Codebox

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out1

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CHAR_a

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CHAR_AMP

ASCII numeric value of the single quote character

CHAR_APOS

CHAR_AST

CHAR_AT

CHAR_b

CHAR_B

ASCII numeric value of the back slash character

CHAR_BACKSLASH

CHAR_BACKTICK

CHAR_BANG

CHAR_c

CHAR_C

CHAR_CARET

CHAR_COLON

CHAR_COMMA

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CHAR_DOLLAR

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CHAR_EQUALS

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CHAR_g

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CHAR_GT

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CHAR_HASH

CHAR_HYPHEN

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CHAR_LBRACKET

CHAR_LCURLY

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CHAR_p

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CHAR_PERCENT

CHAR_PERIOD

CHAR_PIPE

CHAR_PLUS

CHAR_q

CHAR_Q

CHAR_QUEST

ASCII numeric value of the double quote character

CHAR_QUOTE

CHAR_r

CHAR_R

CHAR_RBRACKET

CHAR_RCURLY

CHAR_RPAREN

CHAR_s

CHAR_S

CHAR_SEMI

ASCII numeric value of the forward slash character

CHAR_SLASH

CHAR_SPACE

CHAR_t

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CHAR_TILDE

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CHAR_UNDERSCORE

CHAR_v

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CHAR_w

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CHAR_y

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CHAR_z

CHAR_Z

currenttime

The amount of time that has elapsed in milliseconds since the application was started.

The constant value used when converting from degrees to radians

degtorad

halfpi

invpi

objects use a JavaScript-like scripting language to implement DSP and event code directly inside of RNBO. The syntax is similar to the

 in Gen, with some important differences.

Unline Gen, variables must be declared with 

 keyword. While this makes the RNBO codebox language 

 very similar to JavaScript, not all JavaScript features are supported. Overall, 

 object, rather than a replacement for the Max 

You can create and reference inlets and outlets using 

basic.png

bascic-dsp.png

 is sufficent to create a second inlet. When using

, any assignment to an outlet will cause an output on that outlet.

Screen Shot 2022-06-27 at 2.57.49 PM.png

This will print 4 and then 5 whenever the codebox receives input at its first inlet. The codebox will always have a first inlet. As is often the case in Max, only the leftmost inlet is "hot". Sending a value to the first inlet will trigger output, while sending a value to the other inlets will instead simply update the internal value of 

, all outlets are always signals, and will output a signal vector every audio frame.

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 identifiers to get accordingly typed inlets and outlets.

 to declare local variables. While you can re-assign the value of 

 variables, these updates will not persist between codebox calls—see 

 values in parameter declarations. This includes globally-defined 

Codebox supports a subset of RNBO objects. Very simple objects, the ones that just wrap a stateless function call, are exposed as built-in functions in codebox. So one can write:

 object in RNBO. Some built-in functions return a number:

operators.png

Others return multiple values as an array:

operators-multi-return.png

RNBO objects with some internal state, like a 

, are exposed as codebox-supported objects. These must be created with 

 method, which returns the object's output while advancing its internal state by one sample. So calling 

The cycle and phasor objects are very common:

phasor_cycle_02.png

 are not currently supported. Built-in functions and codebox-supported RNBO objects are listed on this page's lefthand sidebar as operators and stateful operators. 

Most of the control flow keywords from C++ and JavaScript are supported. The looping constructs 

However, language-specific paradigms like 

 are not currently supported. You can also use branching constructs like 

These keywords should follow the C++ and JavaScript specification, so refer to the documentation for those languages for a more thorough discussion of how to use these keywords.

Function declarations are supported using the 

function.png

A function can return multiple values by returning an array.

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The return type of a function is automatically deduced (it will be a list, if you use an array expression as a return type). Anonymous functions, like you might create with big-arrow notation in JavaScript or C++ lambdas, are not currently available.

There are currently three special functions:

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Sometimes you want a function to be called whenever data comes into one of the inlets that is not the first one. This can be achieved through an inlet function. In this example, the function is called whenever a list is received at the second inlet:

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 whenever the second inlet receives any input. This function will run in addition to setting the value of 

, so you can think of the function as a side effect of setting 

In order to re-use state after codebox has triggered some output, use the 

 decorator.  This will create state that persists across the lifetime of the codebox object.

