Re: music function to be included somewhere in scm/*

[Alexander Kobel]

On 2016-12-20 17:21, Abraham Lee wrote:
> Yes, thanks for making this possible! It will be a great addition.

Thanks Abraham.

> One question I have about having the two properties is how will the two be
> reconciled in actual use? In other words, if collapse-length is larger than
> forced-length, will there still be the same amount of space between
> syllables even without the extender (to the amount of forced-length)?

One thing remains identical to the current situation: Extenders never 
ever influence horizontal spacing.

> Maybe the question I really have is this: what does "given this length _if
> possible_" mean and what governs this possibility? I can totally understand
> how they work individually, I'm just trying to understand how I can use
> them well together since it seems that forced-length contradicts
> collapse-length.

You won't really use them together; at least, not both will be effective 
at the same time:
(1) If the natural length (essentially: the distance from the right end 
of the syllable to the right end of the last note in the corresponding 
melisma) is less than collapse-length, this extender will not be printed.
(2) If you /force/ an extender, that is, you explicitly add one for a 
syllable that does not belong to a melisma, there is no "natural length" 
- simply because there is no "natural extender". The "faked" length of 
such an extender will be given by the minimum of forced-length and the 
available space to the next syllable. Again, this will not affect the 
space between the notes.

Forced extenders should only be necessary under extraordinary 
circumstances, such as an extender reaching into a alternative ending of 
a repeat, re-extending after rests, or even more obscure design studies.


Cheers,
Alexander