Re: [abcusers] Can anyone help!
you got game. you go girl. In a message dated 12/13/2002 12:43:12 AM Eastern Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: I'm not sure what exactly iabc is, since I haven't found a description of it anywhere. I did download the source once to try to build it, and it wouldn't. So I guess I don't need it. Ali To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html
Re: [abcusers] Can anyone help!
A. O., Abcm2ps is a command line program. It doesn't open like a GUI style executable. Double clicking on it in the file browser doesn't do any good. Neither does typing the name of the file on the DOS command line. You have to specify command line options telling it what file to read and how to process it. If you don't specify something, it does nothing. Abcm2ps is distributed under the GNU General Public Licence, which means you that you received source code with the binary or can get it if you want it. You can download the source code for free from http://moinejf.free.fr/ Open the compressed files and read through the *.txt files. They contain instructions on what to type on the command line. You should also be able to just type abcm2ps on the command line and it will spit back a condensed usage statement. The basic format is abcm2ps filename -A -o If you leave off the -o option, it won't create the postscript file (the default filename is out.ps). Why [rhetorically] would you not create an output file? If you turn on the verbose option, it will list the titles of the selected tunes on the command line or even list out a status report of the typesetting process. If the file is empty or you don't tell abcm2ps to select any tunes (in the example, the -A option means select all tunes), then the output file would be just a blank page. I hope you find this helpful. Eric A. O. Gutierrez wrote: Thanks for the response,Chris. I'm running Win98 so DOS is not a problem. I have operated in DOS on a limited level, but it seems like I'm stepping into a bunch of disconnected jargon when I try to get anywhere with this postscript stuff. I'm not sure how ghostview relates to the ABC program or howyou ensure that your printer is getting printable info, etc. Is there any place that has some basic tutorial that will allow this to make sense either specifically for the ABC2ps programs or something general that will be applicable. Also I had my brother, who has worked in DOS for 20 years or more, try to run this program and he coulsn't get it to open with either the exexcutable or a command line entry. To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html
Re: [abcusers] Can anyone help!
Chris Davidson wrote: ... Basically what abcm2ps - and all the related XXps programs - do is use ghostscript to produce a postscript file (with suffix .ps) which unless you have a postscript printer, will not be in a format your printer can use. This is where gsview comes in - it enables you to display the postscript file on the screen and print it to your standard printer (or produce a pdf file, which is then readable with Adobe Acrobat). Actually all the abc2ps variants write postscript code directly. They have nothing to do with ghostscript. For example... I typically do all my format conversion, viewing, and printing using Acrobat. You could use ghostscript to convert the *.ps file to a pdf, or an image, or print it. GSView itself is a GUI for on-screen viewing. All of the rendering is done by ghostscript. The GSView utility menus are just GUIs to ghostscript options. You don't need GSView for any of that (although it is very useful). You could do it all on the command line with ghostscript. Eric To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html
Re: [abcusers] Can anyone help!
A. O. Gutierrez wrote: Thanks all, I think I have enough info to go back in and figure it out. Will Acrbat give a screen image of the file or simply tranlate to .pdf? I've been having a hell of time downloading Ghostscript. GSview was pretty OK, but Ghostscript keeps telling me it will take 2 days to download which is way past inconvenient. What's wrong with that? Don't you have any patience at all??? :-P Seriously, you shouldn't believe everything your computer tells you. GhostScript is quite a download, but not *that* big! I ask about Acrobat because I already have that. If its just a matter generating files in abc2ps then opening them with Acrbat that might be serviceable. Acrobat can open plain postscript files, can't it? If so, you have no need for GhostScript. The thing I've gotten used to with ABC2win is the ability to switch between ABC and graphical out put to check what I'm doing. Is that possible with the .ps arrangement? Nope. That's the major shortcoming of this whole abc2ps scheme. Frank Nordberg http://www.musicaviva.com To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html
[abcusers] CAN ANYONE HELP
Re: The thing I've gotten used to with ABC2win is the ability to switch between ABC and graphical out put to check what I'm doing. Is that possible with the .ps arrangement? Nope. That's the major shortcoming of this whole abc2ps scheme. Interested folks might try looking at Guido Gonzato's JedABC. Version 1.9.6 looks like it's available at SourceForge; I haven't checked to see if that's the latest. Anyway, it hooks up an abc editor with a midi player and screen display of the rendered score. It's one of the first things I tried to use w/abc and it works pretty well for me. The various windows don't all update automatically w/my setup under Solaris, but updating is usually a matter of 2-3 keystrokes. You can leave the auxiliary view windows open, so you can hear/see what's happening as you go along. I obviously use it under UNIX but it's supposed to work and hook into related things that work under Windows. FWIW... Mark Williams To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html
Re: [abcusers] Can anyone help!
