[MEI-L] ...brackets in orchestral scores: Finale shapes, etc.

[Roland, Perry (pdr4h)]

Thinking about Laurent's original question a little more, I've come to realize that my original thinking on staff grouping was, well, misguided.

I now think that instead of reserving @symbol="line" for the left-hand, staff-connecting line, another attribute should be added to <staffGrp> (or even on <scoreDef>) to capture the presence of this line.  This eliminates the need for nested <staffGrp> elements as well as the need to change any existing software.

This new attribute (I'm still casting about for a name) should take a value of true or false depending on the presence/absence of the connecting line.  Of course, this attribute can only make sense when it's on the outermost <staffGrp>.  This is a good argument for pushing it up a level to <scoreDef>.  Doing that eliminates the need for schematron rules or reliance on convention to enforce good practice.

The existing @symbol attribute with a value of "line" can be used (as in MusicXML) to describe the presence of a wide line used as the grouping symbol.  Of course, the Guidelines will need to be changed to reflect these changes.

I'm aware that changes like this, that is, keeping the same markup but changing its meaning, are dangerous.  But sometimes it's the simplest, and indeed the best, solution.

Humbly,

--
p.


__________________________
Perry Roland
Music Library
University of Virginia
P. O. Box 400175
Charlottesville, VA 22904
434-982-2702 (w)
pdr4h (at) virginia (dot) edu