Re: How do you run/open Lilypond?

[Carl D. Sorensen]

On 3/24/09 9:13 AM, "Jan Nieuwenhuizen" <address@hidden> wrote:

> Op dinsdag 24-03-2009 om 09:55 uur [tijdzone -0500], schreef Jonathan
> Kulp:
> 
>> Check the third question/answer on this page:
>> 
>> http://lilypondwiki.tuxfamily.org/index.php?title=FAQ
> 
> Why do we have to send a mail to point to a faq on some off-site wiki?

There is a Help link on lilypond.org, which tells the user exactly how to
fix things.  So we don't need to have the mail point to the off-site wiki.
It could point to 

<http://lilypond.org/web/help/>


> 
> Can't we make lilypond pop-up a web page when invoked without arguments
> or something like that?

On my fresh installation of LilyPond 2.12 in Win XP, when I double-click on
the LilyPond icon on my desktop, it opens up to the source file
Welcome_to_LilyPond.ly which mentions the non-GUI nature of LilyPond.
Granted, you have to read it carefully, because it's in the source, but...

Similarly, when I use the program menu to run LilyPond, it opens up
Welcome_to_LilyPond.ly.

So I think we're already getting a pop up window, just not a pop-up html
window.

Perhaps we need to put more explicit links in Welcome_to_LilyPond.ly
Currently it reads:

%{
Welcome to LilyPond
===================

Congratulations, LilyPond has been installed successfully.

Now to take it for the first test run.

  1. Save this LilyPond file on your desktop with the name "test.ly".

  2. Pick it up from the desktop with your mouse pointer, drag and drop
     it onto the LilyPond icon.

  3. LilyPond automatically produces a PDF file from the musical scale
     below.

  4. To print or view the result, click on the newly produced file
     called

        test.PDF


That's it.

LilyPond's interface is text-based. Please read the documentation.

For more information, visit http://lilypond.org .
%}

\version "2.12.0"  % necessary for upgrading to future LilyPond versions.

\header{
  title = "A scale in LilyPond"
}

\relative c' {
  c d e f g a b c
}

%%%%%%%%%% END OF ORIGINAL FILE

What if we changed it to:

%{
Welcome to LilyPond
===================

Congratulations, LilyPond has been installed successfully.

Now to take it for the first test run.

  1. Save this LilyPond file on your desktop with the name "test.ly".

  2. Pick it up from the desktop with your mouse pointer, drag and drop
     it onto the LilyPond icon.

  3. LilyPond automatically produces a PDF file from the musical scale
     below.

  4. To print or view the result, click on the newly produced file
     called

        test.PDF

   5.  If you see a piece of music with a scale, LilyPond is performing
       properly.

 Next, you'll want to get started on your own scores.  To do this, you'll
   need to learn about using LilyPond.

LilyPond's interface is text-based, rather than graphical.  Please visit
   the help page at http://lilypond.org/web/help.  This will point you to
   a quick tutorial and extensive documentation.

 Good luck with LilyPond!

%}

\version "2.12.0"  % necessary for upgrading to future LilyPond versions.

\header{
  title = "A scale in LilyPond"
   subtitle = "For more information on using LilyPond, please see
http://lilypond.org/web/help/";
}

\relative c' {
  c d e f g a b c
}

%%%%%%%  END OF REVISED FILE

Maybe we could also put a comment on the download page for Windows.  For
FreeBSD, there is a comment that talks about what to do when you download
the file.  Perhaps it could say something like "After installing, please
visit http://lilypond.org/web/help";

Perhaps we could also put a message in the main installing box for Windows.
Right now it's blank.  It could read:  "Please note that LilyPond is a
command-line application, not a GUI application.  After installation, please
visit http://lilypond.org/web/help";

> 
> I can imagine that not everyone who hits this goes through the trouble
> of mailing lilypond-user...?

On the positive side, since the Help page was added to the website, we've
had *far* fewer comments saying "Where's the GUI?"  So either it's helped,
or we've had lots fewer Windows downloads.

Carl