System flag does not make item system wide
If you select an item that is not text (such as a text line or cresc.).
Right click to edit the line.
click the ... to the right of the text
select the system flag
You would expect the item to become a system item and propagate to the parts. It doesn't. This even applies to crecendi that have the option in the inspector of being applied to the system. Playback on the score is as normally expected from MS with the system crescendo affecting all instruments. If you extract parts, this is not in any way passed on to the parts (printed or playback). This doesn't seem right.
Thoughts?
Comments
Yes, the system flag is only relevant for text elements. We don't have any concept of other elements honoring that flag. For elements like voltas that are treated in a similar way, it's hard-coded I believe. It could be interested to some day add such a feature, to allow other elements to be system-wide. But there would be complications - most other elements need something specific to attach to, and there wouldn't necessarily be anything in other staves at that position.
In reply to Yes, the system flag is only by Marc Sabatella
If the concept of a line were changed to connect to a point in time (a point in the measure? a tic?) rather than a note, that would allow it to be attached anywhere.
Currently if I'm not on staff 1 and press ctrl-T the tempo appears above the top line at that location, even if staff 1 has a rest and I am on beat 3.75. I realize that Tempo does not have an endpoint, it is a single point. Tempo causes a multi measure rest to break, but did you realize it will only display in a part if it's on the first beat when breaking the multi measure rest?
Perhaps on things such as text lines the object could include a length variable that tells it how many beats long it is. (There is nothing in the inspector that I'm aware of the has a length included in it). Once the System Flag is set, and OK is pressed in the edit dialog for the item, it would move above the first staff and be able to be propagated to parts. It shouldn't be much more confusing that the Tempo appearing there automatically. I'm of course not sure what variables are included in the text line already.
I did some more testing, just for some brainstorming for anyone reading this.
Voltas (volte?) are not propagated to parts if they are not entered on the first staff. I don't know what this does from a programming point of view, but I would expect both lines and volte to come from the same object. A volta not on staff 1 is spawned to the part but it does not break a multi measure rest. A volta also has a line visible check box that cannot be checked (perhaps it should always be checked). Of course volte are probably attached to measures rather than notes, since they always span complete measures, no matter what you do. I realize they are part of the repeat map where other lines are not.
In reply to If the concept of a line were by mike320
Text is different because it is attached a time position and indeed does not require a note or rest on the staff, although of course that's normally the way you add it in the first place.
Internally, lines kind of *are* attached to time position rather than notes, and they *do* have a parameter that keeps track of the length in beats ("ticks"), but on the other hand the code also does assume there is a note or rest at both endpoints as well. Getting rid of that assumption would be very useful, to allow hairpins like < > during a single whole note, or to allow a piano pedal change mid-measure when the bottom staff has only a whole note, etc. So definitely worth doing, but it would be a kind of big change I'm afraid.
In reply to Text is different because it by Marc Sabatella
I have no expectation that it could ever be done before 3.0 because there would be too many internal incompatibilities with 2.x. I was thinking that since 3.0 is such a big step it would be a nice place to do this.
I realize I can put system text in place to mimic this, but it doesn't automatically grow the line as the measure grows. It just never looks the same.