Presets location

rafzael · 8 January 2023 21:32

Hello,

I tried to find (without success) how to define the presets location.
On windows I saw these are in appdata/roaming/company/pluginName.settings but on mac I can’t find where these are.

Also I wonder if the default locations on both mac and windows are OK for presets sharing between users. The idea would be to have an installer adding the preset file (with some factory presets) in the good location (and the unsinstaller deleting these).

thanks

daniel · 9 January 2023 22:56

There are two different settings. The JUCE standalone build creates a settings file which can be found in ~/Library/ApplicationSupport/YourPluginName.settings

In addition, PGM allows you to store preferences that are read by all instances regardless of which host they run (unless they are sandboxed).

You set this path yourself, if you want to use that. An example how to activate it can be found here:

github.com

ffAudio/PluginGuiMagic/blob/main/examples/FoleysSynth/Source/PluginProcessor.cpp#L61


      
          presetList = magicState.createAndAddObject<PresetListBox>("presets");
          presetList->onSelectionChanged = [&](int number)
          {
              loadPresetInternal (number);
          };
          magicState.addTrigger ("save-preset", [this]
          {
              savePresetInternal();
          });
          
          magicState.setApplicationSettingsFile (juce::File::getSpecialLocation (juce::File::userApplicationDataDirectory)
                                                 .getChildFile (ProjectInfo::companyName)
                                                 .getChildFile (ProjectInfo::projectName + juce::String (".settings")));
          
          magicState.setPlayheadUpdateFrequency (30);
          
          FoleysSynth::FoleysSound::Ptr sound (new FoleysSynth::FoleysSound (treeState));
          synthesiser.addSound (sound);
          
          for (int i=0; i < 16; ++i)
              synthesiser.addVoice (new FoleysSynth::FoleysVoice (treeState));

Btw. this is the current state of the plugin. A full fledged preset system requires a bit work on your end, but the method to read and restore parameters from a preset file is indeed available:

It can be seen here:

github.com

ffAudio/PluginGuiMagic/blob/main/examples/FoleysSynth/Source/PluginProcessor.cpp#L130


      
          
          //==============================================================================
          void FoleysSynthAudioProcessor::savePresetInternal()
          {
              presetNode = magicState.getSettings().getOrCreateChildWithName ("presets", nullptr);
          
              juce::ValueTree preset { "Preset" };
              preset.setProperty ("name", "Preset " + juce::String (presetNode.getNumChildren() + 1), nullptr);
          
              foleys::ParameterManager manager (*this);
              manager.saveParameterValues (preset);
          
              presetNode.appendChild (preset, nullptr);
          }
          
          void FoleysSynthAudioProcessor::loadPresetInternal(int index)
          {
              presetNode = magicState.getSettings().getOrCreateChildWithName ("presets", nullptr);
              auto preset = presetNode.getChild (index);
          
              foleys::ParameterManager manager (*this);

In this example I simply add it to the Application Settings that is shared by all plugin instances.

I think this location is indeed the intended where an Installer could place reasonable sized data.
I would just be weary to place sample data there, because it is not easy for a user to link this data from e.g. an external or secondary disk.

I hope this helps, let me know if you have further questions.

rafzael · 12 January 2023 22:18

Thank you Daniel,

I was setting it exactly like that, my errors was coming from the fact that I was using an unsigned build and for any reason mac didn’t allow the plugin to add the preset file at this location.

I hope this will help people struggling witht that kind of problem.

Cheers