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Topic: Unexplained in preview 1m? (Read 8620 times) previous topic - next topic

Unexplained in preview 1m?

Each time I've used the Audit Bar Lines function since loading version 1m today, the next cursor movement throws me back to the beginning of the staff.  I hope this is unintended behaviour that can be fixed.

Re: Unexplained in preview 1m?

Reply #1 –
Hi David,
Umm, I thought that was always the case...  V1.75 certainly does it.  Did this change somewhere in v2 and I miss it?

Lawrie

Re: Unexplained in preview 1m?

Reply #2 –
I don't recall ever noticing it before, but I seldom use the feature for its intended purpose.  Maybe it has always been so.  Today, I was working on a long sequence of 8th and 1/4 notes around 60 or 70 bars into a piece, and hadn't bothered to enter the bar lines as usual, figuring the audit bar line tool would do that for me pretty quickly.

It's no big deal, it just means a couple of extra key strokes to find my place again, but it is a distraction.  New or not, I'd prefer it not to occur.

Re: Unexplained in preview 1m?

Reply #3 –
Hi David,
'tis a thought though.  I wonder how diffucult it would be to store the current cursor position before running the routines that require the staff to be parsed in order to work, run the routine and then restore the cursor.

Sorta like pushing and popping the stack in assembler...

Lawrie

Re: Unexplained in preview 1m?

Reply #4 –
I remember this feature always returning the cursor to the start.  I thought it was a bit weak not to store the cursor position, until I [abbr=realized? in American??]realised[/abbr] that the cursor location is probably an offset from a bar line (as "Goto" works on bar lines), which has probably changed with the audit!

Re: Unexplained in preview 1m?

Reply #5 –
It would all be no problem if the 'goto bar number' would have a history. I would suggest the following:
. Every time you press ^g and enter a bar number, a new entry is added to the history list;
. Every time ANY operation is carried out which throws you back to the beginning, a new entry is added to the same history list, with the bar number the one where you were beforehand.

That would mean that EVERY operation that leaves you saying 'oh yeah, where was I now?' can be answered, and remedied, by a simple ^g.

How about it, guys? & dolls?

Re: Unexplained in preview 1m?

Reply #6 –
Hi Ewan,
didn't think of that, good call...  pending confirmation of course  :)

Rob,
bearing in mind the limitation exposed by Ewan, I think there is merit in this suggestion.  However there would need to be a limit on the history.  How many 5, 10 - I think more than perhaps 5 or 6 is probably overkill but who knows?  What do you think would suit your needs?

The other problem is how to present the history.  The <Ctrl-G> dialogue has an integer selection field that does not use a list/drop down box.  I like the current dialogue as it automagically has the current bar number in it although I'm sure this could be done with other field types.

Perhaps the history could be a display within the dialogue...  I dunno.  It would be most useful if it could be "clicked" but can this be done without:
a) adding an excessive amount of code for a relatively minor function
b) without losing the convenience of having the current bar number automagically inserted

Nice as it would be my guess is that there are higher priority things on the agenda.

Lawrie

Re: Unexplained in preview 1m?

Reply #7 –
5 would be enough, but 10... why not? What is more, we do not need a drop down box. Just like you have an Undo/Redo function, you could have a GoBack shortcut somewhere, that simply retraces a few steps. It would work like this:
- Go to a certain bar number, using Ctrl-G
- Perform a function that throws you back to the beginning
- Go to another bar number
Now press the (at this moment imaginary) GoBack shortcut, and in succession you would come past the stored bar numbers. Not the exact positions, because they could have been changed because of inserts/deletes, but it would put you back where you were. I would prefer this GoBack shortcut to remember the staff number as well.

The program would not be bloated with such a function, because the only thing to be stored would be an array of 10 rows with staff number and bar number, and the GoBack would put you back on this staff (if it still exists) and this bar (if it still exists) and then lop one entry off the stack.

Sounds doable? As for priorities: it is very high on MY list...
Rob.

Re: Unexplained in preview 1m?

Reply #8 –
Hi Rob,

Umm, it would still take additional code to manage the array (probably) that remembers the most recent cursor locations.  The array itself would be pretty small and only have a footprint in RAM, its the management code that I'm thinking about...

An "undo" cursor location - perhaps use <Alt-Z> as the undo and <Alt-Y> as a re-do?  Hmm, 2 arrays?  No, a pointer to current array position? Maybe not. Something similar to the current undo and redo functions certainly.

I do like the thought of remembering which staff as well as which bar, however the fact that barlines may have changed - dramatically - would sometimes be troublesome...

I think a function to manually add the current cursor location to the array would also be very useful.

Lawrie

Re: Unexplained in preview 1m?

Reply #9 –
It's almost as though we need bookmarks, much as can be found in [abbr=a unix text editor that some of us still occasionally use!]vi[/abbr].  It doesn't matter where it is, but you must set it before you can goto it.  Once you set it, it becomes like an invisible character that doesn't rely on surrounding characters to exist anymore.

