Ability to Import TablEdit Files
I notice that MuseScore 4 will import Guitar Pro files and also, in pilot, PowerTab files. I have a website (https://www.stevemcwilliam.co.uk/guitar/tab.htm) with a large number of TablEdit files on it for free download and I have been a user of TablEdit since 1994. I would very much like to make the pages of files I currently have available made available on the MuseScore library in Musescore (.mscz) format.
I have attempted exporting from TablEdit in MusicXML, Midi and pdf formats but have come across many issues which at present I do not have the ability to solve. An import mechanisms/function in MuseScore to accept TablEdit (.tef) files would assist greatly and would ease my learning curve and workload as well as providing the ability for many hundreds of thousands of TablEdit users to follow my example.
Many thanks for any help you can provide in this direction.
The TablEdit author (Matthieu Leschemelle) can be contacted via: matt0308@tabledit.com and the website can be seen over at: https://tabledit.com/
Cheers,
Steve J. McWilliam (SteveMcBill)
Comments
Same issue ... following this thread closely.
Hello,
I've just written a specification for the new TablEdit 3.0 file format, in effect since 2020.
I'm at the disposal of MuseScore developers.
Best regards
Matthieu Leschemelle
Hi Steve,
could you explain what issues prevent you from using MusicXML ? Depending on the complexity of the TablEdit file format, native support in MuseScore could require significant effort. The aim of MusicXML was to reduce this effort by having a single interchange format. Thus developer time may be better spent on improving MusicXML transfer between TablEdit and MuseScore.
Regards, Leon.
Hi Matthieu,
could you share the specification of the TablEdit 3.0 file format with me ?
Regards, Leon.
Am looking into this. Currently investigating the file format. Note: no commitment for actual implementation yet.
Regards, Leon.
In reply to Am looking into this… by Leon Vinken
Did you manage to get a format specification? Can you share it?
In reply to Did you manage to get a… by yonah_ag
Yes, I have received the specification. I am also in contact with Matthieu Leschemelle.
The specification is copyrighted, I don't know if I am allowed to share it.
Regards, Leon.
In reply to Yes, I have received the… by Leon Vinken
Leon,
Having been in recent discussion with Matthieu regarding this matter I know he would be appreciative if the TablEdit file format specification was NOT shared without his express permission.
Cheers,
Steve
Steve J. McWilliam
Guitar Tab: http://www.stevemcwilliam.co.uk/guitar/tab.htm
Tab Videos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0md259-P6GwpX7okCfMB1w/playlists
YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/SteveMcBill
ShutterStock Photos: http://submit.shutterstock.com/?ref=9329
rECOrd - (Cheshire's LRC): http://www.rECOrd-LRC.co.uk
In reply to Leon, Having been in recent… by SteveMcBill
Thanks for clarifying.
In reply to Yes, I have received the… by Leon Vinken
Question is whether code based on a spec that is under an NDA would be allowed into MuseScore's code base.
Seems a matter of maintainability, if only one programmer (not even member of the core/staff team) has access to the 'secret sauce' needed.
In reply to Question is whether code… by Jojo-Schmitz
To further clarify, I did not have to sign an NDA to get the spec. I simply cannot share it myself as it is copyrighted, the header contains:
To get a copy, contact Matthieu Leschemelle.
In reply to To further clarify, I did… by Leon Vinken
Seems fine then
Created issue https://github.com/musescore/MuseScore/issues/26144
In reply to Created issue https://github… by Leon Vinken
This is pretty exciting. Thanks for you work on TablEdit import!!
lvinken has submitted a pull request: https://github.com/musescore/MuseScore/pull/29242 Provided one has an account on Github, one can click the "Subscribe" button in the pull request to follow progress.
In reply to lvinken has submitted a pull… by RobFog
Thanks for the heads up. I look forward to trying it out.
Status update and request for feedback.
With generous support by Matthieu Leschemelle, I have created a minimal working TablEdit importer, containing only the very basics. The main limitation at this time is that it imports only TablEdit File Format 3.00+ files (as produced by the current TablEdit version). This is important as most files on download sites are in older formats. Besides that, a lot of musical data in the TablEdit file is still ignored.
I am in the process of getting this importer added to MuseScore, but unfortunately managed to be just too late for 4.6.
To illustrate the current status, I have attached PDFs generated by both TableEdit and MuseScore. The TablEdit files for these were downloaded from Steve McWilliam's site.
My next step will be to fix the remaining issues that currently prevent including my changes in MuseScore. Once that has been done, I will implement more features. I would appreciate feedback on what would be considered the most important features to make sure I provide the most value for my efforts.
Regards, Leon.
In reply to Status update and request… by Leon Vinken
Looks very promising and useful already.
Are these elements handled?
• Dynamics (pp, p, mp, my etc)
• Tempo changes
• Time signature changes
• Ritardando
• Crescendo, descrescendo
• Hammer on and Pull off
• Barre indicators, (%barchord texts in TablEdit)
I don't think that v3 format is a significant limitation. My old PC, (before it died), was running TE 2.73 but I think that my licence allowed for free upgrades, so I'll dig out the licence code, get the latest version installed and then see if my old .tef files can be upgraded to v3 format.
If this works then I really don't see much limitation in only supporting v3 format.
In reply to Looks very promising and… by yonah_ag
Out of this list only time signature changes are currently supported. The v3 format will be a limitation for people who do not have a license and want to use older files from download sites.
In reply to Out of this list only time… by Leon Vinken
Good point. I had only been thinking of TE scorers.
Do any of the other elements on the list look achievable?
( I have now installed TE v3.05 and it does read v2.73 files).
In reply to Good point. I had only been… by yonah_ag
Haven't looked into those in detail yet. Short answer is "probably yes, with varying degrees of difficulty". Hammer on / pull is documented, that should be easy. Tempo change is only partially covered in the specification. Most things would either require Matthieu's help or reverse engineering.
In reply to Status update and request… by Leon Vinken
An export to TablEdit would also be very useful as the TablEdit app for tablets is an excellent, fully featured editor, pretty much on a par with the TE desktop software. This would provide a practical route for editing MuseScore guitar files on tablets.
In reply to An export to TablEdit would… by yonah_ag
For various reasons implementing import is easier than implementing export, so I do not expect this to happen in the near future.
In reply to For various reasons… by Leon Vinken
Maybe I'll contact Matthieu and see if he is interested in doing this. It would open up a lot of scores to TablEdit. I have had some correspondence with him in the past and he implemented a couple of features in TE that I requested, so you never know.
In reply to Status update and request… by Leon Vinken
Good news: my TablEdit importer has been merged: into the master branch on Aug 23 19:18:49 and into 4.6.0 on Aug 27 18:49:05.
This means it will be present in MuseScore versions published after these dates, including MuseScore Studio 4.6. It can be tested as of today by installing a recent nightly build (see: https://musescore.org/en/nightly-builds).