I just tried opening an Out.ps file with Acrobat Reader 5.0 on the Macintosh and on Windows with no success. I think the full version of Acrobat (Distiller) can work with postscript files, but Reader cannot. [If you have Java 1.3 or better on your machine, you can use Skink as an editor/viewer player www.geocities.com/w_macaulay/skink.html] wil Frank Nordberg wrote: A. O. Gutierrez wrote: Thanks all, I think I have enough info to go back in and figure it out. Will Acrbat give a screen image of the file or simply tranlate to .pdf? I've been having a hell of time downloading Ghostscript. GSview was pretty OK, but Ghostscript keeps telling me it will take 2 days to download which is way past inconvenient. What's wrong with that? Don't you have any patience at all??? :-P Seriously, you shouldn't believe everything your computer tells you. GhostScript is quite a download, but not *that* big! I ask about Acrobat because I already have that. If its just a matter generating files in abc2ps then opening them with Acrbat that might be serviceable. Acrobat can open plain postscript files, can't it? If so, you have no need for GhostScript. The thing I've gotten used to with ABC2win is the ability to switch between ABC and graphical out put to check what I'm doing. Is that possible with the .ps arrangement? Nope. That's the major shortcoming of this whole abc2ps scheme. Frank Nordberg http://www.musicaviva.com To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html
Re: [abcusers] Can anyone help!
I guess this is where people plug their tools. iabc is at: http://abc.sourceforge.net It comes pre-compiled in windows and should run on all flavors, and I think it handles lyrics pretty well. And its free and always will be :-) See ya, Aaron To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html
Re: [abcusers] Can anyone help!
I'm not sure what exactly iabc is, since I haven't found a description of it anywhere. I did download the source once to try to build it, and it wouldn't. So I guess I don't need it. Ali On Thu, Dec 12, 2002 at 11:09:10PM -0500, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I guess this is where people plug their tools. iabc is at: http://abc.sourceforge.net It comes pre-compiled in windows and should run on all flavors, and I think it handles lyrics pretty well. And its free and always will be :-) See ya, Aaron To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html -- _ _ Ali Corbin/, |_ __(_) ___ _ __ Axian, Inc. //| |\\/ /| |/ _ \| '_ \ Phone: (503)644-6106 #205 _//_| | / / | | |_| | | | | e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (( // |_|/_/\\|_|\_/|_|_| |_| http://www.axian.com/ ``-'' ``-'' To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html
[abcusers] Can anyone help!
I cannot get my any copy of ABCm2ps to operate on my system. The author has not responded and I'm stuck with ABC2win which does nice job on tunes, but can't handle lyrics. There does not seem to be a tutorial around for the complete novice to start using these programs. I have the John Atcherly ABC2ps which supposedly has a windows executable. The file is there, but when it is activated the DOS box flashes on screen the disappears without a trace, no minimized indicator on the taskbar, nothing anywhere. Any help available? A. O. Gutierrez Jamestown,RI To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html
Re: [abcusers] Can anyone help!
