> Date: Thu, 10 Sep 1998 13:31:58 -0700
> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Don Simons)
> I'm working on coding shifted accidentals. I would like to hear
> preferences of other users on the following matters:
>
> 1. Are vertical shifts needed as well as horizontal? I believe if I
> do put in vertical shifts, they will have to be in integral multiples
> of \internote .
Vertically and horizontally shifted accidentals may be used together
with \relativeaccid(entals) to put the right accidentals e.g. above
a note head. I used this technique in several editions for something
like cautionary accidentals when there is not much space or in my
Urtext-edition of Bach's S&P for violin solo, because Bach wrote
accidentals sometimes that way.
> 2. If I do put in vertical shifts, should they come before the
> horizontal shift? (e.g cs+1-.5 would shift up one \internote and left
> by half a notehead width).
The cases are so rare that you should use the same syntax as with other
similar cases, e.g. slurs. So first vertical, next horizontal. If
necessary it's ok to require both if one is given; the cases are rare.
> 3. Should shifts be cumulative? In other words, if a notehead has
> been explicitly shifted (cse or csr), now the accidental is
> automatically shifted left or right (I've fixed the error with
> left-shifted chordal notes). Should explicitly specified accidental
> shifts be relative to the already shifted position? In other
> situaltions of shifts I have not been consistent on this.
Imho it's best not to accumulate shifts. (I have already some PMX-sources,
which assume, that non-shifted accidentals esp. for right shifted are
not a bug, but a feature!
> 4. What are the maximum vertical shifts (in \internote) or horizontal
> shifts (in notehead widths) that will ever be needed?
20 vertical, 8 horizontal?
> 5. Will there ever be a need for a positive horizontal shift (i.e.,
> to the right?).
Yes, e.g. to put an accidental above or under the notehead.
> 6. I intend to use \loffset for this. Due to the way it is definied
> in MusiXTeX, it cannot be nested with other copies of itself. So
Yes, that's a pity. Maybe it can be correct in musixtex.tex. I don't
think that it's possible to be corrected without any incompatibilities.
> these shifts will cause problems if someone tries to use them inside
> another shift, e.g. X2.5S c44s+0-2.3 . I could possibly get around
> this using \off{-...}\...\off{...} but that would make the TeX output
> messier. Is it worth it? If I did it that way, I would need to give
> the argument of \off in some length unit. Points? (Strangely, there
> is no externally accessible length variable defined in MusiXTeX that
> is the width of a notehead).
Imho you may use \qn@width as it is used in \roff, \hroff, ...
-- Werner
