If you already know ABC, iabc should have a pretty intuitive user interface.
(if not, check out one of the ABC
tutorials available on the web) The main screen consists of 3 windows - a
Music window, an ABC window, and a Tunes window, like so:
The ABC window is for editing your ABC text file. The text file is parsed and
the music displays in the Music window. If a file contains multiple tunes, the
tune that is displayed is controlled by double-clicking on the tune name in the
Tunes window. Double-clicking on the selected tune in the Tunes window will
update it also.
As you browse through the ABC part of the tune in the ABC window, an arrow
cursor appears in the Music window like so:
The cursor will point toward the line of music that corresponds to the line
of ABC text you're editing.
If your file contains text that iabc doesn't understand, it will indicate the
latest error in the status bar at the bottom of the window. The line and column
you are editing also appears in the status bar.
Menu Options
File - Allows you to Open, Save, or Print ABC files. It will also create a
simple ABC file if you select 'New'.
Edit - Allows the user to perform basic text edit operation (cut/paste etc.),
and to transpose selected text in various ways.
As a hint on how to perform one-key
transposition, select some text and enter Ctrl-Up arrow to transpose the selection up
diatonically. Entery Ctrl-Shift-Up arrow to transpose the selection up chromatically.
iABC should transpose most chord symbols as well as ABC music notation in the selection block.
Preferences - Allows the user to Edit some of the preferences for ABC.
The ABC
Preferences control the 'non-standard' ABC that iabc accepts.
The View
Preferences control the a host of things that determine how the music is rendered,
such as the scale of the elements, fonts and page size.
Finally, you can Change the Font in the text editor window.
View Ctrl-l (el) or choosing this option refreshes the
view by re-reading the file. This is the same as
double-clicking on the file chooser.
View Mode lets you toggle between part
and score mode.
Show tune list lets you toggle the 'tunes' window. This saves screen
real-estate if your
ABC file is only one tune.
Midi - Allows you to play or export MIDI files based on the ABC
input.
Voice/Edit Voices allows you to choose which voices will be displayed
in a multi-voice tune. This can be useful for 'debugging' large ABC files.
As you browse through the ABC part of the tune in the ABC
window, an arrow (») cursor appears in the Music window like so:
The cursor will point toward the line of music that
corresponds to the line of ABC text you’re editing.
If your file contains text that iabc doesn’t understand, it
will indicate the latest error in the status bar at the bottom of the
window.The line and column you are
editing also appears in the status bar.
Other iabc questions...
Midi won't play
Look under Midi/Choose Midi Player menu option. Check that the
temporary directory exists and that the player exists. iABC assumes
that Windows Media PlayerTM exists under windows, under Linux you need to
choose a Midi player. Also check the command line parameters.
My ABC file doesn't work...
under iabc but it does under Muse/Barfly/abc2midi ?
Try futzing with the various ABC Preferences under the Edit menu. Since ABC is a
very loosely defined standard, there is some disagreement between the various
implementations over what works and what doesn't. Since iabc is the
Johnny-come-lately to this line of tools, I'm trying to contort this program
into supporting as many existing abc files as possible.
My ABC file still doesn't work...
Go here
and submit a bug. If one of the other widely used programs accepts some ABC and
iabc doesn't, I'd like to hear about it and fix it if its not too
hard, even if its not 'legal' ABC.
Is iabc Available for my Platform?
The application is cross-platform; I distribute Linux as tar'd source files and Windows executables.
The application should run on any platform that supports wxWidgets, which
is virtually any platform including Apple's OSX.
What Other Software do I Need to run iabc?
Probably none. If you have a midi player (such as Windows Media PlayerTM or
QuickTimeTM you can hear your music as well as see it.
You may need some wxWindows DLLs if you are running one of the UNIXes that iabc
supports, and you'll definitely need wxWindows if you want to compile it. This
can be got at the wxWindows site.
If you already know ABC, iabc should have a pretty intuitive user interface.
(if not, check out one of the ABC
tutorials available on the web) The main screen consists of 3 windows - a
Music window, an ABC window, and a Tunes window, like so:
The ABC window is for editing your ABC text file. The text file is parsed and
the music displays in the Music window. If a file contains multiple tunes, the
tune that is displayed is controlled by double-clicking on the tune name in the
Tunes window. Double-clicking on the selected tune in the Tunes window will
update it also.
As you browse through the ABC part of the tune in the ABC window, an arrow
cursor appears in the Music window like so:
The cursor will point toward the line of music that corresponds to the line
of ABC text you're editing.
If your file contains text that iabc doesn't understand, it will indicate the
latest error in the status bar at the bottom of the window. The line and column
you are editing also appears in the status bar.
Menu Options
File - Allows you to Open, Save, or Print ABC files. It will also create a
simple ABC file if you select 'New'.
Edit - Allows the user to perform basic text edit operation (cut/paste etc.),
and to transpose selected text in various ways.
As a hint on how to perform one-key
transposition, select some text and enter Ctrl-Up arrow to transpose the selection up
diatonically. Entery Ctrl-Shift-Up arrow to transpose the selection up chromatically.
iABC should transpose most chord symbols as well as ABC music notation in the selection block.
Preferences - Allows the user to Edit some of the preferences for ABC.
The ABC
Preferences control the 'non-standard' ABC that iabc accepts.
The View
Preferences control the a host of things that determine how the music is rendered,
such as the scale of the elements, fonts and page size.
Finally, you can Change the Font in the text editor window.
View Ctrl-l (el) or choosing this option refreshes the
view by re-reading the file. This is the same as
double-clicking on the file chooser.
View Mode lets you toggle between part
and score mode.
Show tune list lets you toggle the 'tunes' window. This saves screen
real-estate if your
ABC file is only one tune.
Midi - Allows you to play or export MIDI files based on the ABC
input.
Voice/Edit Voices allows you to choose which voices will be displayed
in a multi-voice tune. This can be useful for 'debugging' large ABC files.
As you browse through the ABC part of the tune in the ABC
window, an arrow (») cursor appears in the Music window like so:
The cursor will point toward the line of music that
corresponds to the line of ABC text you’re editing.
If your file contains text that iabc doesn’t understand, it
will indicate the latest error in the status bar at the bottom of the
window.The line and column you are
editing also appears in the status bar.
Other iabc questions...
Midi won't play
Look under Midi/Choose Midi Player menu option. Check that the
temporary directory exists and that the player exists. iABC assumes
that Windows Media PlayerTM exists under windows, under Linux you need to
choose a Midi player. Also check the command line parameters.
My ABC file doesn't work...
under iabc but it does under Muse/Barfly/abc2midi ?
Try futzing with the various ABC Preferences under the Edit menu. Since ABC is a
very loosely defined standard, there is some disagreement between the various
implementations over what works and what doesn't. Since iabc is the
Johnny-come-lately to this line of tools, I'm trying to contort this program
into supporting as many existing abc files as possible.
My ABC file still doesn't work...
Go here
and submit a bug. If one of the other widely used programs accepts some ABC and
iabc doesn't, I'd like to hear about it and fix it if its not too
hard, even if its not 'legal' ABC.
Is iabc Available for my Platform?
The application is cross-platform; I distribute Linux as tar'd source files and Windows executables.
The application should run on any platform that supports wxWidgets, which
is virtually any platform including Apple's OSX.
What Other Software do I Need to run iabc?
Probably none. If you have a midi player (such as Windows Media PlayerTM or
QuickTimeTM you can hear your music as well as see it.
You may need some wxWindows DLLs if you are running one of the UNIXes that iabc
supports, and you'll definitely need wxWindows if you want to compile it. This
can be got at the wxWindows site.
