IMPORTING AND EXPORTING

                                       						Chapter 13
                                       						
Sharing Your Files with Other Programs

              The PatchMeister stores SysEx files in a proprietary format. More than
              likely, the only program that will be able to use files in this format is
              The PatchMeister. Also, you can be pretty certain that The
              PatchMeister wont be able to understand the proprietary formats used
              by other software packages that store SysEx files. This becomes a
              problem if you want to share files among programs.

              The Project menu import and Export items attempt to bridge this gap
              by decoding proprietary files into simple SysEx data packets to
              increase the chance they can be shared between programs.

         Importing Files (Bring Em On In)
         
              In order to use files created by other programs and/or friends, you
              need a way to get those files into The PatchMeister proprietary format
              The Project menu Import item attempts to do just that
 
              The Driver highlighted in The PatchMeister window will be used for
              the import. Select the Import menu item to invoke a requester
              requiring you to select the type of file to import

	     After selecting the SysEx type, you will be presented with a file
	     requester allowing you to choose a file to bring into The PatchMeister.
             Once a window containing the imported file has been opened, you can use
	     the Project menu Save As... item to save the file. Remember, saved files
	     are automatically placed in your Libraries.

             You can import any SysEx file that contains raw SysEx data in a packet
              that can be sent directly to your synth.

             The import routine is pretty relentless and will wade through multiple
             SysEx packets and extraneous data looking for the SysEx you want to
             import Whats interesting about this is that you can actually extract
             SysEx packets from Snapshots and Capture files by importing them!
             This means that if you want to get your hands on an MT-32 Timbre
             Bank that happens to be inside of a Snapshot file, you can do it! just
             click on the MT-32 Driver in The PatchMeister window, select the
             Import menu item, click over the import requesters Timbre Bank
             button, and then use the file requester to open that particular Snapshot
             file. The MT-32 Bank will be extracted.

             As long as the file you are trying to import contains the SysEx packet
             you are looking for in a format that can be sent directly to a synth, you
             should be able to import it

        Exporting Files (Send Em On Out)
        
             The Project menu Export item will allow you to save the contents of
             the active window in a simplified format for use outside of The
             PatchMeister program. You can only export Bank and SysEx windows.
             The exported file will be stripped of all information except raw SysEx
             data in a packet that can be sent directly to a synth.