Inserting measures

• Dec 20, 2012 - 01:41

One thing that really bugs me about MuseScore is the user interface for inserting measures. (Note, in case it matters, I'm using the Mac version.) I have multiple issues with this:

1. Why should it be necessary to select a measure before inserting a measure? To me it's much more intuitive to select a bar line where the new measures are to be added. Also it requires only one click; if there's a way to select a measure with one click, I certainly haven't figured it out.

2. There's nothing in the interface to tell you whether the measures will be added before or after the selected one.

3. Perhaps my biggest gripe: Why on earth is the insert measure menu item enabled when a measure is not selected? Isn't it really basic menu-oriented UI design to disable menu items that cannot be executed in the present context? Instead you let the user go through the motions of invoking the command, even entering the number of measures to be inserted, and then and only then you tell them it can't be done. Very unfriendly and wasteful of user effort.

Comments

• Dec 20, 2012 - 02:15

You *can* select a measure with one click - you just have to click an empty area within the measure. Occasionally with extremely dense measures (multi-voice piano music with lots of sixteenths in each voice, etc) you might need to be zoomed in to find an empty spot, in which case it might be easier to select the first note then hit shift-right, which is another very easy way of selecting a measure.

"Insert" has traditionally meant insert before unless otherwise specified, but sure, it couldn't hurt to make that explicit. And indeed, it should probably greyed out when not available. But FWIW, why use the menu at all if this is an operation you use much? Why not just use the keyboard shortcut, "Ins"?

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