Re: bookparts

[Kieren MacMillan]

Hi Joram,

> *What I want to achieve* is to have ~10 independent pieces and
> concatenate all of them into one book as well as printing everyone on
> its own.

I do this all the time: my musicals each have 20+ independent "cues" (songs, 
instrumentals, etc.); the songs are always printed together in big books 
(Piano/Conductor Score, Piano/Vocal Score, Chorus/Vocal Score, etc.); often, 
the more popular songs have their own separate score (to be sold individually).

> I need some further insights in what a bookpart is.

I think of a bookpart as a \paper scope. I generally *use* bookparts as a way 
to lock in certain page breaks easily: for example, the first three songs of 
the Piano/Conductor Score of a musical might fit nicely on 8 pages, so I wrap 
the three \scores in a \bookpart with a \paper { page-count = 3 } instruction.

> \paper blocks inside a \bookpart only affect this bookpart, while \paper
> blocks outside affect everything. So it seems to be a scoping for paper
> blocks.

Exactly.  =)

> Q: Is it correct that the bookpart is a scope for paper blocks?

If you’re asking whether your understanding is correct, then I would say "Yes 
(or at least close enough)".

If you’re asking whether Lily’s \bookpart *should* [only] be a scope for paper 
blocks… then I'd say "No".

> Q: Is it correct that \layout blocks don't belong inside a \bookpart?

Yes; you can bury that in the score if you need it.

> Q: Is it correct that I can't define a variable inside a bookpart?

Yes. This is probably my biggest issue with bookparts currently.

> Q: That means if I have many scores with many voices in my document,
>   I need unique names for all of them and can not reuse \soprano for
>   the next piece with different content?

Yes. I learned that the hard way…

> As my included files contain definitions, I cannot include them inside a
> bookpart as far as I understand. So I need to put them at top level, right?

Correct.

> Q: Included files just behave as if the content was inserted at the same
>   position?
> Q: Includes must be at top level?

Yes x 2.

> Each piece should start a new page in the book.

Sometimes even in that case I use \bookparts.

> Q: Should I use bookparts at all or just \pageBreaks?

I suggest \bookparts… but I've already done the work (e.g., having unique 
variable names) that makes it easier.

Hope this helps!
Kieren.
________________________________

Kieren MacMillan, composer
‣ website: www.kierenmacmillan.info
‣ email: address@hidden