Hi everyone,
it seems clear to me that the recent difficulties in formulating a new (more
complete? optimal? sub-optimal? troublesome?) syntax for V: are a
testament of a lurking problem: ABC's inherent incapability (?) of dealing
with *all* music in existance. Most likely, version 1.7.* will stop
somewhere - though IMO there's still a lot of room for improvements. Then
we'll need something new and possibly completely different. Still ABC, of
course!
This reminds me of what happened with Linuxdoc SGML. As a Linux HOWTO
writer, I had to learn this nice formatting language. Linuxdoc was improved,
extended, improved again, but eventually it was pushed to its limits and
ground to a halt. A couple of years ago, the Linux Documentation Project
decided to switch to Docbook SGML. The prospect of learning a new, more
complex SGML and rewriting my documentation didnt't amuse me, really.
However, after the transition was made I must say I'm delighted with
Docbook. The large amount of Linuxdoc SGML docs still around was converted
with automatic tools, and the Linuxdoc formatting tools themselves are still
available (albeit tagged as "obsolete") for those who need them.
This is to say that ABC could follow the same path. There could be a version
1.7.* which follows the current syntax (strict separation between header and
music, mandatory K: as last header field, etc) and a new version 2.*.* which
introduces all of the new features and ideas we can throw at it. Conversion
tools will help the transition. As a (rusty) programmer, I guess it
shouldn't be too hard writing such tools.
After a couple of years or so, the new format could politely take over. And
voila - a beatiful, 99.999% complete ABC language! Then we could start again
to fix the remaining .001%...
Ciao,
Guido =8-)
--
Dr. Guido Gonzato <ggonza at tin.it> - NT & Linux System Administrator
My public PGP key is at http://ibogeo.df.unibo.it/guido/PGP.asc
"It is a good morning exercise for a research scientist to discard
a pet hypothesis every day before breakfast. It keeps him young."
-- Konrad Lorenz
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