You don't say which version of Windows you are using - if it is post Win98 (i.e. ME or XP) then you won't be able to operate in DOS mode, and ABCm2ps in these circumstances needs the full command line in order to work. (i.e. after the abcm2ps you need to add the name of the file you want to operate on, and any switches you want to use) A crude workaround is to create a batch file (i.e. with a .bat suffix) using any text editor - such as Notepad. This batch file will consist of a couple of lines which for instance might be: path=C:\gstools\gs5.50;C:\gstools\gsview abcm2ps goodtune.abc -o Then all you have to do is double click on the batch file and you will end up with a postscript file called out.ps in the same directory as the abc file. (The first line tells abcm2ps where to find the ghostscript and ghostview files and the o suffix tells the program to output the postscript file.) The drawback (as far as I discovered anyway) was that everything needed to be in the same directory - i.e. as the abcm2ps program! It didn't seem to like file paths. The good news is a wonderful front end from Seymour Schlien called RunABC (the URL of which escapes me for the moment - but there is a link from Chris Walshaw's abc home page.) You can download a Windows executable (about 800K) or download the whole of the TclTk package it is built from and run it as a Tcl script. (the former is probably easier unless you have Tcl already or are interested in developing scripts yourself.) The RunABC front end then needs configuring (it prompts you to do this anyway first time around) You tell it where abcm2ps, abc2midi timidity (software MIDI player) ghostscript and all your other related ABC programs are. RunABC holds all this together - including very simple but powerful control over formatting and output. (incidentally there is a Linux TclTk version which works great as well!) You can basically display (and then print out) play (as MIDI) edit (using a text editor or your choice) etc etc. All ABC tunes in your selected file are listed and you can highlight which ones you want to print or play (or even all tunes if there are no more than around 150ish) Hope this is helpful. Good luck! Chris Davidson In message [EMAIL PROTECTED], A. O. Gutierrez [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes I cannot get my any copy of ABCm2ps to operate on my system. The author has not responded and I'm stuck with ABC2win which does nice job on tunes, but can't handle lyrics. There does not seem to be a tutorial around for the complete novice to start using these programs. I have the John Atcherly ABC2ps which supposedly has a windows executable. The file is there, but when it is activated the DOS box flashes on screen the disappears without a trace, no minimized indicator on the taskbar, nothing anywhere. Any help available? A. O. Gutierrez Jamestown,RI To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/list s.html -- Chris Davidson To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html
Re: [abcusers] Can anyone help!
p.s. just been to Seymour Schlien's site and the URL for an introduction to runabc is: http://ifdo.pugmarks.com/~seymour/runabc/runabc.html and the URL to download it is: http://ifdo.pugmarks.com/~seymour/runabc/top.html Chris Davidson In message [EMAIL PROTECTED], A. O. Gutierrez [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes I cannot get my any copy of ABCm2ps to operate on my system. The author has not responded and I'm stuck with ABC2win which does nice job on tunes, but can't handle lyrics. There does not seem to be a tutorial around for the complete novice to start using these programs. I have the John Atcherly ABC2ps which supposedly has a windows executable. The file is there, but when it is activated the DOS box flashes on screen the disappears without a trace, no minimized indicator on the taskbar, nothing anywhere. Any help available? A. O. Gutierrez Jamestown,RI To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/list s.html -- Chris Davidson To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html
Re: [abcusers] Can anyone help!
I cannot get my any copy of ABCm2ps to operate on my system. The author has not responded and I'm stuck with ABC2win which does nice job on tunes, but can't handle lyrics. There does not seem to be a tutorial around for the complete novice to start using these programs. I have the John Atcherly ABC2ps which supposedly has a windows executable. The file is there, but when it is activated the DOS box flashes on screen the disappears without a trace, no minimized indicator on the taskbar, nothing anywhere. Any help available? This could be a case of the blind leading the blind, since I'm a Mac user. However, abcm2ps on the PC is a DOS program, and you have to start it up from DOS. So put your abc file in the same directory as the program, start up DOS and cd to the abcm2ps directory. Then type abcm2ps filename.abc and it should run, creating a postscript file in the same directory. (There are also some command line switches you can find out about in the docs that come with the program.) Phil Taylor To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html
RE: [abcusers] Can anyone help!
