Inherency of object properties

[Han-Wen Nienhuys]

address@hidden writes:
> I can understand why since I understand how it's implemented
> (all properties of an object form an association list and
> a context only gets a copy of its own if some property of
> the object is set within that context, otherwise the value
> is inherited from contexts higher in the hierarchy). I can
> even see some good reasons why it's implemented this way.
> 
> However, it's much harder to explain it to a non-programmer.
> Also, this is an example of a hidden (and un-documented)
> side-effect that's considered no-no in most methods for
> structured programming.
> Finally, it's even more impossible to circumvent for a user
> that uses predefined identifiers such as \hideNotes.
> 
> I consider this "feature" a bug.

Yeah, but I haven't figured out a way to implement this in clear and
efficient way. You might remember that the original idea was to save
memory, because a stemDown setting is stored only once for all Stem
objects in a Voice. If possible, I would like to retain this property.

FWIW, I realized this deficiency the moment I implemented it, and we
yet we haven't had complaints during the past 4 years of its
existence.

-- 

 Han-Wen Nienhuys   |   address@hidden   |   http://www.xs4all.nl/~hanwen