Max number of Note/Effect columns in the manual

Ideas & suggestions
1

I would expect to be able to find the maximum number of note and effect columns easily in the manual. I think it is 12 and 8 respectively but wanted to check before commenting.

http://tutorials.renoise.com/wiki/Pattern_Editor#Columns

Columns section of the Pattern Editor page. No mention of how many columns you can have!

Also not in the Pattern Effects section. It would fit either in the very first section or in:
http://tutorials.renoise.com/wiki/Pattern_Effect_Commands#Pattern_Effect_Columns

2

Related.

This time from the API Documentation packed with 2.8.1:

-- Pattern editor columns.  
renoise.song().tracks[].max_effect_columns  
 -> [read-only, number, 4 OR 0, depending on the track type]

What type of track can only have 0 Effects Columns. Normal (Note), Group, Send and Master tracks can all have Effect Columns, so what kind of track does that leave with a max of 0?

Also I have just checked and the maximum is 8 and not 4.

3

I’ve added the column limitations here, since it makes sense. (For the record, you’re correct: 12 note columns, 8 effect columns)

This section of the manual only covers how to interact with the column itself, how the commands work within it, etc. It doesn’t actually mention how to add/remove columns, so I personally don’t think it makes sense to discuss the max column limit here, either.

Seems like a simple typo and/or outdated info. We’ll fix this, too.

4

Good to know how many parallel effects you can enter and have running at once so does make sense to know the limits of the Pattern Effects without having to go to another part of the manual IMO…

That was my guess but as I’d noticed it I thought it worth bringing to your attention.

But has any track ever not been able to have Effects Columns? Send and Master always have had, even before Groups existed.

5

No, as far as I can remember, there have always been effect columns in every track type so far. Nevertheless, there may be a track type in the future which cannot have effect columns, therefore the API may eventually return 0 for that particular type.

As usual, it just comes down to good coding practice. You cannot simply assume that all track types will have effect columns. You should always reference the max_effect_columns property to ensure that your code operates within valid ranges.

6

Ahh future-proofing. Good point and suggestion for the user coding side taken on board :)