PraxisLIVE v5.5.0 adds some key features in our evolution towards v6. These include sharing base code across components, function controls bound to methods, and an async API for calls and tasks.

The IDE is updated to be based on Apache NetBeans 16, with support for JDK 19. OpenJDK 17 LTS from Adoptium is still included in all OS specific bundles. Use the zip download to run with other JDKs or architectures.

Windows, macOS and Linux packages are now all built using NBPackage. The Windows and macOS installers are signed by Codelerity. We are no longer providing AppImages for Linux, but providing both DEB and RPM packages.

Key changes

Shared base components

It's now possible to share base component code across multiple components in a graph. Right-click on a component and select Create shared base. You can then duplicate the component (CTRL-D) and update all instances at the same time. Individual component code can still be added to extend or override the base component features.

The fast edit action (SHIFT-doubleclick or SHIFT-RETURN) will open the base component code for editing as long as the component has not extended the base code.

As a side effect of changes for base components, properties, controls and ports no longer have to have a unique index. They are sorted by index then alphabetically. This allows for code such as @In(1) PImage in1, in2; or @P(1) @Type.Number(min=0, max=1) double x,y,z; to work.

An important limitation on the current shared base component support in the IDE is that copy & paste of components across different graphs will not copy the shared base code - you must copy that in place manually first.

Function controls and value mapping

It's now possible to create function controls by annotating a method in a component with @FN.

eg.

@P(1) @Type.String(def = "Hello") String greeting; @FN String greet(String name) { return greeting + " " + name; }

This is most useful when used with the Async API (below) to call a component in another graph to process data for you.

As part of this support, mapping between Java types and PraxisCORE Value types has been improved. The various casting methods such as d(..) and s(..) have been deprecated and replaced with upper case (D(..) and S(..)) equivalents with improved behaviour. There is also V(..) for converting from Java types to Value.

Async calls and tasks

There is now a basic Async API for making control calls where you want the return value, as well as support for arbitrary background tasks. Methods return an Async<T> object that currently must be polled for the result. Store the async object in a field marked with @Persist to ensure it survives code changes. Further improvements are underway here.

Calling a function control

Call a function control using ask(..)

@Persist Async<Call> response; @T(1) void trigger() { response = ask(ControlAddress.of("/data/greeter.greet"), "<NAME>"); } @Override public void update() { if (response != null && response.done()) { if (response.failed()) { log(ERROR, "<FAIL> " + response.error()); } else { log(INFO, response.result().args().get(0).toString()); } response = null; } }

An async task

For basic tasks which don't rely on properties or data of another component, you can also async(..) that will run the provided code in background thread. Be careful to pass in all required data in the first argument and not access any component data in the background thread!

@P(1) String name; @Persist Async<String> response; @T(1) void trigger() { response = async(name, n -> "Hello " + n); } @Override public void update() { if (response != null && response.done()) { if (response.failed()) { log(ERROR, "<FAIL> " + response.error()); } else { log(INFO, response.result()); } response = null; } }

Further info

More information on new features will be added to the docs soon.

In the meantime, also check out the testsuite projects -

• https://github.com/praxis-live/praxiscore/tree/master/testsuite/tests/core/async-functions
• https://github.com/praxis-live/praxiscore/tree/master/testsuite/tests/core/shared-delegates