Re: names of vertical spacing dimensions

[Mark Polesky]

(Carl et al.: please read at least the last paragraph!)

Xavier Scheuer wrote:
> The previous names were quite easy to understand (although
> it was a bit difficult due to the large number of such
> variables) but I don't catch at first sight the meaning of
> the new proposed ones...

Well, in the new docs I would certainly mention the general
format:

  item1-item2-spacing

I would also mention that the use of the word "markup" in
these variable names only refers to top-level markups and
titles.

Would knowing this in advance make you feel differently or
do you still not like the proposed names?

In the first post of this thread, I explained my own
confusion with things like "after-title-spacing", which I
would expect to control the spacing after titles.  But this
is doubly misleading.  It does not control the spacing after
titles that are followed by markups or other titles, yet it
*does* control the spacing after some markups that are *not*
titles.

In contrast to this confusion, the variable always controls
the spacing between a markup and a score*, whether the
markup is a title or a top-level markup.  Thus the name
"markup-score-spacing" is both more informative and less
misleading.

*um, see the last paragraph...

And even if you don't use top-level markups yourself, the
spacing variable is designed to work with them, and the
variable name should reflect this as clearly as possible.

And that's just one example.  There are plenty of other
confusing things in the current list.  Other examples:
"top-system-spacing" controls the spacing *above* the top
system, yet "bottom-system-spacing" controls the spacing
*below* the bottom system.  "before-title-spacing" does not
control the spacing before titles at the top, nor does it
control the spacing before titles preceded by a top-level
markup.

I (and several others) feel that a consistent format is
preferable for future users, and worth the hassle for us
current users.

Okay, now I see something possibly sub-optimal.  By changing
"after-title-spacing" to "markup-score-spacing", it could
confuse users due to the fact that the title is presumably
*part* of the score, no?  So if the title is technically
considered part of the score, than this is not the distance
between markup and score, but rather between markup and
system (which reverts to my original proposal of
"markup-system-spacing").  So now I prefer
"after-title-spacing"-->"markup-system-spacing" and
"before-title-spacing"-->"score-markup-spacing".  Carl, what
do you think?

- Mark