Launching multiple instances?
I've noticed that when I open multiple scores in MS4, each one appears in an entire new instance of the program (rather than on separate tabs where they can be compared, copied, etc.). Can this possibly be by design?
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Yes, it is by design
As noted, yes, it's by design, for reasons that are detailed elsewhere (short answer: so that you can easily have different sounds for different scores, unlike MU3).
But to be clear: scores can be compared and copied across instances, more easily in fact than across tabs since you can view them simultaneously and use Alt+Tab to quickly switch back and forth between them.
In reply to As noted, yes, it's by… by Marc Sabatella
Marc > ...Scores can be compared and copied across instances, more easily in fact than across tabs since you can view them simultaneously.
You're right! For some reason, I assumed music couldn't be copied between separately running instances—they were separate, right? But of course MS knows how to interpret its own clipboard content, whether the copying occurs within the app or via the Windows clipboard (which may be, for all I know, one and the same).
To top it off, my 12-year-old Sibelius 6 hadn't even gotten to tabs yet. You either had to "tile" two scores side-by side, or use the "Window" menu to switch from one to the other. Two MS instances isn't bad at all—for, as you mentioned, it makes the system-wide Alt+Tab command available. Life is good!
In reply to Marc > ...Scores can be… by Andy Fielding
And Sibelius 7.5.1 doesn't use tabs either. Nor does Word, or Audacity.
In reply to And Sibelius 7.5.1 doesn't… by bobjp
Except Word shares your settings between instances, changing options or ribbon in one of them propagates the change in all of them.
In reply to Except Word shares your… by frfancha
I'm just saying that the lack of tabs is not a problem for me at all. But we're all used to different things. Like the one person who loads 150 scores and plays from them.
Another advantage of multiple instances: if one crashes, the others are still ok.
In reply to Another advantage of… by Pentatonus
That's right! In fact, till MS 4 becomes a bit more stable, I think I'll open each score I'm working on in three instances, just to be on the safe side—yet another benefit of not using tabs. 😄
This is objectively bad. If I open various scores via a terminal, and I end up with 100 instances of MuseScore (instead of 100 tabs) this is just bad.
There may exist good reasons for this design choice, I'm not saying to change the default, but there should at least be a commandline option that prevents another instance from opening, e.g. --same-instance or --tab.
The problem is not the default, the problem is not having options to change that.
In reply to This is objectively bad. If… by 255
Especially for MacOS, there has been a discussion about running "multiple instances of one app" versus running "multiple files within the same instance".
See:
https://github.com/musescore/MuseScore/issues/12647
In reply to This is objectively bad. If… by 255
• It's only subjectively bad.
• There are design reasons for the decision.
• Future development may overcome this limitation.
• Workaround: Don't open 100 scores; just open one or two.