OpenMusic DocumentationHiérarchie de section : OM 6.6 User Manual > Visual Programming II > Abstraction > Abstraction Boxes > Standard AbstractionStandard Abstraction
This section deals with the integration of an existing patch 
in another patch.
Adding a Patch From the Workspace to Another Patch
To be used as an abstraction, a patch can be dragged from the workspace window to another patch editor .
The abstraction refers to the patch located in the workspace.
Consequently :
the abstraction and the patch in the workspace have the same name and icon,
the representation of the patch remains visible in the workspace : it hasn't been moved to the patch editor,
both items will be affected by subsequent operations performed in the abstraction.
Several patch boxes with the same reference can coexist in a patch editor. Hence, the same function can be used at several steps of a program. When an abstraction is duplicated, another box, which refers to the same master patch, is created. Subsequent modifications to the reference patch will therefore affect both items.
Managing Abstractions in the Workspace
 | A blue patch can only be renamed in the workspace. |
In a workspace, nothing shows that a blue patch is used as an abstraction : this must be taken into account when organizing it. A warning pops up if one attempts to delete a patch used as an abstraction in another patch. If it is deleted its reference in the other patch editor will be replaced by a dead box
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