Re: Constructive Criticism and a Question

[Erik Sandberg]

On Saturday 16 December 2006 16:41, Jonathan Henkelman wrote:
> First, since this post contains constructive criticism I want to start by
> saying that I think Lilypond is a pretty nice piece of software.  A bit
> steep on the learning curve maybe, but excellent all the same.
>
> In terms of making it easier, I don't know if it would be straight forward
> or not, but if the PDF version of the manual had chapter numbers in the
> table on contents that showed on the bookmark pane (to the left) it would
> make it much easier to bounce around and find one's way back again.
>
> Is there a copy of the so called "programmers documentation" in a suitable
> format to download i.e. PDF (I know it would be long) or a few large HTML
> files, or an archive (tarball - whatever) of the current HTML
> documentation. I was hoping to do a bit more work on this over the break,
> but will have very limited web access...
>
> Another comment: to reiterate a post by Joe Ferguson (2005-02-03).  I am an
> ex- programmer and an amateur musician.  Some type of doc. that oulined the
> lexical construction of Lilypond would be helpful.  I am not used to the
> level on confusion I am experiencing now, when learning a "language".  I am
> not even sure the manual is totally consistent on this point, e.g. (pg 209)
> [I have reformated it so it easier to read here]:
>
> ### Begin Quote ###
>
> The third command for creating contexts is: \context type music
>
> This is similar to \context with = id, but matches any context of type
> type, regardless of its given name.
>
> This variant is used with music expressions that can be interpreted at
> several levels. For example, the \applyOutput command (see Section 12.5.2
> [Running a function on all layout objects], page 264). Without an explicit
> \context, it is usually applied to Voice:
>
> \applyOutput #'context #function % apply to Voice
>
> To have it interpreted at the Score or Staff level use these forms
> \context \applyOutput #'Score #function
> \context \applyOutput #'Staff #function
>
> ### End Quote ###
>
> To me the first line implies I should expect a "\context" followed by a
> type then some music.  The final examples indicate a "\context" followed by
> a (?) command then a context then a function, with music to follow? I
> assume I am not fully understanding the context word, or the apply Output
> word, but it isn't immediately clear to me.

It's a typo; the syntax changed between 2.8 and 2.10 and the manual was 
incorrectly updated. Sending a copy to the bug-lilypond list. The correct 
examples should be:
 \applyOutput #'Voice #function % apply to Voice
and:
 \applyOutput #'Score #function
 \applyOutput #'Staff #function

Thanks for spotting this!
-- 
Erik