Bring Edit / Tools submenu out to main menu for 2.1?

• Mar 13, 2017 - 21:53

In current 2.1-dev 49bf4dd, shoogle's new "Regroup Rhythms" function has been added to the bottom of the Layout menu. In 3.0-dev, however, it's in the Tools menu, which in MuseScore 2 is not a top-level menu but buried in the Edit menu.

I propose to bring out the Tools menu for 2.1, as well (and put "Regroup Rhythms" there). The larger set of menu changes from #116761: Reorganize menus for logic and clarity is probably too big of a UI adjustment for only going from version 2.0 to 2.1 (though the LibreOffice work that served as inspiration went into their version 5.1 ), but I think this one small improvement shouldn't be a problem.


Comments

In reply to by Isaac Weiss

Could you add a section in the release notes to explain the different menu changes between 2.0.3 and 2.1 ? Thanks.

Ok I tried it, and I can't see the value of this change in 2.1. The tools menu has very specific things that most people will not use (while in master it has transpose at least). I don't think it's worth making this change, document it etc... Anyone who suggested otherwise, did you test it?

In reply to by Isaac Weiss

Neither of these affects the way the notes are played. They are both formatting options. I've seen many situations in professional scores where ties are used but dotted notes are possible. I've also seen scores where no beams are used and scores with beams joining notes with rests between the notes. Once again, they are both only layout options.

My true points was the reset beaming formatting probably belongs under tools, since all of the other tools only affect the appearance and don't by themselves affect playback, though implode and explode could be made to.

In reply to by mike320

Actually, toggle rhythmic slash notation does affect playback. But my feeling is that generally things that transform the notation—such as implode, explode, resequence rehearsal marks, and fill with slashes—are best grouped under Tools, while things that don't "transform" so much as "tweak the appearance of"—like page settings, stretch, and resetting previously altered properties—are best grouped under Layout (or Format, in 3.0-dev).

This logic leads to many further conclusions—for example, "Add/Remove Line Breaks" shouldn't be under Tools but should be with other formatting controls, style options shouldn't be in a separate menu from page settings, "Transpose" is a tool, and so on. These have been mostly previously litigated and reorganized accordingly for 3.0.

But since we don't want drastic UI changes in 2.1, the only thing up for discussion at the moment is the placement of this one single brand-new tool. (At least, that's what it is from my frame of reference...)

In reply to by Isaac Weiss

FWIW, I don't think of beaming as layout. To me, whether two eighths are beamed or not is a "notation" difference, just like whether a sound is represented as a dotted quarter or a quarter tied to an eighth. In fact, it's virtually identical conceptually - sounds the same, looks different in a way that means you need to deal with different musical concepts to be able to understand it. To me, "layout" really is more about the spacing of things.

Said another way - notation to me is about which symbols are used, layout is about how they are positioned.

So in that sense, I would think both of these functions could arguably be moved out of the Layout menu. Whether or not a top level menu called "Tools" is the right final home or not I have no strong feelings on. I do like it better than buried under "Edit", but there are probably other possibilities (eg, a "Notation" menu?) worth considering. And I have mixed feelings on changing things like this for a "minor" release like 2.1, although of course it's not really that minor.

Anyhow, I'm personally fine with the proposed change but am not going to argue strongly for it if others don't think it is a good diea for whatever reason. If we do make a change, though, though, I do think both Reset Beam Mode and Regroup Rhythms belong together, probably in the new menu.

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