside projects/pd-externals? the .c or the .pd_linux? At the moment neither is working for me...

    It's always the .pd_linux that needs to go in projects/pd-externals. If you have a library external, then you have to create an object with the name of the library FIRST, then you can create all the objects from the library. For instance:

    [zexy]

    then

    [pack~]

    CAVEAT: the main library object ([zexy]) needs to be created BEFORE you try to create the individual objects. The order in which objects are created is the order in which they are in the plain-text representation of the Pd patch. Basically, there is no way of telling just by looking at the patch, and you cannot arbitrarily move them around in the text file. So the solution is: cut everything except the main library object, then paste everything: the newly pasted objects will be created by Pd after whatever was there.

    Alternatively, the proper way of doing it should be: [declare -lib zexy], but I have not tested this on Bela.

      giuliomoro So if i am using cyclone for example i will need cyclone.pd_linux plus object.pd_linux for each object i need? I tried to compile in the IDE the cyclone_lib.c file and it generated a cyclone_lib.pd_linux but it still prompts the same error: couldn't create...

      Would you mind posting the process in steps or something similar?

          londonpride I also tried to do it without the library object.
          - uploaded the object.c
          - uploaded a Makefile specific for the object.
          - uploaded the needed headers and run the makefile in the IDE console.
          Worked like a charm for some objects but others would still prompt: couldn't create...

              londonpride Worked like a charm for some objects but others would still prompt: couldn't create...

              What objects fail to create?

              londonpride uploaded a Makefile specific for the object.

              How did you generate the Makefile?

              londonpride Would you mind posting the process in steps or something similar?

              Was this not good enough?

                      giuliomoro i compiled [cyclone/cycle~] using the .c source code and worked perfectly, [cyclone/gate~] on the other hand compiled and created the .pd_linux file but would still fail to generate.
                      I created the makefile in sublime text and it worked for [cyclone/cycle~]
                      I am sorry if you misunderstood my asking for the steps, i didn't mean to diminish your explanation or anything is just that i am a bit of a newbie using pd on bela. I've only worked with c++ on bela before.

                        What is in these Makefiles? Why don't you use the one that comes with the project?

                        a month later

                        Hello, I'm having a few issues compiling pd externals. I've worked through this post without success and I eventually found this very helpful guide: https://forum.bela.io/d/580-compiling-pd-externals-a-guide which clears most things up.

                        However, I'm still getting errors - "make: *** No targets specified and no makefile found. Stop" for [cyclone], [comport] and [list-abs] objects. I read the post above on [cyclone] and have taken the following steps:

                        • Updated Bela code
                        • Downloaded the PD fork and copied it into /root/pure-data
                        • then went back to Bela/projects/pd-externals/externals/cyclone and tried
                          'make PDINCLUDEDIR=/root/pure-data/src/ PDLIBDIR=/root/Bela/projects/pd-externals install'

                        But I'm getting "make: *** No rule to make target "install". Stop.

                        Any ideas?

                          Great, thanks. Managed to successfully compile [cyclone] and [list-abs] objects now.

                          Having a slight issue with the cyclone -- coll object though. It turns the project window blank (although it doesn't say 'couldn't create' in the console). Not sure what's going on with it.

                          Also I haven't managed to compile the [comport] object. I can't find a Makefile for it. But in the readme file it says:

                          compile:

 Unix (Linux):   
  make pd_linux,  make pd_irix5, make pd_irix6, make pd_darwin
  should produce a comport.pd_linux, ....

                          this is all new to me so not really sure what to do with that... do I still need a makefile from somewhere?

                            Where is the source code for the [comport] object?

                            emerson Having a slight issue with the cyclone -- coll object though. It turns the project window blank (although it doesn't say 'couldn't create' in the console). Not sure what's going on with it.

                            I cannot reproduce this. Can you send the Pd file?

                              Ok, so now got the source code for [comport] from the puredata.info site, which has a make file in it. Copied the new comport folder to the pd-externals folder on Bela but getting:

                              Makefile:191: recipe for target 'comport.o' failed
make: *** [comport.o] Error 1
root@bela:~/Bela/projects/pd-externals/pd-comport# make PD_INCLUDE=/root/Bela/projects/pd-externals
 -I"/root/Bela/projects/pd-externals/pd" -Wall -W -g -DPD -DVERSION='"0.2"' -fPIC -O6 -funroll-loops -fomit-frame-pointer -o "comport.o" -c "comport.c"
comport.c:24:18: fatal error: m_pd.h: No such file or directory
 #include "m_pd.h"
                  ^
compilation terminated.
Makefile:191: recipe for target 'comport.o' failed

                              for whatever I try. It says to use PD_INCLUDE = $(PD_PATH)/include in the make file.

                              I tried:
                              make PD_INCLUDE=/usr/local/include/libpd/
                              make PD_INCLUDE=/root/Bela/projects/pd-externals install
                              make PD_INCLUDE=/usr/local/include/libpd PDLIBDIR=/root/Bela/projects/pd-externals install
                              make PD_INCLUDE=/root/pure-data/src/ PDLIBDIR=/root/Bela/projects/pd-externals install
                              make PDINCLUDEDIR=/root/pure-data/src/ PDLIBDIR=/root/Bela/projects/pd-externals install

                              This is what's in the [comport] folder:

                              CHANGES.txt  Makefile    comport-help.pd  comport-stress-test.pd  comport.dsp  
comport.pd_darwin LICENSE.txt  README.txt  comport-meta.pd  comport.c               
comport.dsw  makefile_win

                              can you link to the source code? I struggle to find it on the website. Is it the "get comport for all platforms" download link from https://puredata.info/downloads/comport/releases/0.2 ?

