FTM is a shared library for Max/MSP providing a small and simple real-time object system and optimized services to be used within Max/MSP externals.
The main purpose of FTM is the representation and processing of sound, music and motion capture data in Max/MSP extending the data types processed and exchanged by the Max/MSP objects.
FTM is based on the FTS server of the jMax project and distributed under the Lesser GNU Public License (LGPL).
The sources of FTM are available via [CVS at SourceForge.net]
Data Structures
FTM allows for static and dynamic creation of complex data structures. The following classes are currently implemented and documented:
| mat | ... | matrix of arbitrary values |
| dict | ... | dictionary of arbitrary key/value pairs |
| track | ... | sequence of time-tagged values |
| fmat | ... | matrix of floats |
| bpf | ... | break point function |
| tuple | ... | immutable array of arbitrary values |
| scoob | ... | score object (note, trill, rest, etc.) |
| midi | ... | midi event |
FTM objects can contain references to other FTM objects. A simple garbage collector handles transparently the destruction of dynamically created FTM objects referenced by multiple elements of a patch.
Static FTM objects are created in a patcher using a dedicated Max/MSP external called ftm.object. They can be named within a local or global scope and marked persistent to be saved within the patcher. FTM provides a serialization mechanism to recursively save the content of objects and the contained objects.
(example of a static FTM object in a Max/MSP patcher)