Patch files: name a patch cord's output in words #59

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opened 2026-10-13 02:11:00 +00:00 by bcox · 0 comments

bcox commented

2026-10-13 02:11:00 +00:00

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Ben confirmed on 2026-10-12 that the patch cords of the 2600 and the MS-20 are .jack parameters: a whole number, 0 for no cable, 1 for a dummy plug, 2 and up for a cord from an output jack, in an order fixed in each instrument's jacks.h. What was left open with that, and is this issue: whether a patch file may name the output in words.

Today a patch file written by hand has vco1.kbd.jack 34, and the reader has to know that 34 is the 2600's UPPER VOICE. platform/patch_file.h reads a parameter and a number a line.

To decide:

Whether a .jack line may give a name in place of the number (vco1.kbd.jack upper-voice), and what the names are; each instrument's page.js already has printed names, in jacks.h's order, which are not made for typing.
Whether the daemon then writes names or numbers when it saves.
Whether the same should hold for any switch with several positions, which are whole numbers in the panel's order everywhere.

The numbers stay what the protocol carries either way.

Ben confirmed on 2026-10-12 that the patch cords of the 2600 and the MS-20 are `.jack` parameters: a whole number, 0 for no cable, 1 for a dummy plug, 2 and up for a cord from an output jack, in an order fixed in each instrument's `jacks.h`. What was left open with that, and is this issue: **whether a patch file may name the output in words.** Today a patch file written by hand has `vco1.kbd.jack 34`, and the reader has to know that 34 is the 2600's UPPER VOICE. `platform/patch_file.h` reads a parameter and a number a line. To decide: - Whether a `.jack` line may give a name in place of the number (`vco1.kbd.jack upper-voice`), and what the names are; each instrument's `page.js` already has printed names, in `jacks.h`'s order, which are not made for typing. - Whether the daemon then writes names or numbers when it saves. - Whether the same should hold for any switch with several positions, which are whole numbers in the panel's order everywhere. The numbers stay what the protocol carries either way.