Re: Whatis on the fly

[Stephen Corey]

As an American, I have to say that with so many of these
expressions, the meanings can change considerably based on the context.

In this particular instance, the writer wants to be able to apply a single
statement or rule and have the staves appear and disappear on their own
without any further input.  It really has nothing to do with changing
something as the software runs (in this case compiles).

Trying to understand these subtleties can often leave one "up a creek
without a paddle", but hopefully, one can find an answer, "Lord willin' and
the creek don't rise".  


On Wed, 01 Aug 2007 11:31:26 -0500, Paul Harouff wrote:

> Francois, you're close.
> 
> In hunting terminology, "on the fly" means catching/killing a bird in the
> air vs. catching/killing a bird on the ground. In fishing terminology,
> catching a fish "on the fly" means using a fly bait which requires
> continuous activity and rhythm with the rod and reel. In this context, the
> English idiom has taken on the meaning of being quick, agile, or lucky.
> 
> In aeronautical terminology, "on the fly" means making repairs or
> modifications while flying the airplane vs. waiting to make repairs or
> modifications after landing. The idiom has been applied to other engineering
> situations to mean making repairs or modifications to equipment while the
> system is running vs. shutting down the system to remove and replace the
> equipment for depot maintenance. In this context, the English idiom has
> taken on the meaning of being flexible, adaptive, or ingenius.
> 
> Therefore, from the second context above, in computer terminology, "on the
> fly" has taken the meaning of dynamically changing software activities or
> values while the program is running vs. statically predefining activities
> and values so they can't be changed without stopping the program. An example
> is using a cookie file to modify the behavior of a web page "on the fly"
> based on the user's input.
> 
> So, I don't think that the LilyPond *program* does anything "on the fly",
> since you can't change the *.ly file while the compiler is running. But I
> guess it's possible for a developer of one LilyPond engraver to say his
> engraver (e.g., beams) makes changes "on the fly" based on the output of
> other engravers (e.g., notes).
> 
> That being said, English idioms are continuously evolving and taking new
> meanings. So, it's possible that some programmers have adopted the practice
> of using "on the fly" to mean the ability to change a program setting
> several times within a file as needed. But this doesn't make sense to me.
> 
> Paul
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: address@hidden
> [mailto:address@hidden On Behalf Of
> Valentin Villenave
> Sent: Wednesday, August 01, 2007 5:33 AM
> To: Francois Planiol-Auger
> Cc: address@hidden
> Subject: Re: Whatis on the fly
> 
> 2007/8/1, Francois Planiol-Auger <address@hidden>:
> 
>> Yes I know, its a newby question. And I found nothing really helpful that
>> defines it in relation with lilypond.
>> Can somebody explain?
> 
> If I understood correctly (English is not my native language),
> something you can change "on the fly" is something that you don't need
> to change at the beginning of your score, once and for all; therefore
> it allows you to change properties several times during your music
> (for instance, the key signature can be changed "on the fly": you
> don't have to define a single key signature at the beginning, and then
> be stuck with it for the whole piece -- instead you can change it as
> many times as you want).
> 
> Does it help?
> 
> Regards,
> Valentin
> 
> 
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