7 There are four parts to the documentation: the Learning Manual,
8 the Notation Reference, the Program Reference, and the Music
11 * Learning Manual: long, chatty, friendly explanations go here.
12 This is aimed at users learning something for the first time --
13 not necessarily just learning lilypond notation, but also things
14 like learning how to deal with projects, tweaking, preparing parts
15 for orchestras, etc. Less formal language may be used here.
17 Users are encouraged to read the complete Learning Manual from
21 * Notation Reference: a (hopefully complete) description of
22 LilyPond input notation. Some material from here may be
23 duplicated in the Learning Manual (for teaching). The material is
24 presented in an approximate order of increasing difficulty, but
25 the goal is _not_ to provide a step-by-step learning environment.
26 For example, all material under "Pitches" should remain in that
27 section, even though microtonal accidentals may seem more advanced
28 than info about clefs or time signatures -- "Pitches" should be a
29 one-stop reference about the pitch portion of notes. This section
30 is written in formal technical writing style.
32 Users are not expected to read this manual from start to finish.
33 However, they should be familiar with the material in the Learning
34 Manual (particularly ``Fundamental Concepts''), so do not repeat
35 that material in each section of this book. Also, you should
36 assume that users know what the notation means; explaining musical
37 concepts happens in the Music Glossary.
40 * Application Usage: information about using the program lilypond
41 with other programs (lilypond-book, operating systems, GUIs,
42 convert-ly, etc). This section is written in formal technical
45 Users are not expected to read this manual from start to finish.
48 * Music Glossary: information about the music notation itself.
49 Explainations and translations about notation terms go here.
51 Users are not expected to read this manual from start to finish.
53 * Internals Reference: not really a documentation book, since it
54 is automagically generated from the source, but this is its
58 %%%%% SECTION ORGANIZATION
60 The order of headings inside documentation sections should be:
68 * You _must_ include a @seealso. The order of items inside the
71 Music glossary: @rglos{foo}, @rglos{bar}.
73 Learning Manual: @rlearning{baz}, @rlearning{foozle}
75 Notation Reference: @ruser{faazle}, @ruser{boo}.
77 Application Usage: @rprogram{blah}.
79 Installed files: @file{path/to/dir/blahz}.
81 Snippets: @lsrdir{section}, @lsr{specific/example-name.ly}.
82 (if there is only one entry, omit a final period. If there
83 are multiple entries, separate them by commas, do not
84 include an `and', and end with a period.)
86 Internals Reference: @internalsref{fazzle}, @internalsref{booar}.
88 ("Snippets" is REQUIRED; the others are optional)
90 * To create links, use @ref{} if the link is within the same
93 * Do not include any real info in second-level sections (ie 1.1
94 Pitches). A first-level section may have introductory material,
95 but other than that all material goes into third-level sections
96 (ie 1.1.1 Writing Pitches).
101 * Do not forget to create @cindex entries for new sections of text.
102 Enter commands with @funindex, i.e.
103 @cindex pitches, writing in different octaves
105 do not bother with the @code{} (they are added automatically). These
106 items are added to both the command index and the unified index.
108 Both index commands should go in front of the actual material.
111 - in general, use the American spellings. The internal
112 lilypond property names use this spelling.
113 - list of specific terms:
117 %%%%% TECHNICAL WRITING STYLE
119 * Do not refer to LilyPond in the text. The reader knows what the
120 manual is about. If you do, capitalization is LilyPond.
122 * If you explicitly refer to `lilypond' the program (or any other
123 command to be executed), say `@command{lilypond}'.
125 * Do not explicitly refer to the reader/user. There is no one
126 else besides the reader and the writer.
128 * Do not use abbreviations (don't, won't, etc.). If you do, use a
131 blabla blabla, i.e., blabla blabla
133 * Avoid fluff (``Notice that,'' ``as you can see,''
136 * The use of the word `illegal' is inappropriate in most cases.
137 Say `invalid' instead.