Q, W etc. are explained wrong in the handbook?
Here is the description from the handbook https://musescore.org/en/handbook/note-input:
Q: Halve the duration of the last entered note
W: Double the duration of the last entered note
Shift+Q (as of version 2.1): Decrease duration by a dot (for example, a dotted quarter note/crotchet becomes a quarter note/crotchet and a quarter note/crotchet becomes a dotted eighth note/quaver).
Shift+W (as of version 2.1): Increase duration by a dot (for example an eighth note/quaver becomes a dotted eighth note/quaver and a dotted eighth note/quaver becomes a quarter note/crotchet).
I realized this could be posted in the documentation forum as well, but I'm not sure if it's a documentation or implementation problem.
Here is the problem and how to reproduce it:
Enter a note such as a 1/2 note C into the score
Press another duration such as 4 to indicate you are about to enter a 1/4 note
Press Q
Expected result: the 1/2 note C changes to a 1/4 note
Actual result: the 1/2 note C changes to a 16th note
Similar reuslts happens with Q, W, shift+Q and shift+W, These all change the duration based upon the last duration selected, not the last note entered.
Is this a bug or documentation problem?
Comments
Interesting! I had no real stake in the design and implementation of this, but to me it's a bug - I doubt seriously it was intended or that anyone would prefer the current behavior. I guess normally the last note entered is the currently selected duration, so it might have made sense to use the latter as a stand-in.
However, this makes me think of something relevant to another current thread. So, we apparently (if unintentionally) have a command that applies the currently selected duration to the most-recently-entered note - but only by also halving or doubling it. So, if you want to retroactively change the duration of a note, there is a sneaky way to do this:
1) type shortcut for the desired duration
2) press Q
3) press W
I wouldn't want to advertise this, though, because a) it's kludgy, and b) it relies on behavior I think most would agree is a bug. Still, interesting to ponder - what if we added another command that really did retroactively apply the currently-selected duration to the last-entered note? Then it's just two strokes to change the duration of the most recent note to whatever you want. Well, except for dots. I guess that's the other thing people have asked for as a toggle.
Sorry to be all over the place here :-)
In reply to Interesting! I had no real… by Marc Sabatella
"...just two strokes to change the duration of the most recent note to whatever you want. Well, except for dots."
Why not dots? When you enter a dotted 1/4 note you press "5." when you enter a 1/4 note you press "5" and in both cases follow it with the note name to enter the note of the desired duration. Ok, now that I read it again its three strokes to add the dot, but in either case it's one key to apply the duration. With shortcuts defined you could even apply double and triple dots.
BTW, the other thread is what reminded me of this bug.
What you said:
Enter a note such as a 1/2 note C into the score
Press another duration such as 4 to indicate you are about to enter a 1/4 note
Press Q
Expected result: the 1/2 note C changes to a 1/4 note
Actual result: the 1/2 note C changes to a 16th note
What I would expect:
Enter a note such as a 1/2 note C into the score
Press another duration such as 4 to indicate you are about to enter a 1/8 note
Press Q
Expected result: the 1/8 note C changes to a 1/16 note
Actual result: the 1/8 note C changes to a 16th note
Why I would expect this:
You selected a duration and entered a note (C of half-note duration).
Your note was still selected and you enetered a new duration, which took effect (4=an eighth note, not a quarter).
Your note was still selected and you asked MuseScore to half its duration - and so you got a 16th note which is what you asked MuseScore to provide you with.
In reply to What you said:… by underquark
Not really. I mean, you are right about the typo, which did confuse things a little. But pressing 4 does not "take effect" after entering a note - or at least, it has no effect on the most-recently-entered note (which is indeed still selected. So pressing 6 C enters a half note C. Pressing 4 does not change the C into an eighth, it merely prepares MuseScore to enter the next note as an eighth. Since the half note C is still selected, I really expect Q to halve that duration, not the eighth note duration that doesn't even exist anywhere in the score yet.
In reply to Not really. I mean, you are… by Marc Sabatella
After pressing the C key, the pointer moves forward. Preparing for new note. Pressing "4" (or another duration) at this stage means changing the last entered duration.
Yes the note has not been entered yet, but duration is entered.
If you enter any note, you will know that duration is already entered.
Otherwise, the note "C" would have to be converted into an eighth note (because it was still selected).
Or, Musescore will have to keep the last two durations in memory.
In reply to What you said:… by underquark
Sorry about the typo, I don't look at my keyboard when I'm entering durations, it confuses me - as I demonstrated.
The instructions in the handbook make the most sense. Pressing another duration after entering a note does nothing to change the last entered note. Pressing q, w... does change the last entered note. I'm not sure what the programmer expected when he wrote the original code for q & w. Did he also write the handbook entry? That's the real question and my original question. Is this a bug or is the handbook wrong? If it's a bug, it needs fixed. If not, the handbook needs fixed. My vote is that it's a bug, but I haven't file a bug report because I would like to know the correct answer.