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a better convert-ly
From: |
Han-Wen Nienhuys |
Subject: |
a better convert-ly |
Date: |
Thu, 16 Dec 2004 22:30:58 +0100 |
address@hidden writes:
> I also think that we've finished dealing with any squabbles
> we don't want to make public, so this discussion should be
> moved to lilypond-devel.
[done]
> > If you want LilyPond to be used for archival purposes, we must find a
> > way to offer stable syntax. So, the volatile parts must be factored
> > out or separated.
>
> This point is probably obvious to programmers, but since my complaint
> started this, I'd like to make sure it's clear: what's really required
> is
> a computer-upgradable syntax, not a stable syntax. A stable syntax
> would be nice (in that we wouldn't have to spend time updating
> convert-ly), but that doesn't need to be the main goal.
Yes - unfortunately, computer-upgradable syntax is hard to
do. Generally, people want to retain their whitespace, comments and
identfiers. When a .ly file is parsed, that information is thrown
away. Even if we keep it, for complex upgrades (the kind that
convert-ly doesn't handle), that information will be difficult to
retain.
Of course, when people would also use computer-upgradable syntax
(eg. by using RoseGarden or somesuch to process files) in daily life,
the upgrades would be easier, but that's not the case yet.
> If I (or mutopia, or whoever) has to run convert-ly on a 10-year old
> file and wait for two minutes while convert-ly updates the file, that's
> no problem. The only problem is if we need to run convert-ly and
> then edit the result manually.
The problem that I see is that writing such a nice converter can
easily take months of developer time, which will not be put into
better typesetting features. That's a dear price to pay for saving a
little work.
The syntax of basic music input hasn't changed appreciably since
lilypond-2.0. For the future, we have plans to build a GNOME-based GUI
for tweaking, which completely separates out tweaks into different
files. I don't really see what else we can do.
Although I sympathize with Graham's frustrations over hand-editing
files, I don't understand the real problem, other than the fact that
LilyPond 1.6 syntax sucked, so we had to change it - which is why A)
we have much better syntax in 2.4 B) there is a painful conversion
process necessary.
--
Han-Wen Nienhuys | address@hidden | http://www.xs4all.nl/~hanwen
- a better convert-ly,
Han-Wen Nienhuys <=