Barline changes - using text, specific fonts and user tools
About 6 years ago I started playing with a way to make a handwritten style barline to overlay the standard NWC barlines to go with my SwingDings suite and try to complete the package.
There were a few challenges, mainly the fact I couldn't hide the standard barlines and still make everything work properly.
I have a feeling I communicated about this with either the forum or the Newsgroup once before - I don't remember which nor how much (if at all). A quick search of this forum didn't reveal anything so I figure it must have been the newsgroup.
Still I made it work OK and have used it a few times, but discovered I didn't really care all that much about implementing the styling, so it languished for the last 6 years.
However, I recently "got an urge". What sparked it was how often, when using printed scores, I would use a pencil to extend the lines on repeats to make them more visible, kinda making them into stylized brackets. This got me to thinking about my SwingBars font...
So I modified that font, and created a new one called StraightBars, with associated scripts.
SwingBars has 10 alternative single barlines and 3 sets of decorated barlines - dashed barlines are not catered for.
StraightBars is set up the same, but the script ONLY uses repeat barlines.
The tools place the text barlines centred at next note/barline, sometimes, like at the end of staves where there is a decorated barline, it may be necessary to manually modify the text to be left justified at next note/barline
When you create your file, make a user font to be the Barline font you want to use and set its size to match the staff metrics. The default is User5 - you can easily modify the script to change this if you want.
The basic user tool command is:
wscript scripts\TextBarlines-LP.vbs <PROMPT:parameter:=*>
or
wscript scripts\StraightBarlines-LP.vbs <PROMPT:parameter:=*>
Font installation is easy, extract them from the zip file, then copy to C:\windows\fonts (assuming you're on C drive and not D or some other drive) - DO NOT EXTRACT DIRECTLY to the fonts folder - the font installer gets confuzzled and doesn't work if you do this.
Copy the scripts to wherever you normally put your user tool scripts (I use the default Scripts folder under the Noteworthy program folder)
Please have a look and let me know what you think - they aren't really "finished" at this point but are most certainly useable.
Oh yes, running this script is probably the last thing you would want to do when editing.
If you need to undo the barlines for any reason, the Global_Mod user too with the paramaters Text,Font==User5 DELETE wil work - assuming the font is in the default User5 location - otherwise modify to suit.
Thank you.
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