Thanks for the response,Chris. I'm running Win98 so DOS is not a problem. I have operated in DOS on a limited level, but it seems like I'm stepping into a bunch of disconnected jargon when I try to get anywhere with this postscript stuff. I'm not sure how ghostview relates to the ABC program or howyou ensure that your printer is getting printable info, etc. Is there any place that has some basic tutorial that will allow this to make sense either specifically for the ABC2ps programs or something general that will be applicable. Also I had my brother, who has worked in DOS for 20 years or more, try to run this program and he coulsn't get it to open with either the exexcutable or a command line entry. -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Chris Davidson Sent: Wednesday, December 11, 2002 5:36 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [abcusers] Can anyone help! You don't say which version of Windows you are using - if it is post Win98 (i.e. ME or XP) then you won't be able to operate in DOS mode, and ABCm2ps in these circumstances needs the full command line in order to work. (i.e. after the abcm2ps you need to add the name of the file you want to operate on, and any switches you want to use) A crude workaround is to create a batch file (i.e. with a .bat suffix) using any text editor - such as Notepad. This batch file will consist of a couple of lines which for instance might be: path=C:\gstools\gs5.50;C:\gstools\gsview abcm2ps goodtune.abc -o Then all you have to do is double click on the batch file and you will end up with a postscript file called out.ps in the same directory as the abc file. (The first line tells abcm2ps where to find the ghostscript and ghostview files and the o suffix tells the program to output the postscript file.) The drawback (as far as I discovered anyway) was that everything needed to be in the same directory - i.e. as the abcm2ps program! It didn't seem to like file paths. The good news is a wonderful front end from Seymour Schlien called RunABC (the URL of which escapes me for the moment - but there is a link from Chris Walshaw's abc home page.) You can download a Windows executable (about 800K) or download the whole of the TclTk package it is built from and run it as a Tcl script. (the former is probably easier unless you have Tcl already or are interested in developing scripts yourself.) The RunABC front end then needs configuring (it prompts you to do this anyway first time around) You tell it where abcm2ps, abc2midi timidity (software MIDI player) ghostscript and all your other related ABC programs are. RunABC holds all this together - including very simple but powerful control over formatting and output. (incidentally there is a Linux TclTk version which works great as well!) You can basically display (and then print out) play (as MIDI) edit (using a text editor or your choice) etc etc. All ABC tunes in your selected file are listed and you can highlight which ones you want to print or play (or even all tunes if there are no more than around 150ish) Hope this is helpful. Good luck! Chris Davidson In message [EMAIL PROTECTED], A. O. Gutierrez [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes I cannot get my any copy of ABCm2ps to operate on my system. The author has not responded and I'm stuck with ABC2win which does nice job on tunes, but can't handle lyrics. There does not seem to be a tutorial around for the complete novice to start using these programs. I have the John Atcherly ABC2ps which supposedly has a windows executable. The file is there, but when it is activated the DOS box flashes on screen the disappears without a trace, no minimized indicator on the taskbar, nothing anywhere. Any help available? A. O. Gutierrez Jamestown,RI To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/list s.html -- Chris Davidson To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html
RE: [abcusers] Can anyone help!
Thanks again -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Chris Davidson Sent: Wednesday, December 11, 2002 5:42 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [abcusers] Can anyone help! p.s. just been to Seymour Schlien's site and the URL for an introduction to runabc is: http://ifdo.pugmarks.com/~seymour/runabc/runabc.html and the URL to download it is: http://ifdo.pugmarks.com/~seymour/runabc/top.html Chris Davidson In message [EMAIL PROTECTED], A. O. Gutierrez [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes I cannot get my any copy of ABCm2ps to operate on my system. The author has not responded and I'm stuck with ABC2win which does nice job on tunes, but can't handle lyrics. There does not seem to be a tutorial around for the complete novice to start using these programs. I have the John Atcherly ABC2ps which supposedly has a windows executable. The file is there, but when it is activated the DOS box flashes on screen the disappears without a trace, no minimized indicator on the taskbar, nothing anywhere. Any help available? A. O. Gutierrez Jamestown,RI To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/list s.html -- Chris Davidson To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html
