In the parts windows “Apply to all parts” is not working - design feature or a bug
In the parts window and under “Page settings”, it is possible to select “Apply to all parts”. For me, this has never worked except once after I’ve reset all parts and made the change on the very first part (Piccolo).
Now, going through the various instruments (there are 30 in my piece), I realised I’ve to modify a little more of the page layout which I did and to get a common layout of all parts I selected “Apply to all parts” again without any effect whatsoever on the other parts. I'm using MS 4.2.1.
In fact, this is the only time “Apply to all parts” has ever worked.
Under which conditions does the “Apply to all parts” works? I cannot find anything relevant in the UM and is it an undocumented “design feature” or a bug?
Comments
I think the parts have to be open before the "apply to all parts" will work.
In reply to I think the parts have to be… by bobjp
I've tested all variants, only one part and all parts open; The "Apply to all or parts" seems not to work.
Also the functionality of the "Page settings to default" in the same window is unclear. Does it only work on the visible part or all.
The only thing which always works is that if you click on three the dots on a part in the parts window and then select "Reset", but that means you have to do it manually for each of the 30 parts.
In reply to I've tested all variants,… by TomStrand
I am using this option regular but have not encountered the issue yet.
It is common to only see that a tweak needs to happen to the page settings while working on the formatting of the parts and indeed I then also apply the same setting to all parts.
I opened one of the scores I previous created and finished.
I had all parts open, select one of the part tabs and opened the page settings.
I made changes to the scale factor and page margins and hit apppy to all parts.
After this, checking an other part and it got the same settings as the part I was editing.
The score I tested was created before 4.2.1, not sure if that is making a difference.
Also tried to test with a new score in 4.2.1, but also seems to work fine for me.
In reply to I am using this option… by Henk De Groot
The parameters changed by me were the margins and size of the top frame (the one with the title, subtitle, composer etc).
The size of the field, I changed by pulling the small squares after having selected the field. The margins I changed in the page window.
This worked fine on the active part, of course, but when clicking "Apply to all parts", Notting send to happen more that the program was locked for a little while. Inspecting the individual parts, I could see anything being changed.
What is unclear from the handbook is, in fact, what is actually "applied", all formats, just a selection or what.
In reply to The parameters changed by me… by TomStrand
The "Apply to all parts" option is only applying the settings you have changed in the dialog you changed them in. So hitting the "Apply to all parts" in the Page Settings dialog will only update the settings shown in that dialog (paper size, scaling, marings, etc.).
The content of the part, i.e. the placement and size of the top frame is not related to this dialog, so no changes are made to the top frame. It would still move up/down in the page when the page margin is changed.
Same is for using the "Apply to all parts" on the style dialogs.
At least in the current 4.2.1 version there is a little bit more control over some content and if it should be synchorinized with the main score or not. This does allow you to make changes in the main score which then will also be visible in the parts or not depending on these settings.
Hope this helps a bit.
In reply to The "Apply to all parts"… by Henk De Groot
Maybe, but it's not very well defined in the handbook. I just made a test changing the margin in the page setting dialogue from the standard 15mm to 12 mm and pressed Apply to all parts but this was not carried over to all parts.
I made two tests, the first with only one of the parts open, the piccolo and then with all parts open (39 in my case). In both cases, the margins remained as before, i.e. nothing changed.
Also, if I want a special height of the top frame (the one with the title, composer, etc.) for the parts, but not in the score. As I'm not keen of changing these individually for all 39 parts, how can I make a change in one place and transfer it by a "key stroke" automatically to the other parts but not the score? Note, I need a smaller height in the score, otherwise the title frame and the music will not fit on the first page.
In reply to Maybe, but it's not very… by TomStrand
That is odd, I have not seen issues yet with the margins not being synched. Are you making sure to change the margin while you have a part open/selected?
At the moment (in 4.2.1) there is synchronisation between the main score and the parts for this. When you resize the frame in the main score, this is applied to the parts as well.
What I then found is that you can add a second top frame to the main score and select Exclude from parts for this top frame. Doing so allows you to change it without effecting the parts.
The main score now has two top frames.....what seems to work on my system that I went into my first parts and in the first part I have selected the option to Exclude it from the main score. Now the main score only has a top frame with a different size and content compared to the parts.
Initially I thought I had to tick the Exclude from main score in all parts, but that does not seem to be needed. Maybe depending on what is going to be editted in the other parts...it may re-appear in the main score.
One more tip, tick/untick the exclude from parts/main score may require it do twice to ensure all parts are synched, depending on the current state.
Hope this helps.
In reply to That is odd, I have not seen… by Henk De Groot
Thanks for the info. I've been away from the computer a few days but I'll check again tomorrow.
Here's some history and discussion, mainly amongst developers on synchronizing scores and parts. For the record, I only saw two references on the page to Apply to All Parts ... but you might find the discussion helpful in revealing design intend and issues.
I used Apply to All Parts a few times in MuseScore 3 to good effect ... but I don't know of its efficacy in MuseScore 4 because generally I only use MuseScore 4 to explore and test features, and then gladly continue working in MuseScore 3.6.2 or 3.7.
I found some otherApply to All Parts discussions but those were posted five years or more years ago, so probably not relevant.
If you find confirmation here, it is possible to open an issue report on MuseScore 4 Github page, where it will come to the attention of the developers.
scorster
In reply to Here's some history and… by scorster
Thanks, the link you provided I've seen. The discussion is now about a year old and to me it's unclear which, if any, of the ideas have found its way into MS 4.2.1.
As I said in my initial posting, the "Apply to all parts" bugs me just now. It worked once, the exact steps I can only record from memory but it was after I've had all parts individually reset (clicking the three dots and select "Reset").
I'll check if I can do some more testing to see if I can reproduce it more reliable and, if necessary, raise a GitHub ticket"
In reply to Thanks, the link you… by TomStrand
As far as I'm aware (and despite some long-standing requests, see: https://musescore.org/en/node/272479), this "Apply to all parts" has no effect on the replication of the Layout to other parts - it wasn't designed for that.
It does, however, apply to Style changes (e.g. Composer, Lyricist, Style and Part Name text sizes ) : https://musescore.org/en/handbook/4/parts#applying-styles-to-parts