responding to poorly formatted posts (was: Re: Subject: functional/degree theory ? symbols)

[Mark Polesky]

Stefan Thomas wrote:
> When I compile this file I get the message:
> <string>:3:1: error: syntax error, unexpected '}'
> I don't know why!

Mats Bengtsson wrote:
> You have an ending brace too much in each of your music function
> definitions

Tao Cumplido wrote:
> Your music functions have a '}' too much.

Mats and Tao,
how long did it take you to figure that out? Did you go through
the file and re-indent things? How much more quickly would you
have figured it out if the original file were indented properly?

I'm becoming tempted to answer these sorts of questions with:

Format your code properly (with good indentation) and the problem
should be easier to find. If you still can't find the problem,
post your re-formatted code and I will try to help you. Make sure
to read this (if you haven't already):
http://lilypond.org/doc/v2.12/Documentation/user/lilypond-learning/Suggestions-for-writing-LilyPond-input-files
I also recommend keeping lines to within 72 columns, since e-mail
client word-wrapping can introduce unexpected newlines.

I see about one a week:
http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/lilypond-user/2009-06/msg00227.html
http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/lilypond-user/2009-06/msg00108.html

I think one of our responsibilities as user-list responders is to
foster good practices. And our time is valuable, so sending a
quick copy of the above paragraph helps everyone. And  I'd rather
have experienced users spending time on more useful things than
cleaning up poor formatting.

Stefan,
I don't mean to pick on you. I've been thinking about this for a
while, so I hope there's no offense taken!

- Mark