Hey Warren, long time no chat
I just did a little testing and I don't think so. It appears that copying to the editor results in it re-ordering it the way it wants.
However, doing this programmatically will probably bypass the editor routine and may end up with ambiguous results. I can't test that though I suspect that anytime NWC reads an nwctxt, even if it's a file, it will probably fix it. I vaguely remember this coming up in a discussion lo, these many moons ago, when nwctxt was first created.
<edit>
I found this - not specific to your question but speaks to the integrity checking:
https://forum.noteworthycomposer.com/?topic=6220.msg41844#msg41844
Good grief, that was written 15 years ago, how did I remember its existence?
</edit>
Point to note though; when creating a split duration chord the order of note/chord member entry can make a difference:
!NoteWorthyComposerClip(2.751,Single)
|Chord|Dur:8th|Pos:3|Opts:Stem=Up|Dur2:4th|Pos2:-6,-2
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:3|Opts:Stem=Up
|Bar
|Chord|Dur:8th|Pos:3|Opts:Stem=Up|Dur2:4th|Pos2:-6,-2
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:3
!NoteWorthyComposerClip-End
The first chord was entered from bottom to top, the following quaver was entered last and was automatically stem up.
The second chord was entered from top to bottom and again the following quaver was entered last. This time it was automatically stem down.
Of course, this is an editor quirk.
I did copy the nwctxt to notepad and tweaked some orders, but after copying back to a new staff NWC re-ordered the clip to what you see above.
This clip:
!NoteWorthyComposerClip(2.751,Single)
|Chord|Dur:8th|Pos:-3|Opts:Stem=Down,Beam=First|Dur2:8th|Pos2:1
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:1|Opts:Stem=Down,Beam=End
|Bar
|Chord|Dur:8th|Pos:-3|Opts:Stem=Down,Beam=First|Dur2:8th|Pos2:1
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:1|Opts:Stem=Down,Beam=End
|Bar
|Chord|Dur:8th|Pos:1|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=First|Dur2:8th|Pos2:-3
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:1|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=End
|Bar
|Chord|Dur:8th|Pos:1|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=First|Dur2:8th|Pos2:-3
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:1|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=End
!NoteWorthyComposerClip-End
First chord entered bottom up. Set stem down, enter, stem up, ctlr+enter, remove stem up, enter, select, <ctlr+b>
Second chord entered bottom up. Set stem down, enter, stem up, ctlr+enter, enter, select, <ctlr+b>
Third chord entered top down. Set stem up, enter, stem down, ctlr+enter, remove stem up, enter, select, <ctlr+b>
Fourth chord entered top down. Set stem up, enter, stem down, ctlr+enter, enter, select, <ctlr+b>
Note the beaming.
I don't know if this is a help or a hindrance...