Break_Align_Order-3

[Han-Wen Nienhuys]

address@hidden writes:
> >The documentation should be updated.
> 
> If I may, I'd like to say something about the documentation in general.
> >From an end-user standpoint I'd have to say that the docs are the weakest
> part of Lilypond.  I don't mean to say that they're bad.  I'm sure it is
> all very well documented.  What I find problematic is that the docs go from
> a fairly simple example of HOW THINGS WORK straight to a gory-details
> nuts-and-bolts description of the minute workings of the program.  I don't
> have a problem with that, either.  What I find lacking is much of anything
> in-between.  For example:
> 
> \property Score.MultiMeasureRest \override #'expand-limit = #9
> 
> ...was exactly what I needed to adjust the block rest behavior.  I didn't
> need several paragraphs of dense description of how this mechanism works.
> That I can save for later.

As Mats points out, one of the major problems is that there are
hundreds of ways (literally: 1.7.14 has 276 different backend
properties) in which output can be tuned.  The real question is how we
make all this information accessible in a sensible way. The current
internals documentation is a try, but I'm sure it can be improved.

This problem is not unique to Lilypond. Other packages, for example
SCORE, also have tons and tons of formatting options that take a long
time to learn.

> about (I *have* found the occasional "fix" on the wiki) .  If I manage
> that, the next step would be to post them on the web.  I don't know if that
> will happen any time soon but I can wish.

A more direct way would be to add appropriate documentation to test
files in input/ . For example, I've added the following to
input/regression/multi-measure-rest.ly texidoc field.

        Rests over measures during longer than 2 wholes use breve rests. When
        more than 10 or more measures (tunable through @code{expand-limit})
        are used then a different symbol is used.

Patches are always appreciated.

-- 

Han-Wen Nienhuys   |   address@hidden   |   http://www.cs.uu.nl/~hanwen