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 keyword to declare variables that can be used during codebox execution, these are not reusable state variables. For example, something like this will not work:

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 decorator to introduce a state variable that can be set via a message:

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 decorator function is the only place in the codebox language that you can use a JavaScript-style object. The function takes as its one and only argument an object describing how the parameter should behave. It can take the keys 

 to define a range, or it can take the key 

, followed by a list of enumerated values. Enumerated parameters always start at index 0.

Following the decorator function, the parameter must be given a name and an initial value.

A codebox's state can also hold a reference to a buffer. This may be sized, unsized, named, or anonymous. For example, this creates a reference to a buffer "mybuf" defined outside of the codebox.

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This will create an internal, anonymous buffer, that will always be twice the sample rate in size:

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 the only two supported operators in size expressions are 

 This will create a named buffer (which will also be available in Max) of size 44100:

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 to set and get sample values. Reading and writing in buffers does bound checking, so you cannot read or write out of bounds. As you can see, some built-in functions take a buffer as their argument. The list of operators in the left sidebar includes such functions.

It is possible to give a codebox variable an explicit type.

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This is usually unnecessary, but sometimes necessary (for example) when strict typing requires that a number have an integer type.

Explicit types also allow you to declare a variable without setting it, if you want to. For example:

 is a number and will throw an error. Valid types include 

Finally, you may find that your codebox fails to compile sometimes in cases where you're using a custom function that returns a list. Sometimes the compiler can infer the return type of a function, and the explicit 

 type is unnecessary. However, you can always add the explicit return type to clear up the error if you're seeing a problem. 

 do not have a fixed size. Adding and removing elements from the list changes the size of the list. Sometimes it's convenient to work with fixed size arrays. These arrays are highly efficient, especially when it comes to setting and getting values from the array at a particular index. 

 keyword. The first argument is the size of the array, and further arguments can be used to initialize the array.

One thing that's particularly useful is that with fixed arrays, you can create multidimensional arrays that you can index along multiple dimensions. For example:

 that fills up an array with a sinusoid, 180 degrees out of phase in each channel.

The following types are supported for fixed size arrays:

Name ------------------ C Type --------------- Description
FixedInt8Array -------- int8_t --------------- Signed 8-bit integer
FixedUint8Array ------- uint8_t -------------- Unsigned 8-bit integer
FixedInt16Array ------- int16_t -------------- Signed 16-bit integer
FixedUint16Array ------ uint16_t ------------- Unsigned 16-bit integer
FixedInt32Array ------- int32_t -------------- Signed 32-bit integer
FixedUint32Array ------ uint32_t ------------- Unsigned 32-bit integer
FixedFloat32Array ----- float ---------------- 32-bit float
FixedFloat64Array ----- double --------------- 64-bit float
FixedBigInt64Array ---- int64_t -------------- Signed 64-bit integer
FixedBigUint64Array --- uint64_t ------------- Unsigned 64-bit integer
FixedSampleArray ------ float or double ------ The same type as an audio sample
FixedNumberArray ------ multiple ------------- Value may change depending on the 
                                               circumstances in which code is generated 
                                               and used. Use this if you don't need a 
                                               particular number type.
FixedIntArray --------- int ------------------ Signed integer, equivalent to C int
FixedFloatArray ------- float ---------------- Equivalent to C float
FixedDoubleArray ------ double --------------- Equivalent to C double

 object can also accept a number message at any of its inlets.

If only messages and no signals are connected to the inlet of a 

, then the inlet value (in1, in2, etc.) will only update once every signal vector. This is much more efficient, though it does mean that the value cannot change during the computation of an audio block.

List functions in RNBO fall into two categories: global list functions and methods on a list object.

codebox and codebox~ enable you to use rnboscript, a JavaScript-like scripting language, to implement DSP and event code directly inside of RNBO.

Codebox and Codebox~ Reference

C++ API

Performs the subtraction with the value currently stored.

The value in the right inlet is subtracted from this value and the result is sent out the outlet.

Compute the absolute difference between two inputs

absdiff

The absolute value of the difference between the two numbers received in the inlets.

acos

Input to the inverse hyperbolic cosine function.

acosh

The inverse hyperbolic cosine of the input.

Performs the operation with the value currently stored. If there is no argument, && initially holds `0`.

Codebox Guides

CHAR_O