Why Number and Symbol are frozen and cannot edit them?

Question

Number and Symbol are frozen and cannot edit them. I cannot also change width. Both actions are possible with Message, Object and Comment.

Answer 1

I think what you are seeing is normal behavior. Pd has two modes, in both modes your patch is being continuously computed. The patch in your screenshot is currently in Edit mode as you can see in the window title bar: [edit]. In the menu "Edit" the last entry will let you switch Edit mode off (keyboard shortcut Ctrl.+e). The other mode doesn't officially have a name, let's call it the "interactive mode" for now. The Edit mode is meant for patching: Placing and moving atoms around and connecting them to another. In "interactive mode" some atoms become GUI elements to change their values or send messages.

In interactive mode, the atoms behave this way:

• Object: Static.
• Message: Click to send content, outline of box will become thick for a moment.
• Number: Click and drag up to increment, down to decrement. Hold Shift, click and drag to change the numbers after the decimal point. Doubleclick, type number and confirm with Enter to set to specific value and send it. Ctrl.+ click: Set to 0.
• Symbol: Doubleclick, type symbol name and confirm with Enter to set to specific symbol and send it.
• Comment: Static.

In edit mode, the atoms behave this way:

• Object: Click to type content. Mouse over right edge: Click and drag to change box width.
• Message: Click to type content. Mouse over right edge: Click and drag to change box width.
• Number: Static.
• Symbol: Static.
• Comment: Click to type content. Mouse over right edge: Click and drag to change (column-) width.