Show play duration in status bar
It would be nice if, in addition to the measure/beat number (which is currently shown both on the left of the status bar and on the right) , the status bar could show the time duration since the start of the piece. This is currently shown in the play panel but only once playback has started. What I am hoping for is the ability to click on a note and find out how long after the start of the piece that note will get played. This will help with programming planning questions like, can we make a cut to keep within the required schedule?
One potential difficulty I can forsee is how to deal with repeats. I suggest that if the play repeats button is clicked, the time indicated would be the time the note is played on the 2nd time through. If the play repeats button is not clicked then the time indicated would be the time the note is played on the 1st time through.
Another potential difficulty is how to deal with Da Capos and Del Segnos and Codas. I suggest that for DC and DS the timing for the first pass would be shown but that a Coda should show the timing assuming a DC or DS has been made.
These repeat/DC/DS/Coda wrinkles mean that the user may have to do some arithmetic to find out exactly when a note will be played but at least the information will be there to allow the user to make the calculation. Or perhaps both 1st and 2nd pass timings could be show if relevant to the context of the note.
One possible extension would be to add the ability to show the play duration of a selection.
Comments
You have pointed out all of the difficulties of telling the timing of a random note in the status bar I can think of. I'm not so sure the solutions are good.
FYI, there is an unwrap function hidden somewhere in the experimental part of the code, I'm not sure if there is a plan to expose it. I believe it's available if you use the -e command line option. It was being worked on last week, and I think it is currently implemented properly in the master branch of the nightlies, which will become version 3.1 when it's released. This allows you to click a note and it's location would be reported based upon which iteration of a measure you click. This still doesn't show the time into the score, but it does allow you to look in the play panel and see the elapsed time time by clicking any note and pressing the space bar twice very quickly.
Hi,
The difficulties with repeats could be resolved on MS 3 with the new tool : Tools/Unroll Repeats
Time duration since the start would be shown the first time the note is played when the tool not active and each time when active.
See #298421: Time marker