Re: Setting up VS Code for Lilypond

[Knute Snortum]

I tried it and it worked.  Very nice.  I will probably still use
Frescobaldi though.

--
Knute Snortum


On Fri, Feb 26, 2021 at 4:21 AM Ankush Laxman <ankush.laxman5@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> SETTING UP VS CODE FOR LILYPOND
> ------------------------------
>
> INTRODUCTION
> ------------
>
> VS Code can be used as an editor for Lilypond files. In this post, I am going 
> to show you how to set up VS Code as an editor for Lilypond files. First, you 
> need to ensure that Lilypond is setup properly (including the command line 
> *Important*). The installations instructions described here are for a Windows 
> 10 machine (64-bit) using the most recent version of Windows 10 (20H2). I am 
> assuming you have Adobe Acrobat and the latest version of Python installed 
> correctly on the system. Python is needed for required files for formatting 
> the Lilypond file (with proper indentation) in VS Code and Adobe Acrobat is 
> needed for generating and viewing the PDF files. If not, install Adobe 
> Acrobat and Python (including setting up Python for the command line - Google 
> search) from the following links:
>
> Adobe Acrobat:
>
> https://get.adobe.com/reader/
>
> Python:
>
> https://www.python.org/
>
> At the time of writing this post:
>
> The latest version of Lilypond is 2.22.0
> The latest version of VS Code is 1.53.2
> The latest version of Python is 3.9.2
> The latest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader DC is 2021.001.20140
>
> "Easy editor" applies to third-party Lilypond file editors indicated on 
> Lilypond's website
>
> INSTALL AND/OR UPDATE LILYPOND
> ------------------------------
>
> 1. If installing Lilypond for the first time
>
> Install Lilypond (as administrator) from the Lilypond website.
>
> https://lilypond.org/
>
> For the command line to work, the environment variables must be set up 
> correctly (very important). To access the environment variables, click on the 
> search icon found on the taskbar and type "environment variables". Open the 
> Control Panel settings for the environment variables from the search results. 
> Click on the button "Environment Variables". Double click the variable titled 
> "Path". You can use the "New" button on the menu to add an entry to the 
> "Path" environment variable.
>
> Add the entry for the PATH environment variable, like so:
>
> For 64-bit Windows machine: C:\Program Files (x86)\LilyPond\usr\bin
> For 32-bit Windows machine: C:\Program Files\LilyPond\usr\bin
>
> Restart the system
>
> 2. If updating Lilypond
>
> Ensure that the previous version of Lilypond is first uninstalled. Before 
> installing the updated version, remove the entry for Lilypond from the "Path" 
> environment variable. To access the environment variables, click on the 
> search icon found on the taskbar and type "environment variables". Open the 
> Control Panel settings for the environment variables from the search results. 
> Click on the button "Environment Variables". Double click the variable titled 
> "Path". You can use the buttons on the menu to add, modify and delete 
> environment variables. If updating from a previous version of Lilypond delete 
> the Lilypond entry from the "Path" environment variable. Additionally, 
> restart the system after complete uninstallation of the old version of 
> Lilypond. This is to ensure a fresh installation of Lilypond as far as 
> possible.
>
> Then, install the latest version of Lilypond.
>
> For the command line to work, the environment variables must be set up 
> correctly (very important). After reinstalling Lilypond (and before 
> installing the easy editor of your choice), add the entry for the PATH 
> environment variable, like so:
>
> For 64-bit Windows machine: C:\Program Files (x86)\LilyPond\usr\bin
> For 32-bit Windows machine: C:\Program Files\LilyPond\usr\bin
>
> Restart the system.
>
> 3. Checking if Lilypond is working from the command line
>
> Once the environment variables are set up, one needs to check if Lilypond can 
> be invoked from the command line. Open the command prompt app on the machine. 
> Use the search icon on the taskbar and type "cmd". Open the Command Prompt 
> app from the search results. Run the following command (without the quotes):
>
> "lilypond --v"
>
> The first line of the command result should be "GNU LilyPond 2.22.0". As of 
> writing this post, the latest stable version is 2.22.0. If you get an error 
> (such as an older version number or any other error), then Lilypond and/or 
