Insert file feature - does it exist?

• Nov 15, 2020 - 10:24

A feature of many earlier text processing systems, and large scale text formatting programs, is the ability to insert a file (containing text) into the text at arbitrary points. Is there anything similar in Musescore?

For example, I might want to take a section of something I'm working on, and save it as a file - that can be done easily - using File->Save Selection.

Later I may decide I want to reuse that either in the same, or another work. It can be done, but might require the work of a few minutes. Being able to do actions like this quickly could give benefits.

Also, it would perhaps allow a slightly different form of working, in which compositions could be made from joining together different (hopefully compatible) files, and thus permit a more structured approach.

Examples:
(1) My-Rondo = My-A, My-B, My-A, My-C, My-A, My-B', My-A'- Conclusion

(2) My-3rd-movement = Minuet, Trio 1, Minuet', Trio 2 - Fast scherzo end.

where each of the sections might be implemented by a batch command of the form:
INSERT My-A
INSERT My-B etc. or even some possibly much neater syntax - some form of compact BNF perhaps.

WYSIWYG is often very useful, but it is also too easy to forget that methods which were used 30-40 years ago were also often very productive, and can still, and should still, be used today.


Comments

The "album" feature that used to be in older versions of MuseScore was a kind of limited version of this. For MuseScore 4, it's expected there will be a greatly improved version of this.

In reply to by Marc Sabatella

That would be great. It is possible to get some of the functionality by saving selections as files, then loading them, copying and then pasting back in, but if the selection includes changes such as time signature changes, then these become ineffective with that technique. That wouldn't be an issue with a true insert functionality.

What's the timescale for MuseScore4?

In reply to by mike320

I think that's overly optimistic. As per the most recent posted update from a week or so ago, "On current trend, we expect MuseScore 4.0 to take between 8-10 months to complete." That puts it July-September. And FWIW, I can't really think of many software releases of this magnitude where an estimate that far out didn't turn out to miss the mark by a few additional months.

In reply to by mike320

FWIW, in case you missed it - https://musescore.org/en/node/312563. Estimate this far out are usually just a guess, so no surprise one might guess 8 months in September, then a couple of months later realize it's still eight months, or maybe 10. The 3.6 release is no doubt delaying 4.0 some. As we get closer to next summer the estimates will no doubt get better. But as if the current estimate is 8-10 months, my read on that is, 10 months at least, likely more because things seldom go as predicted. So if we're guessing, my money is on an allout push to make sure it happens in 2021 and the end result is a Christmas Eve release like happened with 3.0. But, that's based on nothing but past experience, not any special insight into the unique aspects of this release.

In reply to by mike320

Are there lists of proposed modifications - for example for 3.6 and for 4.0 open for discussion?

Re the Insert mentioned/suggested here - it'd be great to have it, but if it's not going to be until December 2021 at least we'll all know that we will have to use work-arounds until that arrives. It might change our work flows a bit in advance, though if we know what it's going to look like, and when it will actually arrive, and that could save some people some time.

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