                              Inspecting the Makefile in there, there is one line:

                              CFLAGS = -I"$(PD_INCLUDE)/pd" -Wall -W -g

                              so it seems to append /pd to whatever value you give to PD_INCLUDE=. I'd recommend you edit the Makefile and remove that /pd so you can pass the correct path straight from the command line.

                              Additionally, PDLIBDIR= is not taken into consideration by this Makefile, and the paths used for the install target are a bit complicated. I'd recommend you just manually copy the generated comport.pd_linux file to ~/Bela/projects/pd-externals/.

                                Here's the pd patch for the cyclone/coll object. I put the Coll object in the patch first, if that makes a difference? Sorry to post so many probs!

                                #N canvas 771 243 450 300 10;
#X obj 18 161 cyclone/coll;
#C restore;
#X obj 16 192 print coll;
#X obj 34 24 loadbang;
#X msg 36 49 in 11;
#X obj 37 74 s bela_setDigital;
#X obj 70 102 r bela_digitalIn11;
#X msg 68 126 next;
#X msg 19 128 1;
#X connect 0 0 1 0;
#X connect 2 0 3 0;
#X connect 2 0 7 0;
#X connect 3 0 4 0;
#X connect 5 0 6 0;
#X connect 6 0 0 0;
#X connect 7 0 0 0;

                                Here's what happens when I run the patch in the IDE:

                                alt text

                                How do you generate that patch? With Pd vanilla? Pd vanilla does not recognize the #C restore; line, so maybe that is what is crashing the preview in the browser? Either way, it's not a big deal: you only miss the preview, but the patch will still run fine. The two things are separate.

                                  giuliomoro Yes that's the link to the source code I used. Thanks for the advice on the make file, I'll give that a try.

                                      giuliomoro Ha, good to know, thanks. I thought the patch wasn't running properly because it wasn't printing the coll data to the console....but just figured out it's because I forgot to include the .txt file in the Bela project!! All sorted now, thanks.

                                        emerson
                                        Incidentally, this sort of variability between makefiles is exactly what makes it hard to write a comprehensive, one-size-fits-all Pd externals compiling guide: you will often have to rely in manual inspection to accommodate for these sort of differences

                                          2 months later

                                          I followed their instructions:

                                          You need build-essentials, header files for puredata, libjson-c, libcurl4, liboauth. If you have Debian or a derivative (e.g. Ubuntu, Linux Mint), you can install the build utils and needed headers with apt-get install build-essential puredata-dev libjson-c-dev libcurl4-openssl-dev liboauth-dev. If you are not root, prefix the command with sudo.

                                          If the board is connected to the internet, this is straightforward. Just run apt-get install build-essential libjson-c-dev libcurl4-openssl-dev liboauth-dev (note that I removed puredata-dev as we already have libpd on the board). If it is not, I just put together this script the other day that will do just that (tested on Mac, should work on Linux, possibly on Windows): https://github.com/giuliomoro/bela-random/blob/master/cross-apt-get-install.sh . Using this script, I run

                                          ./cross-apt-get-install.sh libjson-c-dev libcurl4-openssl-dev liboauth-dev

                                          make sure this is successful.

                                          Back to their instructions:

                                          Drop the sources in a directory and run make. You will get files with a suffix of pd_linux for each object (json-decode.pd_linux, json-encode.pd_linux, rest.pd_linux, oauth.pd_linux). These are needed to use the library.

                                          So I clone the repo on the host:

                                          git clone --recursive https://github.com/residuum/PuRestJson

                                          (I need the --recursive because it has some subrepo) and then I copy this across to the board:

                                          scp -r PuRestJson root@192.168.7.2

                                          Then I go back on the board and, as instructed, I run make:

                                          ssh root@192.168.7.2

                                          (Note that all the commands after this will be run on the board.)

                                          cd PuRestJson
make

                                          in less than one minute, I obtain a message : target all in lib purest_json completed. This gives me hope. Then I run ls and I see that the .pd_linux files have indeed been generated. Seems like success!

                                          Testing:
                                          I have no idea what these files are supposed to do, so I just make sure they get loaded.

                                          First: copy somewhere where they can be found. According to the Bela wiki I can just copy these files to the ~/Bela/projects/pd-externals folder in order for al the projects to be able to discover them. So, first I create such folder:

                                          mkdir -p ~/Bela/projects/pd-externals

                                          and then I copy the files there:

                                          cp ~/PuRestJson/*.pd_linux ~/Bela/projects/pd-externals

                                          Last, I create a Pd patch on my computer which uses these externals, then create a new Pd project in the Bela IDE, and I drag the newly created patch on it. I run the project and... there are no errors on the console, which means everything went fine: the objects are correctly loaded! There are also some lines that show that they were indeed loaded correctly.

                                          alt text

                                          Now, whether they work or not, I have no idea. You shall find out. If they don't do things cleverly and they run non-realtime code in the audio thread (as it's commonplace in Pd) then bad news: you may have to rewrite part of them. But maybe they don't and everything is nice!

                                          (It really takes 5 minutes to do all the above. It took me about 30 minutes writing it down, though).

                                          • cmm likes this.