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Design Overview

This script is quite an advanced piece of software, with over 18000 lines of Python code. As such, getting a solid grasp of the way it functions can be challenging. This document aims to describe how the script works in a simple manner so that you can navigate its code efficiently.

Main Structure

The script is comprised of a small number of main components.

  • Device definitions, which are responsible for describing how the script interacts with devices.

  • Plugin definitions, which are responsible for describing how the script interacts with plugins and FL Studio Windows.

  • The common module, which serves as an interface between devices and plugins.

Initialization

The script's behavior is controlled by using a state machine, which is managed by the script context manager (which can be accessed by calling common.getContext() from anywhere in the script). The transitions between these states allow the script to initialize itself.

Initially, the script starts in the "waiting for device" state. In this state, it uses various methods to attempt to identify the device. For more information, refer to this page. If no device is matched, the script will enter an error state.

Otherwise, the script enters the main state.

Main State

In this state, plugins are allowed to interface with the device.

Event Processing

Upon receiving any MIDI event, the device is used to recognize the event and return its mapping as a ControlEvent, which contains a reference to the control surface that was matched, as well as the value and the channel of the event.

The script then sends the event to any active plugins, so that they can process it. If a plugin has bound that control surface, then the associated callback function is triggered, allowing for the plugin to perform any required actions given the event.

The plugins are checked in the order defined here.

Tick Processing

Roughly once every 0.05 seconds, FL Studio calls the OnIdle() callback function. During this time, the script does various operations to keep things running smoothly. The following steps are taken.

  • The script context manager performs preprocessor checks. If it has been too long since the last tick, this current tick is skipped to prevent FL Studio from behaving badly due to lag.

  • The active plugins are updated.

  • The current state is ticked. This is usually the main state. In the main state:

    • Plugins are ticked using this order.

    • The device is ticked.

      • Control matchers are ticked.

        • Control surfaces are ticked.