Re: flags, beams and stem length in forced directions - output improvement

[Janek Warchoł]

2010/12/27 Carl Sorensen <address@hidden>:
> On 12/27/10 7:38 AM, "Janek Warchoł" <address@hidden>
> wrote:
>> That's exactly what i expect! I'll try to solve it, as hard as i can.
>> (The only thing that worries me is that my programming skills are not
>> high... i only hope that i picked an issue that is not very difficult
>> to solve)
>
> I haven't looked carefully at this issue, so I don't know how hard it will
> be to solve.  But I don't think it's hugely difficult.
> And the community is very helpful to new (or experienced) developers.  Just
> this week I got two questions answered for a development project I was
> working on...

Sounds promising :)

>> Did i understand you correctly? Are you saying that i don't have to
>> ask the community how they want it to be solved (i mean, what output
>> they want)?
>> The reason why I started this thread was essentially because i wanted
>> to know the community's opinion (and achieve a consensus about the
>> desired LilyPond behaviour) *before* beginning the work myself. :) I'd
>> prefer not to write a patch and have it rejected :)
>
> Well, in order to get it accepted in the official code, you clearly need the
> support of the community.  But if you're interested in something that the
> community disagrees with, you can always maintain your patch and get it just
> the way you like it.

Ah, all right.

>> Thanks for your answer :)
>> And please say what do you think about scaling those flags.
>
> So far, I don't know.  I want to see what the reference books have to say (I
> have copies of Stone, Ross, and Read in my ofice).  I clearly prefer not
> having the flags collide with the note head or the staff line.  But I'm not
> sure that I prefer the particular method of making it work.  IIRC, the
> references say to lengthen the stem to make room for the flags.  I might
> prefer a solution of lengthening adjacent unflagged stems to match.

Ah, looks like i haven't made myself clear.
The question whether to:
  - use unchanged flags and lengthen the stem to make room for these flags
or
  - compress the flags and fit them on shorter stems

is whole another issue :) Now i only wanted to know the answer to the
question "For a *given* stem length that is not subject to change (and
is smaller than regular), what shall we do with the flag attached?".
i understand that your answer to this particular question is "compress
the flag" in case of downstem notes :)
What about upstem notes? In case of upstem notes the flag isn't
colliding with notehead, but it overhangs in an - imo - unpleasant
way...

cheers,
Janek