=head1 DESCRIPTION
-Some questions that have been answered before.
+Some questions that have been answered before. (note: relative paths
+are meant to be relative to the source directory)
=head2 Installing
-Q: I get all kinds of errors while compiling parser.cc
+Q: Wow, the webpages look really neat, but if I install the .exe file
+on my windows 3.11 machine, it doesn't work.
+
+A: The DOS port is done with the cygnus W32 port of the GNU utils. It
+does I<not> work with windows 3.x; you need NT or w95 (this is not a
+recommendation, btw. We recommend you use Unix, in particular, use
+GNU/Linux)
+
+Q: I get all kinds of errors while compiling F<parser.cc>
A: LilyPond uses features of bison version 1.25. Please confirm that
you are using a version 1.25 or better, that is B<GNU> bison
Q: Some of your neat scripts fail, what directories do you use:
A: [This only applies if you don't do C<make install>, and develop out
-of the source directory]
-
+of the source directory] I have a directory which contains all music
+related stuff,
+
~/something/
which contains:
lilypond/ # the directory as unpacked from the tarball
releases/ # directory for .tar.gz releases
patches/ # directory for patches between different releases
- test/
+ test/ # create tarballs and do diffs from this directory
~/something/lilypond/bin is in the PATH, and contains symlinks to the
-compiled executables.
+compiled executables. For some of the scripts to work, you have to set
+
+ LILYPOND_SOURCEDIR=/home/myself/something/lilypond
+
+in the environment.
If you don't use patches, you'd probably want to symlink
We're not sure on leaving out this feature. If you think this is a
good idea, please let us know.
-Be warned we will I<not> allow you to leave out the C<#> if the note
-already has an accidental. We won't allow
- c# c % no way!
+Q: Why do I have to type the accidentals to the note if I specified them?
-in stead of:
+A: Take this example
cis cis
- #c #c
-Why, you might ask? Because independently of how it was written, you
-would say that you are playing and reading "two C-sharp" notes.
+Independently of how it was written and what the current key was, you
+would say that you are playing and reading "two C-sharp" notes. We
+have tried to make the language somewhat context-free. Of course
+sheet music is not context-free. Unfortunately, sheet music is also 2
+dimensional, and ASCII is not.
+
+Technically it would be feasible to have the Interpreting phase do
+tricky things to add (or leave out) the accidentals, but we think that
+it is impractical: it hampers the readability and portability of your
+source, since you need LilyPond to fill in the details and actually
+make sense of it.
Q: What is C<cis> anyway
a()a()a
+
Q: I want to insert some TeX commands
A: You shouldn't: it's against LilyPond philosophy to have typesetting
to associate one Request with one Item or Spanner.
As a further notice, we want to move away from TeX (and perhaps
-output PostScript or render to an X window too)
+output PostScript or render to an X window too), so using TeX will
+make sources non-portable at some time.
-=head2 Miscellaneous
+=head2 Do you support ...
Q: Do you support pop songs (chords, single staff, lyrics)?
-A: Yes, see the twinkle-pop example
+A: Yes, see the F<twinkle-pop> example.
Q: Do you support guitar chord diagrams?
fine points of this notation. We would welcome anyone who could give
this a try.
-Q: Do you support TAB notation
+Q: Do you support TAB notation?
A: No. The same as for the previous question goes, but TAB is a lot
more work than diagrams (TAB needs modification of Parser, Lexer,
-Notehead, Stem, and stem-code. )
+Staff, Notehead, Stem code and all the code that creates these graphic
+elements.)
+
+Q: Do you support multiple staff-sizes?
+
+A: Yes and no. At this time you can choose between 11, 13, 16, 19,
+20, 23 and 20 pt staff-size. The sizes can't be changed per staff
+(yet). Look at F<standchen.ly> for an example.
+
+
+=head2 How do I ....
Q: How do I change the TeX layout?
-A: See lilyponddefs.tex, it has some comments.
+A: See F<lilyponddefs.tex>, it has some comments.
+
+Q: How do I place lyrics under I<each> of the staves in a score, as in
+choral music. I can work out how to put lyrics for each line all under
+the top line, or at the bottom but not between!
+
+A: You change the order lyrics and staves. You have to name all
+staves (lyric and melodic), otherwise they will end up in the same
+staff/lyricline
+
+
+ \score {
+ < \melodic \type Staff = "treble" \trebleMelody
+ \lyric \type Lyrics = "tlyrics" \trebtext
+ \type Staff = "bass" \melodic \bassMelody
+ \lyric \type Lyrics = "blyrics" \basstext
+ >
+ \paper { }
+ }
+
+
+Q: How do I put more than one marking on a note.
+
+A: You can stack them
+
+ c4^"a"^"b"
+
+or use spacing-notes to put markings at different horizontal positions
+
+ < c1
+ { s4\ff s4^"text" s4-\marcato s4 }
+ >
+
+
+Q: How do I get bar numbers?
+
+A: See F<init/engraver.ly>. You have to uncomment some entries. To
+do this `portably' you should redefine some engravers in your own
+source files. Check out F<init/rhythm.ly>.