> the environment variables were not set up correctly. If so, you will have to 
> start from the beginning with Lilypond's installation
>
> Ensure you create a Lilypond file first.
>
> You can create the file in "Lilypad" or "Notepad", and save it as, say, 
> "test.ly" stored in a folder of your choosing (let's say "MusicEngraving" on 
> the "C" drive). I use the following snippet for testing purposes:
>
> \version "2.22.0"
> {
>    c' e' g' e'
> }
>
> In the command prompt, navigate to your directory using the "cd" command. For 
> information using the "cd" command (and navigating between drives) in Windows 
> command prompt, check on Google search. You will find umpteen sources on the 
> "cd" command.
>
> Now, in the command prompt, enter the following line (without the quotes):
>
> "lilypond test.ly"
>
> You should get the following output:
>
> GNU LilyPond 2.22.0
> Processing `test.ly'
> Parsing...
> Interpreting music...
> Preprocessing graphical objects...
> Finding the ideal number of pages...
> Fitting music on 1 page...
> Drawing systems...
> Converting to `test.pdf'...
> Success: compilation successfully completed
>
> If you did not get this output, then you need to check your environment 
> variables and if you are using the latest version of Lilypond. Please note 
> that if there were prior installations of any of the easy editors, uninstall 
> them and start afresh with Lilypond's installation. If needed, you can always 
> install the easy editor later.
>
> INSTALL VSCODE AND LILYPOND EXTENSION FOR VSCODE
> ------------------------------------------------
>
> 1) Installing VS Code
>
> Setup VS Code from the following link (I used the "system" installation file 
> with the file being run as an administrator):
>
> https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/setup/windows#_user-versus-system-setup
>
> Restart the system
>
> 2) Installing the Lilypond extension for VSCode
>
> To get Lilypond to work with VS Code, you need two main extensions 
> (vscode-pdf and VSLilyPond). First, install the vscode-pdf extension (by 
> tomoki1207, 
> https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=tomoki1207.pdf)
>
> Open VS Code
>
> In VS Code Navigate to File -> Preferences -> Extensions
>
> Search for the extension "VSLilyPond" (by lhl2617, 
> https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=lhl2617.VSLilyPond). As 
> of writing this post, the latest version of this extension is 1.4.2 and has 
> been tested successfully for Lilypond 2.22.0.
>
> After installing the extensions, restart VS Code.
>
> In VSCode, Click on File -> Open File and navigate to the directory where you 
> stored your "test.ly" file.
>
> You will need "python-ly" installed as well for formatting the Lilypond file. 
> More information can be found here:
>
> https://github.com/lhl2617/VSLilyPond/blob/master/docs/INSTALL.md
>
> For installing python-ly:
>
> https://pypi.org/project/python-ly/
>
> If you have Python (latest version 3.9.2, as of writing this post), run the 
> following command in command prompt (without the quotes):
>
> "python -m pip install python-ly"
>
> Restart VS Code
>
> Open your "test.ly" file again, right click and select "Format Document". If 
> you do not get an error and the document formats properly with correct 
> indentation, all is good.
>
> To check if everything is installed properly, make some changes to your 
> "test.ly" file. I added the following snippet (after the first snippet):
>
> {
>   c e g c
> }
>
> Press "Ctrl+S" on your keyboard to save the file. In VS Code's terminal, you 
> should get the following output:
>
> Compiling: c:\MusicEngraving\test.ly
> Compilation successful
>
> If you get an error, then you will get an output that says "Compilation 
> failed". In that case, something probably went wrong with the way the 
> extensions were installed (including the python-ly extension). You may need 
> to check the installation document found at the following link:
>
> https://github.com/lhl2617/VSLilyPond/blob/master/docs/INSTALL.md
>
> If no error is shown in the terminal output, navigate to the folder of your 
> "test.ly" file and you should see an updated PDF of your "test.ly" file.
>
> CONCLUSION
> ----------
>
> Here is the full snippet used in my "test.ly" file:
>
> \version "2.22.0"
> {
>   c' e' g' e'
> }
>
> {
>   c e g c
> }
>
> Aaaaand, I have finished writing this post. Lilypond is a great music 
> engraving tool and I've only just begun using it. I hope someone finds this 
> post useful for installing and using Lilypond with VS Code. Cheers!