Hi Ewan,
I'm only copying out an ancient marching band part that's too small and crowded for me to read, so I'm not too worried about the appearance, as long as it is understandable. The playback isn't an issue since I only use it to help proofread, rather than producing midi files.
In band music, the same phrasing as you describe holds true. I almost agree with what you wrote, except the slur behaviour doesn't quite work properly, since the ending point on a stem down note is near the notehead as in bar 2 of this example. However I can live with what happens in Bar 4.
!NoteWorthyComposerClip(2.0,Single)
|Bar
|Key|Signature:F#,C#,G#,D#
|Rest|Dur:Half
|Rest|Dur:4th
|Note|Dur:8th,Dotted,Tenuto|Pos:n1|Opts:Stem=Down,Beam=First
|Note|Dur:16th,Slur,Accent|Pos:0^|Opts:Stem=Down,Beam=End
|Bar
|Note|Dur:Half,Slur|Pos:0
|Note|Dur:4th,Slur|Pos:b0
|Note|Dur:8th,Dotted|Pos:-1|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=First
|Note|Dur:16th,Accent|Pos:-2|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=End,ArticulationsOnStem
|Bar
|Rest|Dur:Half
|Rest|Dur:4th
|Note|Dur:8th,Dotted,Tenuto|Pos:n1|Opts:Stem=Down,Beam=First
|Note|Dur:16th,Slur,Accent|Pos:0^|Opts:Stem=Down,Beam=End
|Bar
|Note|Dur:Half,Slur|Pos:0
|Note|Dur:4th,Slur|Pos:b0
|Note|Dur:8th,Dotted,Slur|Pos:-1|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=First
|Note|Dur:16th,Accent|Pos:-2|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=End,ArticulationsOnStem
|Bar
!NoteWorthyComposerClip-End
During the private beta test NWC gave us a taste of a controllable slur - you could set the height of the beginning and the end points, and you could also push the line up and down so you had complete control over the shape of the curve. Part of this was implemented - sort of. You can control the shape of the curve a little by prodding it upwards with a hidden, muted grace note, which won't affect the number of beats in the bar. By the way, I don't think NWC ever actually perfected the controllable slur - it only worked on the desktop, not on a staff.
What I've asked for in the wish list, if memory serves me correctly, is a line drawing feature that gives me a single line, that can be thick, thin, crinkled, dotted or dashed, that would be flat by default but could be prodded into a curve, and whose end points could be set manually. Obviously it would be a nightmare to program all the possible effects on playback, but as I say, playback is not my thing. I only care about the graphics.
Thanks for your feedback.
David