>On Sun 19 Nov 2000 at 11:02PM +0100, Jean-Francois Moine wrote:
>>
>> IMHO, the 'V:x + notes' in BarFly does not follow the general spirit
>> of ABC in which the 'x:' fields are never followed by any notes.
>>
>> For me (abcm2ps), the V: should contain:
>> - only the name ('name' or 'nm') and subname ('subname' or 'snm') of
>> the voice in the header.
>> - nothing in the tune.
>>
>
>I have a suggestion regarding the V: field, which I think would simplify
>things -
>
>* The syntax of the V: field should be the same whether it occurs in the
>header
>or in the tune body. Special fields e.g. clef=bass, can be introduced either
>in the header or in the first occurence of the V: field within the tune
>body. Within the body, this may mean that the V: field changes the clef.
>
>This will not be compatible with BarFly (since that has already developed
>V: as having an "irregular" syntax), but it will go a little way to making
>the syntax consistent and easier for the novice to understand and for other
>abc developers to extend in a mutually-compatible way.
>
It's not all that incompatible. The problem is that a subfield like clef=
is needed both at the start of the tune to set an initial value, and within
the tune when its value changes. I put starting or global values which
apply to individual voices in V: fields in the header, but within the
tune itself the V: contains only music. Of course the music itself may
contain embedded fields, so you use e.g. [K:bass] if you want to change
the clef within the tune. If you can use V:1 clef=bass on the first
ocurrence of V:1 I think it will lead users to expect that they can put
clef=bass anywhere in the tune, rather than in a K: field.
BarFly's syntax for V: is irregular only in the sense that it expects
a different syntax in the header to that in the tune (as is also
the case with the P: field). In the tune, the V: field does not
require an end of line before the abc starts, but works perfectly
well if there is one. (The number following the V: does not need
a special delimiter, since a line of abc cannot legally start with
a decimal digit.)
Phil Taylor
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