Keep Instrument group unchanged

• Jul 16, 2020 - 20:33

Currently the default instrument group is set to Common.

I am finding it pretty maddening to have to select the Early Music instrument group every time I want to change an instrument.

Perhaps a good solution is to have the default be Common whenever MuseScore is first started, but allow the last selected group to remain during the current editing session.

Comments

• Jul 16, 2020 - 20:59

For me that's exactly how it works. What version of MuseScore are you using?

BTW, I almost never use that dropdown, it's usually much easier just to use the search box at the bottom of the dialog.

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• Jul 16, 2020 - 21:45

It's the latest released version, but 3.5 has been in beta for quite a while, we should be seeing a release candidate any day now. As mentioned, it works as expected for me, so maybe it was fixed since 3.4.2. Can you either install the beta to check, or post precise steps to reproduce the problem as you are seeing it?

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• Jul 16, 2020 - 22:28

First, it is not a problem, just a change in behavior that I am requesting.

The attached screen-shot shows the steps I do to change an instrument. I must repeat all of them for each instrument. There are two "issues":
1. Allow the instrument group to keep the value it was changed to instead of reverting to Common.
2. When Apply is clicked there seems to be no acknowledgement that the change has been applied, but if I fail to click it the instrument change does not happen.

Attachment Size
Capture.JPG 206.38 KB

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• Jul 16, 2020 - 22:50

Oh, I see, thanks for the clarification. I was looking at this same dialog via Edit / Instruments instead of Change Instrument. In the former case it remembers the genre setting, in the latter it does not. It's still the case I personally just use the search box, and you might also find that more efficient. Meanwhile, it's definitely worth submitting an official suggestion to the issue tracker for this dialog to also remember settings.

Regarding Apply, this is needed to apply the change to the score if you intend to then move on to another staff via the controls at the bottom left. The feedback that it was applied is visible if you can see a relevant portion of your score, otherwise it is not. There has been discussion before about automatically applying when changing staves, I can't of a good reason not to do this.

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• Jul 17, 2020 - 00:40

I'm pretty new here. I thought posting my request here was how a formal change request was submitted. Where is the issue tracker found?

you said: "Regarding Apply, this is needed to apply the change to the score if you intend to then move on to another staff via the controls at the bottom left. " Are you saying that the change would be applied without clicking Apply if I simply left the dialog? If so that is inconsistent behavior and should be addressed (IMO).

As far as the lack of feedback when clicking Apply, that is problematic as well. perhaps the Apply button should be grayed out to indicate that there are no changes remaining to be applied?

BTW, on the score I am working on, the Save feature is grayed out; I can only Save As... What is that about?

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• Jul 17, 2020 - 03:23

This is the forum, it’s a good place toasj questions, discuss possible bugs or potential feature requests. Hit once something becomes a very concrete bug report or suggestion, it should be filed to the issue tracker. You can reach this from the Support menu above (same way you probably found the forum?) or Help / Report a Bug from within MuseScore.

There is no need to Apply changes if you dismiss a dialog with OK. This is a universal standard across all applications and operating systems. Apply is only there to lock in changes without pressing OK.

Save would normally be greyed out if there are no pending changes hence nothing to save.

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• Jul 18, 2020 - 04:15

Hmm... I just noticed that when I click the Go to Previous/Next arrow buttons there is no explicit indication of which staff I am now on. Since all the staffs began with the same instrument, it is quite ambiguous. Do you agree that a staff number of some such should be included on that dialog?

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