For NWC, I'd suggest a text-like object with an anchor point.  It would probably have the standard visibility options (although pointless), and a special Goto or Find command on the keyboard.  In vi, there are 26 bookmarks available, one for each letter.  Perhaps setting would be something like <Alt><Control><x> and finding <Shift><Control><x>?  Or maybe <Shift><Control><F> then <x> to set, and <Control><F> then <x> to find, which is more like the way vi does it.

But it's not high on my wish-list, so Rob - it's up to you to submit if you want it!

I usually only need to bounce between two areas when copying a section (such as a chorus).  Then I'm usually only remembering the bar number of the start of the first section - which I'm copying, as the second chorus is the current end of the staff - where I'm pasting!

Ewan

Re: Unexplained in preview 1m?

Reply #10 –
What have I started?

I'm probably wrong, but I don't think the beginning of line result happens in some of the other functions we access from the dropdown Tools menu?

Why is it necessary for it to happen with audit bar lines?  Hopefully the program can compute back to the beginning of the staff without moving the insertion point.

The idea of having a go-to memory would probably work well for many notating tasks, but it's a bit more than I was asking for.  I don't want to be distracted from my notation work by having to look at the screen to see where my cursor is, then to hit "end" to get where I was originally.  That's all.  If I'm entering a string of notes, audit the bar lines without looking at the screen, and continue entering notes, they are at the beginning of the staff.  That's annoying.

It's easy enough to just hit "end" after Audit Bar Lines, but why it shouldn't be necessary for the user to have to remember to do that.

Re: Unexplained in preview 1m?

Reply #11 –
Hi David,
boy we sure do take things off at tangents don't we? :)

IIRC there are certain functions within NWC that need to "play" the work in order to operate.

This probably requires that starting point be set to the... umm... start... yeah, that's right, the start... and the insertion point would naturally(?) follow...

(wait a sec)

Just did a quick test which shows that force accidentals and audit barlines seem to do this.

I would have expected that transpose staff, automatic beam, audit accidentals, audit enharmonic spelling and audit note stems would be the same but they dont seem to.

So now I don't have a clue... any other takers?

Lawrie

Re: Unexplained in preview 1m?

Reply #12 –
Ewan's idea with bookmarks sounds pretty neat. Although, I'm thinking, wouldn't it be just as easy to just add a text object with some special word in it, such as "HERE", and search for this? I'm thinking a script to add a text object at the cursor position. Perhaps it would look something like this on a staff:

Code: [Select · Download]
!NoteWorthyComposerClip(2.0,Single)
|Bar
|Rest|Dur:Whole
|Text|Text:"HERE"|Font:StaffItalic|Pos:15|Justify:Right|Placement:AtNextNote|Color:1
|Bar
!NoteWorthyComposerClip-End
Then all you'd have to do is hit Ctrl-F and fill in the word "HERE" (or whatever was used) and you're done.

Re: Unexplained in preview 1m?

Reply #13 –
The idea of bookmarks serves another purpose. Bookmarks mean: go back to a place you intentionally marked. What I want is: Oh, silly me, I pressed the End button. Now, where was I? I have no idea. Press the (as yet imaginary) Go Back button, and I'm back!
See the difference? It would be the Omigosh-button. And the 'Thanks for remembering, NWC'-button.

The same with inadvertant usage of the Home button, or any operation that throws one back to the beginning of the score.
Don't you just hate it when you hit PgDn, and the bar below is not yet as long as the where you were? Try to go back to the bar above again... Do you still remember the bar number? Good for you! I very often do not.
The  workaround (if you can call it that) I use now is: I press Undo, remember the bar number, press Redo, press Ctrl-G, enter the bar number, Enter. Speaking of Workarounds and Cumbersome: this is both. And it only works if there was a change in the vicinity.

Re: Unexplained in preview 1m?

Reply #14 –
I vaguely remember there being some program that has "goto where you were", which would be the equivalent to "go back".  It might have been Excel???  It was invoked "Goto" followed by another "Goto".

For NWC it would be like being able to press <Control-G>, which opens the "Goto Measure" [abbr=for very computer-specific things, I've given in to American long ago!]dialog[/abbr], and being able to press <Control-G> again.  Or perhaps the dialog could have a third button: "Previous"?

Re: Unexplained in preview 1m?

Reply #15 –
Well, Rob, I somewhat see your point. However, I think you mean some feature that can automatically remember your current cursor position. This isn't what I mean when I say 'bookmark.' I mean something you can add manually, almost like bookmarks for web pages.

Re: Unexplained in preview 1m?

Reply #16 –
Yes - and there is not much that needs to be remembered. A simple Right or Ctrl-Right does not perform a quantum leap. Only the big jumps need to be remembered, so the counterjump can be performed. It would still be rather easy to add to the program, and very nice to have.

Re: Unexplained in preview 1m?

Reply #17 –
Thanks for the reports. We'll try to improve this.

For now, the best thing to do is click in the staff after the audit, thus restoring your insertion point.

Re: Unexplained in preview 1m?

Reply #18 –
The next preview will include improvements in this area.

Re: Unexplained in preview 1m?

Reply #19 –
You make me very happy. As happy as my wife, who is enjoying the new H.P. since the shops opened. ;-)