RE: Figured Bass commands in property-init.ly

[Carl D. Sorensen]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Mats Bengtsson [mailto:address@hidden
> Sent: Wednesday, May 21, 2008 8:29 AM
> To: Carl D. Sorensen
> Cc: lily-devel
> Subject: Re: Figured Bass commands in property-init.ly
>
>
>
> Carl D. Sorensen wrote:
> > There are twe elements of figured bass notation that are an
> integral
> > part of the notation, so Graham said we should make predefined
> > commands for them.  Doea anybody object to
> >
> > figuredBassExtendersOn = {
> >   \set useBassFigureExtenders = ##t
> > }
> > figuredBassExtendersOff = {
> >   \set useBassFigureExtenders = ##f
> > }
> >
> >
> For the case that you enter the figured bass directly within
> a Staff context (see bottom of
> http://lilypond.org/doc/v2.11/Documentation/user/lilypond/Ente
> ring-figured-bass#Entering-figured-bass)
> these macros will not work, since the figures are typeset at
> the Staff level, not at the Voice level.
> When I recently defined similar macros myself, I ended up
> doing figuredBassExtendersOn = {\set useBassFigureExtenders =
> ##t \set Staff.useBassFigureExtenders = ##t } in order to
> have something that works both when the figures are typeset
> in a Staff and in a FiguredBass context.

The alternate definitions you propose are fine with me.

figuredBassExtendersOn = {
  \set useBassFigureExtenders = ##t
  \set Staff.useBassFigureExtenders = ##t
}
figuredBassExtendersOff = {
  \set useBassFigureExtenders = ##f
  \set Staff.useBassFigureExtenders = ##f
}

Thanks for catching the difference, and saving me the time of figuring out how 
to do it.

> > or
> >
> > figuredBassBelowStaffOn = {
> >   \override Staff.BassFigureAlignmentPositioning
> >      #'direction = #DOWN
> > }
> > figuredBassBelowStaffOff = {
> >   \override Staff.BassFigureAlignmentPositioning
> >     #'direction = #UP
> > }
> >
> These macros are only relevant in the case when your previous
> macros failed, i.e. in the case where figured bass is typeset
> within a Staff context.

I realize that.  If I'm setting figured bass in a FiguredBass context, the 
alignment relative to the music staff is established by the parallel music 
structure.

I don't know enough about figured bass to know if I should set stacking-dir.  
Is the stacking direction normally reversed depending upon where the figures 
are?  In the examples of figured bass I've found I haven't found a consistent 
pattern.

My current thought is that it would be best to crete a separate macro for 
stacking-dir:

figuredBassStackingDirUpOn = {
  \override BassFigureAlignment #'stacking-dir = #UP
  \override Staff.BassFigureAlignment #'stacking-dir = #UP
}

figuredBassStackingDirUpOff = {
  \override BassFigureAlignment #'stacking-dir = #DOWN
  \override Staff.BassFigureAlignment #'stacking-dir = #DOWN
}

By way of standard practice, is it better to define figuredBassStackingDirUpOff 
as an \override (which makes it absolute, but keeps adding to the props list), 
or as a \revert, which undoes an override and thus prevents the props list from 
continuing to grow, but may not have the desired effet (i.e. if \revert is 
used, two *Ons followed by one *Off will result in an *On remaining).

Carl