Copy/paste by clicking mousewheel

• Mar 19, 2020 - 13:05

Hi, long-term Sibelius user, very impressed with Musescore. In Sibelius you can copy/paste a selection just by 1) selecting something (say a bar), 2) navigating to another bar, 3) paste by clicking the mousewheel. It's extremely handy and fast.

I wondered if this was planned for Musescore? Or is it available already? Apologies if this is well-known, I searched for it but couldn't see it mentioned anywhere. Thanks!!

Windows 10

Comments

• Mar 31, 2020 - 13:08

Hmmm, no replies - no interest for this then? Could I perhaps make a formal request for this feature? I'm new to this so I don't know the procedure. Any help on this would be gratefully received.

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• Apr 2, 2020 - 18:31

Bar lines????

What happens when you paste to a different beat in the destination measure (e.g. consider 4 measures of 4/4 with 4 quarter notes in each. Select beat 2 in measure 1 to beat 3 in measure 2. Then select beat 1 in measure 3 and centre click to paste)? Does it change the length of the first and last destination measures by placing the bar line that follows beat 4 in the source of the copy after beat 3 in the destination measure? That would probably not be what you would want in most cases, although it might be in a few strange cases.

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• Apr 2, 2020 - 21:05

< Bar lines??? ? >
Hi Steve, oops, sorry, I wasn't clear there. By Bar-lines I meant the TYPE of bar line - eg final, double, start repeat, end repeat. Just select say a double bar-line, position over any other bar-line, wheel click and boom, your barline is copied. Quick, easy.

< What happens when you paste to a different beat in the destination measure>

No, the measure does not change length. The rhythm is copied exactly, but offset in time. Just in fact as it does when you copy/paste a passage in Musescore. It's just really quick, that's my point.

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• Mar 31, 2020 - 15:22

Does Sibelius actually overwrite your clipboard whenever you select something? Or does it use an separate internal “clipboard” to always store your last selection and then paste from that when you middle-click somewhere?

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• Mar 31, 2020 - 15:46

Could you please test?

  1. Copy some text from a Web page into the clipboard.
  2. Use the Sibelius feature that you're requesting. (Select some content then duplicate it by middle-clicking somewhere else.)
  3. Open Notepad and try to paste the text you copied in step 1.

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• Mar 31, 2020 - 15:56

That's useful to know in case we decide to implement this feature. Thanks.

I'm guessing that it doesn't actually use an internal “clipboard” but instead just keeps track of what the most recent selection was. Then when you middle-click your mouse it can duplicate whatever is at that location to the new location.

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• Apr 1, 2020 - 01:27

Your video demo shows measure(s) being pasted into other measure(s) such that beats 1-2-3-4 of the selection measure(s) are copy/pasted into beats 1-2-3-4 of the destination measure(s) - so measure to measure, beat to beat, barline to barline alignment.

However...
Is pasting, for example, a measure of beats 1-2-3-4 onto a destination of beats 3-4-1-2 where 1-2 is in a following measure, allowed?.
In other words, can the destination contain a barline when the selection does not?

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• Apr 1, 2020 - 20:28

>>>In other words, can the destination contain a barline when the selection does not?<<<

Hi, yes, it does (in Sibelius), just like copy/paste does in MuseScore. The point of my short video demo was to show how FAST and EASY it is to copy/paste using this feature. (It works with TEXT as well as any selection or individual notes). Increases workflow immensely. I hope it could be implemented in MuseScore.

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• Apr 2, 2020 - 16:30

Should be relatively simple to do, then, if someone is interested in giving it a shot.

To me, saving two clicks doesn't really seem like that big a deal, and the function would be almost completely undiscoverable and hence something used primarily only by people accustomed to Sibelius (since I've never heard of this being used anywhere else), but also, pretty harmless.

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• Apr 2, 2020 - 18:06

I'd claim that "middle-click" or "mouse wheel click" are both entirely non-discoverable and also non-accessible. No important function at all should be limited to a gesture most people don't know about and many may not have the physical device or physical ability to access.

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• Apr 2, 2020 - 22:50

To be clear: I'm not saying this particular alternate form of copy/paste should not be implemented. On the contrary, because copy & paste is already done very simply and easily through keyboard shortcuts, I have no objections to having additional mouse interactions for the benefit of those who prefer moving their hands from the keyboards when they want to copy and paste. What I object to - and not just men, any UI designer or accessibility consultant - is having the mouse be the only way to do something. Especially if it's a gesture that 99% of people don't even know exists. I don't know what this other function that is being proposed might be, but hopefully whatever it is can also be done another way.

Anyhow, until I know what the other proposed function is, I can't really weigh in on which would be a better use of the middle button / mouse wheel click function. Personally, though, I'd like it to be assignable.

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• Apr 2, 2020 - 22:08

Mouse interactions are almost always slower than keyboard shortcuts. This particular one is marginally faster, by maybe half a second or so, but in general - think note input, etc - it's almost always a lot slower, often by an order of magnitude or so. That's part of why I'm not nearly as excited by the idea as a mouse user might be.

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• Apr 2, 2020 - 21:17

< Should be relatively simple to do, then, if someone is interested in giving it a shot. >
YESSS!! great, fantastic !!...

I agree if you are just copying and pasting a few times, but I can tell you it's a godsend if you do it A LOT. I do it a lot.

I would have to disagree - I believe it would transform Musecorers globally and once the word got around, the world would be a far better place :-)

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• Apr 2, 2020 - 21:10

Yes, well, nearly. In Musescore I see that pressing "R" does not work after you just select individual notes by clicking on them. (You have to shift/drag a note). This Sibelius feature allows you to duplicate individual notes quickly and easily.

So: Click on a note. Point to a new destination. Click mousewheel. WHAM!! New note entered. Done. Genius. No "CtrlC, CtrlV" necessary. In fact, no keyboard pressing required. I tell you it's the best thing since sliced bread :-)

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