+
+=head2 Development
+
+Q: Could you implement feature XXXX? It is really easy, just extend
+the syntax to allow YYYY!
+
+A: If it is reasonable, I'll add XXXX to the TODO list. In general
+finding a cute syntax (such as YYYY) isn't very hard. The complicated
+issue how to adapt the internals to do XXXX. The parser is really a
+simple front end to the complicated internals.
+
+Q: Can I join in on LilyPond development? How do I do this?
+
+A: LilyPond development is open for anyone who wants to join. We try
+to use a Bazaar style development model for LilyPond, see
+http://locke.ccil.org/~esr/writings/cathedral.html. This means:
+frequent releases, everyone can send in a patch or do suggestions and
+all development discussions are public.
+
+To be precise, discussions take place on the gnu-music-discuss mailing
+list, which is open for subscription to everyone.
+
+
+Q: I want to implement XXXX! Should I do this?
+
+A: There might be better ways of doing XXXX, so it's a good thing to
+ask about this before you start hacking. If you want to keep in touch
+with current developments, you should subscribe to the mailing list
+(see the "links" section of the documentation).
+
+
+Q: I want to implement XXXX! How should I do this?
+
+A: Your best bet of getting me to include code, is to present it as a
+"fait accompli", ie., to send me a patch.
+
+
+Q: I made some code, how do I get you to include it?
+
+A: Send in a patch:
+
+ diff -urN old-file new-file > patch
+
+or
+
+ diff -urN old-directory/ new-directory/ > patch
+
+Alternatively, you can use F<bin/make-patch.py>. Don't forget to put
+in your name and e-mail address.
Q: How do I learn the C++ code?
-A: The entry point is in main(). Good luck. :-)
+A: The entry point is in C<main()>. Good luck. :-)
-Seriously, read, reread and reread lilygut and CodingStyle, and
+Seriously, read, reread and reread internals and CodingStyle, and
just start anywhere.
Anywhere? Well, most of the comment doco are in the header files, so
your best bet would be C<less lily/include/*.hh>. Some of the most
important data-structures are to be found in:
- - p-col.hh
- *request.hh
- engraver.hh
- performer.hh
A: Yes.
-Q: Could you implement feature XXXX? It is really easy, just extend
-the syntax to allow YYYY!
-A: If it is reasonable, I'll add XXXX to the TODO list. In general
-finding a cute syntax (such as YYYY) isn't very hard. The complicated
-issue how to adapt the internals to do XXXX. The parser is really a
-simple front end to the complicated internals.
+Q: Your make system does not adhere to GNU coding standards, could you
+please fix it?
+
+A: No. We have evaluated the standard GNU combination for compiling
+programs (autoconf, automake, libtool) and found to be inadequate in
+several respects. More detailed argumentation is included with
+LilyPond (see F<automake.urgh>)
Q: Why do I need g++ >= 2.7?
=head2 Running
-Q: I don't get midi-output, even if I use B<-M>
+Q: There are lots of warning messages for the printing, all
+beginning with:
+
+ dvilj4l: warning: Invalid keyword or value in \special -
+
+A: You should use dvips and ghostscript to print it: the slurs and
+beams are PS C<\special> commands
+
+
+Q: My symbols are all messed up after I upgraded, and I get
+dvi-checksum errors!
+
+A: We mucked with the fonts in the upgrade. Remove I<all> previous
+fonts, including the .pk and .tfm fonts in F</var/lib/texmf>. A
+script automating this has been included, see F<bin/clean-fonts.sh>
+
+Q: I don't get midi-output, even if I use B<-M>!
A: Your \score should include a \midi block, eg.
\score {
- \melodic { c c g g }
+ \melodic { c4 c g g }
\paper {}
\midi {
\output "myfile.mid";
\tempo 4=70;
}
+ }
The B<-M> option was added to LilyPond because processing the \paper
block is so slow.
+Q: A lot of musical stuff doesn't make it to the MIDI file (dynamics,
+articulation, etc).
+
+A: The MIDI output was originally put in as a proof that MIDI could be
+done, and as a method of proof"reading" the input. The MIDI support
+is by no means finished.
+
Q: I get
can't load library 'libflower.so'
=head2 DOZE
+Q: I downloaded the W95 port, and it doesn't match the website!
+
+A: The website is usually made from the latest snapshots. The W95
+binaries are only made every once in a while. They can lag several
+versions behind the latest version.
+
Q: I want a DOS/NT/W95 port.
A.0: Reconsider. Try Linux. It's fun!
type C<make>. (I am not promising to maintain this platform, it is just
that when forced into doze, i'm sometimes too lazy to reboot.)
-A.2: I haven't had time to find a GCC crosscompiler (I<with> g++ and
-libg++, mind you) to DOS/Windows (in rpm, please :-)
+A.2: I haven't had time to find a Linux GCC crosscompiler (I<with> g++
+and libg++, mind you) to DOS/Windows (in rpm, please :-)
+A.3: If you are knowledgeable enough to make w32 compiles from time to
+time, please do so! We want to keep away from w32 as far as possible.
Q: I just love to blindly run the (sometimes bit stale) .exe's you distribute.
Why do i need cygwin.dll?
projects / lilypond.git / blobdiff