Musescore 4 Multiple Tabs

• Dec 16, 2022 - 07:43

When attempting to open multiple scores in MS4, instead of adding another tab to the preexisting window, a new window opens with each additional score opened. When editing or working on multiple scores at once, this becomes messy. Is this intentional, or is this a bug? If it is intentional, how do I revert to a system like MS3 where I can have multiple tabs with different scores open in a single window and easily switch between them?


Comments

In reply to by user2442

I’m not a macOS systems programming expert so I can’t really speak to details about exactly what was tried and what got in the way. If you have a systems programming background and would like to be a part of that conversation, see Contribute / Development in the menu above and join the Discord #development channel.

Adding my own input on here for developers. If the playback engine now requires single tabs at a time, it's not worth it for other features that require it to be that way. In my opinion, any sacrifice that needs to be made to bring back multiple tabs is worth it for me.

In reply to by thepulsiphyer

Can you explain more what it is about multiple tabs that is so compelling for you? Implemented well as it is on Windows and macOS, multiple windows should actually be considerably simpler to deal with, since the OS provides such nice facilities for managing them, switching between them, etc. And we're happy to help you learn these techniques if you're new to working with multiple windows despite how prevalent they are in other applications. It's really only on macOS where the specific way that MuseScore accomplishes multiple windows doesn't work well. But clearly, most applications on most platforms use multiple windows successfully - it shouldn't be seen as a deal breaker in itself.

In reply to by Marc Sabatella

You have been so patient answering hundreds and hundreds of similar questions. It has to be frustrating.
But multiple open tabs on the iMac coupled with all the extra "weight" of Musescore 4.x makes the program no longer friendly for simple composition.
I downloaded 4.x when it first came out, opened up two tabs, saw how bloated the program had become and immediately deleted it.
I will only use 3.6 or (or possibly the 3.7 version that JoJo updated)

I can just use AVID Sibelius if I want to use a large massive sprawling program (and that is the industry standard right now anyway)

I hope eventually maybe you can continue to support a Musescore "Lite" version which is essentially 3.6 without MuseHub and all the improvements.

Have a nice new Year.

In reply to by Unknown Prodigy

Then you know that Sibelius doesn't support tabs, either. It takes more fire power to run MS4. Not sure that means it is bloated. I've had several scores open at once without issue. Though I don't think simple composition needs them. MS3 doesn't cut it for me, so it isn't even on this computer.

In reply to by msfp

Is that using Muse Sounds? Not really fair comparison if so of course. But definitely, even a low spec device shouldn't take a minute to open a new score normally. If you are seeing that consistently, best to start a new thread and give more details. Could be something else getting in the way.

I've gotten so used to the multiple Windows now this bothers me less. As for technical solutions has it been considered the playback engine be a separate process and use some interprocess communication approach, it would have loaded at any time samples required for all open scores.

In MuseScore 4, opening multiple scores results in separate windows for each score, rather than creating tabs within a single window as in MuseScore 3. This change was intentional, but it has sparked discussions among users. In MuseScore 3, you could have multiple tabs with different scores open in a single window, making it easier to switch between them. Get special savings on Autodesk AEC Collection 2023 https://procadis.com/version/autodesk-architecture-engineering-construc… for professionals. Unfortunately, there is no built-in option to revert to the MS3 behavior in MS4. If you prefer the old system, you might need to continue using MuseScore 3 or explore workarounds like exporting to MusicXML in MS4 and importing in MS3

In reply to by garytemp

But it is very different. On Mac, there is no indication to which score you are Alt-Tabbing. That gets very annoying very quickly.
Also, every extra score consumes once more the same amount of memory because a whole new application is started. Unless you have memory to spare that becomes a problem very quickly.

In reply to by malcolmmccaff

The reliance on multiple instances in MuseScore 4 has likely been the main longstanding complaint about MuseScore 4 and the greatest cause for people staying with MuseScore 3. Here's a summary of some key points in this thread.

If you're seriously interested in development challenges and progress [Follow the link Jetted posted]https://github.com/musescore/MuseScore/issues/12647) in this post

As we look deeper the inconveniences mount:

    https://musescore.org/en/node/338084#comment-1160591

    https://musescore.org/en/node/338084#comment-1193165

    https://musescore.org/en/node/338084#comment-1155347

    https://musescore.org/en/node/338084#comment-1157332

    https://musescore.org/en/node/338084#comment-1220743

    https://musescore.org/en/node/338084#comment-1193145

    https://musescore.org/en/node/338084#comment-1167629

    https://musescore.org/en/node/338084#comment-1213166

    https://musescore.org/en/node/338084#comment-1193195

    https://musescore.org/en/node/338084#comment-1161317

Mac Sabatella wrote > "It's the exact same issue in MuseScore 3 which is one reason why many find the separate windows to be superior, and why so many users have request it over the years. It's a minor difference in the grand scheme of things"

    https://musescore.org/en/node/338084#comment-1193227

    https://musescore.org/en/node/338084#comment-1220978

Clearly, many people prefer Tabs over multiple app instances.

Alternately, I'd like to see a separate document window for each score, like virtually every other app on MacOS. That would improve the workflow when working on two scores, when using copy/paste between the two scores, and when using one score for guiding editing the note input of the other. Granted MuseScore has a side-by-side option in MS3, but I found it awkward.

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