Working with DATs
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Overview:
DATs are Data Operators and they can be used to hold data and scripts. DATs come in two flavors – text and tables. Text-type DATs, like the name suggests, hold multi-line bodies of text (like Python code or shaders). Table-type DATs are made of rows and columns of cells, each cell containing a string of text. The basic DAT operators of these two types are, unsurprisingly, the Text DAT and the Table DAT. Both start out empty and you build out from there.
You can also write functional Python code in Text DATs – this can be used to orchestrate changes in your TouchDesigner network, access third party libraries, and even extend the functionality of COMPs with Python Extensions.
Table DATs are made of rows and columns and can be used for holding, sorting, and re-arranging tabular data that’s used in your project. You can also use DATs to procedurally merge multiple tables together and sort either contents.