nice_plug/lib.rs
1//! Documentation is still a work in progress. The best way to learn right now is to browse through
2//! the examples and to browse through these docs. There is no full guide yet, but here are some
3//! pointers to get started:
4//!
5//! - All useful functionality is exported through the [`prelude`] module. Add
6//! `use nice_plug::prelude::*;` to the top of your `lib.rs` file to get started.
7//! - Make sure to check out the macros from the [`debug`] module. These should be used instead of,
8//! `println!()`/`eprint!()`, `dbg!()` and similar macros, and they are re-exported from the
9//! prelude. nice-plug sets up a flexible logger for you that all of these functions will output
10//! to. By default, the output is logged to STDERR unless you're running Windows and a Windows
11//! debugger is attached, in which case the output is logged to the debug console instead. The
12//! `NICE_LOG` environment variable controls whether output is logged to STDERR, the Windows debug
13//! console, or to a file. Check the [`nice_log!()`] macro for more information.
14//! - The aforementioned debug module also contains non-fatal debug-assertions macros that are only
15//! evaluated during debug builds. The framework uses these all over the place to check for
16//! invariants, so it's important to test your plugins using debug builds while developing.
17//! - Check out the features list in nice-plug's `Cargo.toml` file for optional features you can
18//! enable. This includes things like SIMD support for the buffer adapters and panicking on
19//! allocations during DSP code in debug mode.
20//!
21//! - An nice-plug plugin consists of an implementation of the [`Plugin`][prelude::Plugin] trait and
22//! a call to [`nice_export_vst3!()`] and/or [`nice_export_clap!()`] in your `lib.rs` file to expose
23//! the plugin functionality. Some of these traits will require you to implement an additional
24//! trait containing API-specific information for the plugin.
25//!
26//! Check the `Plugin` trait's documentation for more information on nice-plug's general structure
27//! and approach with respect to declarativity.
28//! - nice-plug comes with a bundler that creates plugin bundles for you based on the exported plugin
29//! formats and the operating system and architecture you're compiling for. Check out the
30//! readme for
31//! [`nice-plug-xtask`](https://codeberg.org/BillyDM/nice-plug/src/branch/main/crates/nice-plug-xtask)
32//! for instructions on how to use this within your own project.
33//! - It's also possible to export a standalone application from a plugin using the
34//! [`nice_export_standalone()`] function. Check that function's documentation to learn how to do
35//! this. This requires enabling the `standalone` crate feature.
36//! - Everything is described in more detail on the [`Plugin`][prelude::Plugin] trait and everything
37//! linked from there, but a plugin's general lifecycle involves the following function calls.
38//!
39//! 1. When the host loads the plugin, your plugin object will be instantiated using its
40//! [`Default`] implementation. The plugin should refrain from performing expensive
41//! calculations or IO at this point.
42//! 2. The host will select an audio IO layout from
43//! [`Plugin::AUDIO_IO_LAYOUTS`][prelude::Plugin::AUDIO_IO_LAYOUTS]. The first layout is always
44//! used as the default one, and should reflect the plugin's most commonly used configuration.
45//! Usually this is a stereo layout.
46//! 3. After that, [`Plugin::initialize()`][prelude::Plugin::initialize()] will be called with the
47//! the selected IO configuration and the audio buffer settings. Here you should allocate any
48//! data structures you need or precompute data that depends on the sample rate or maximum
49//! buffer size. This is the only place where you can safely allocate memory.
50//! 4. The [`Plugin::reset()`][prelude::Plugin::reset()] function is always called immediately
51//! after `initialize()`. This is where you should clear out coefficients, envelopes, phases,
52//! and other runtime data. The reason for this split is that this function may be called at
53//! any time by the host from the audio thread, and it thus needs to be realtime-safe.
54//!
55//! Whenever a preset is loaded, both of these functions will be called again.
56//! 5. After that the [`Plugin::process()`][prelude::Plugin::process()] function will be called
57//! repeatedly until the plugin is deactivated. Here the plugin receives a
58//! [`Buffer`][prelude::Buffer] object that contains the input audio (if the plugin has inputs)
59//! which the plugin should overwrite with output audio. Check the documentation on the
60//! `Buffer` object for all of the ways you can use this API. You can access note events,
61//! transport data, and more through the [`ProcessContext`][prelude::ProcessContext] that's
62//! also passed to the process function.
63//! 6. [`Plugin::deactivate()`][prelude::Plugin::deactivate()] is called from the when the plugin
64//! gets deactivated. You probably don't need to do anything here, but you could deallocate or
65//! clean up resources here.
66//!
67//! - Plugin parameters are managed automatically by creating a struct deriving the
68//! [`Params`][prelude::Params] trait and returning a handle to it from the
69//! [`Plugin::params()`][prelude::Plugin::params()] function. Any
70//! [`FloatParam`][prelude::FloatParam], [`IntParam`][prelude::IntParam],
71//! [`BoolParam`][prelude::BoolParam] or [`EnumParam`][prelude::EnumParam] fields on that struct
72//! will automatically be registered as a parameter if they have an `#[id = "foobar"]` attribute.
73//! The string `"foobar"` here uniquely identifies the parameter, making it possible to reorder
74//! and rename parameters as long as this string stays constant. You can also store persistent
75//! non-parameter data and other parameter objects in a `Params` struct. Check out the trait's
76//! documentation for details on all supported features, and also be sure to take a look at the
77//! [example plugins](https://codeberg.org/BillyDM/nice-plug/src/branch/main/examples).
78//! - After calling `.with_smoother()` during an integer or floating point parameter's creation,
79//! you can use `param.smoothed` to access smoothed values for that parameter. Be sure to check
80//! out the [`Smoother`][prelude::Smoother] API for more details.
81//!
82//! There's a whole lot more to discuss, but once you understand the above you should be able to
83//! figure out the rest by reading through the examples and the API documentation. Good luck!
84
85pub use nice_plug_core::*;
86
87/// Everything you'll need to use nice-plug. Import this with `use nice_plug::prelude::*;`.
88pub mod prelude;
89pub mod wrapper;
90
91mod event_loop;
92
93// This is also re-exported from the prelude but since the other export entry points are macros and
94// macros are always accessible from the crate's root, it seems like a good idea to keep the
95// symmetry and also export this function in the same places
96#[cfg(feature = "standalone")]
97pub use wrapper::standalone::nice_export_standalone;