.PD File Extension
Pure Data Patch
| Developer | Miller Puckette |
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A PD file may also be a patch used by the Pure Data visual programming environment. It contains a program that can be opened in a Pure Data environment and used to create music or other multimedia. PD files are plain text files, so you can also open them and view their contents in any text editor.
More Information
Pure Data (Pd) is a visual programming language and environment that developers can use to develop interactive music-creation programs. To create a Pd program, developers connect Pd objects together. Each object typically controls some aspect of the audio that the program produces, such as the audio's frequency or volume.
Pd programs are referred to as patches, and they are saved as PD files. PD files can contain any number of objects. They may also contain comments about how to use the program the PD file contains.
When viewed in a text editor, PD files' contents appear as a series of lines of text. These lines of text define the canvas, objects, and other items that appear in Pd. Each line of text begins with a # combined with a letter (such as #N, #X, or #A) and ends with a semicolon.
How to open a PD file
PD files are meant to be opened as Pure Data patches. To open a PD file in the default version of Pd, select from the program's menu bar. Then, navigate to and open your PD file.
You can also open a PD file as a plain text document in any text editor, to review the Pd code it contains.