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cables is under heavy development.
There might be one or another bug, please let us know about it!
cables DocumentationHow To UseWorking with filesKeyboard ShortcutsUser Interface WalkthroughBeginner TutorialBeginner 1: Drawing A CircleBeginner 2: TransformationsBeginner 3: ColorMore TransformationsIntermediateImage CompositionsPost-Processing 3D ScenesCommunicationcables APIExporting And EmbeddingHow to serve files externally and fix CORS headersExporting PatchesExport using the cables command line interfaceExport via IframeExport creating a standalone executableExport to github (pages)Export and deploy to netlifyExport a ZIP fileExternal triggers / functionsUsing variablesPreviewing / uploading exported cables patchesExamples for EmbeddingPermissionsUsersPatchesTeamsOpsMultiplayerPatchlistsCoding OpsCreating AttachmentsGeneral op/Port CallbacksPortsDynamic PortsArray PortsBoolean portsInteger Number PortsObject PortsString portsTrigger PortsFloating Point Number PortsGUI/UI attributesHello Op - Part 1LibrariesDeveloping OpsRenaming / Creating a new versionCreating Viz OpsGuidelinesObject PortsPatching Ops / SubPatchOpsWriting ShadersWeb Audio Op DevelopmentHTML And CSS In CablesLightingLightsShadowsWorking With AudioBasic Audio SetupWorking with EffectsReal-Time Audio Analyzation & Audio VisualizationOffline Audio Visualization & AnalyzationOptimizing Performance In PatchesTools for debugging your patchHow to optimize cables patches with the Performance opHow to optimize cables patches with the ProfilerCommon pitfalls with the "usual suspects"Optimizing arraysDebugging Shaders with ShaderInfoFAQAudio in web browsersHow to make demoscene demos with cables.glEmbeddingHow to integrate my cables patch into my CMS (webflow/wix/squarespace/...)?How to remove grey rectangles on touch (mobile)?Why doesn't the DownloadTexture op work on iOS?How to disable page scrolling on mobile?Mobile tippsHow to run exported patches on your local machineTransparent CanvasFeatures and SupportHow to contribute code to cablesWill there be support for (animated) GIFs?Can i use a website as a texture?Screenshots and Video recordingHow to report a bug in cablesHow can I support cables?Video playback in cablesGeneral questionsWhat is dev.cables.glJavascript Frameworkscordova / phonegapelectronreactvuejsLicenses and paymentWhat license do i need to use cables?Will I have to pay for it in the future?How is my work licensed when using cables?Does cables support midi and OSC?Patch PermissionsMy User Profile & Social MediaShadertoyCables at schools and universitiesTechnical questionsWebGL1 and WebGL2cables DocumentationHow To UseWorking with filesKeyboard ShortcutsUser Interface WalkthroughBeginner TutorialBeginner 1: Drawing A CircleBeginner 2: TransformationsBeginner 3: ColorMore TransformationsIntermediateImage CompositionsPost-Processing 3D ScenesCommunicationcables APIExporting And EmbeddingHow to serve files externally and fix CORS headersExporting PatchesExport using the cables command line interfaceExport via IframeExport creating a standalone executableExport to github (pages)Export and deploy to netlifyExport a ZIP fileExternal triggers / functionsUsing variablesPreviewing / uploading exported cables patchesExamples for EmbeddingPermissionsUsersPatchesTeamsOpsMultiplayerPatchlistsCoding OpsCreating AttachmentsGeneral op/Port CallbacksPortsDynamic PortsArray PortsBoolean portsInteger Number PortsObject PortsString portsTrigger PortsFloating Point Number PortsGUI/UI attributesHello Op - Part 1LibrariesDeveloping OpsRenaming / Creating a new versionCreating Viz OpsGuidelinesObject PortsPatching Ops / SubPatchOpsWriting ShadersWeb Audio Op DevelopmentHTML And CSS In CablesLightingLightsShadowsWorking With AudioBasic Audio SetupWorking with EffectsReal-Time Audio Analyzation & Audio VisualizationOffline Audio Visualization & AnalyzationOptimizing Performance In PatchesTools for debugging your patchHow to optimize cables patches with the Performance opHow to optimize cables patches with the ProfilerCommon pitfalls with the "usual suspects"Optimizing arraysDebugging Shaders with ShaderInfoFAQAudio in web browsersHow to make demoscene demos with cables.glEmbeddingHow to integrate my cables patch into my CMS (webflow/wix/squarespace/...)?How to remove grey rectangles on touch (mobile)?Why doesn't the DownloadTexture op work on iOS?How to disable page scrolling on mobile?Mobile tippsHow to run exported patches on your local machineTransparent CanvasFeatures and SupportHow to contribute code to cablesWill there be support for (animated) GIFs?Can i use a website as a texture?Screenshots and Video recordingHow to report a bug in cablesHow can I support cables?Video playback in cablesGeneral questionsWhat is dev.cables.glJavascript Frameworkscordova / phonegapelectronreactvuejsLicenses and paymentWhat license do i need to use cables?Will I have to pay for it in the future?How is my work licensed when using cables?Does cables support midi and OSC?Patch PermissionsMy User Profile & Social MediaShadertoyCables at schools and universitiesTechnical questionsWebGL1 and WebGL2

Using variables

Variables

To work with variables in cables you can use the ops SetVariable / SetVariableString and Variable.
Variables are handy if you need the same values in many locations in your patch and don’t neet to see the connections or if you want to set a variable from outside cables.

Button

Button

  • SetVariable – Set the value of the variable (for Number / Boolean)
  • SetVariableString – Set the value of the variable (for String)
  • Variable - Read the variable value (for Number / Boolean / String)

In a typical Situations you have one SetVariable / SetVariableString op and multiple Variable ops.

Settings variables from outside cables

When you embed a patch into your website (see Docs: Embedding) you can set cables-variables in your JavaScript-code:

short version:

    CABLES.patch.setVariable("IsInteracting",true);

long version (get the variable object)

const myVar = CABLES.patch.getVar("IsInteracting");

if(myVar) {
    // get the current value
    const currentValue = myVar.getValue();

    // change the value
    myVar.setValue(true);
}

Please Note: Variable names are case sensitive, so a variable with name My Variable is different to one with name my variable.

Listening to variable changes

You can add a listener to a variable which gets called every time the variable changes:

const myVar = CABLES.patch.getVar("IsInteracting");

if(myVar) {
    // will be called every time value changes
    myVar.on("change", (function(newValue) {
        console.log(newValue);
    });
}

pre initializing variables for embeded patch

you can overwrite the initial value of a variable in the patch config:

    patch = new CABLES.Patch({
        ... // usual stuff
        variables:
        {
            "canColor":"#00ff00"
        }

    });

Test setting / getting variables without leaving cables

If you want to test certain aspects of your patch which involve getting / setting variables from outside cables you can do so from the terminal:

  • Open the browser terminal by hitting cmd + alt + i.
  • Switch the context to "editorframe" via the dropdown selector above the console. (cables editor runs in a iframe sandbox)
    then enter:
const myCablesVar = gui.corePatch().getVar('name of your variable');
myCablesVar.setValue(123);
console.log(myCablesVar.getValue()); // prints 123

Summarising: If you want to access a variable from outside cables use CABLES.patch.getVar…, if you want to test getting / setting variables without leaving cables, use gui.corePatch().getVar….


Found a problem? Edit this file on github and contribute to cables!