Re: Export to ?????

[Urs Liska]

Am 25.05.2017 um 09:45 schrieb Don Gingrich:
> I've been looking and looking and I cannot
> find any useful references to export file
> formats from LilyPond.

That's not completely true (see below)

>
> Now, I will agree that LilyPond's PDF output
> is very good looking and is actually my preferred
> sheet music, But the sad reality it that there are 
> people who do exist who use tools other than
> LilyPond, and that occasionally it becomes 
> necessary to exchange files with these poor
> benighted souls. ;-)

Very true. Working with such persons or companies forces a LilyPond user
to either use other tools right from the start or simply be excluded
from that collaboration.

>
> Is there any export available from the .ly format?

"any" may nail it. Frescobaldi has (if "experimental features" are
activated") an "Export to MusicXML" option, which is, well,
experimental. It is still pretty limited and quite fragile (makes
assumptions about "correct" input etc.), but it *is* there at least.
Over the summer we will have a student in the Google Summer of Code
program who will hopefully make great progress on that.

Of course MIDI is a working albeit very limited export format that has
been available for a very long time.

There have been multiple attempts at creating export functionality, but
it *is* a tricky issue for technical reasons buried in the basic
LilyPond architecture.

Right now Jan-Peter Voigt (who might chime in to this discussion) is
considering something like an API for a generic export infrastructure
where exporters to various formats may be created and hooked in more easily.

>
> If not, then I suggest that this is a "lock-in" similar
> to that of some of the M$ programs. 

Indeed, this is the case. I *think* originally noone thought it
necessary, LilyPond being the "engrave" tool in a Unix-like toolchain
from one-purpose tools. This discussion has been around for many years
by now, but due to the technical challenges and the lack of manpower no
viable solution has been found yet.

> And some
> reasonable export that preserves a substantial
> portion of the information might be useful.

Yes.

Best
Urs
>
> My personal needs are simple -- ABC format
> would probably be enough for me.
>
> Thanks,
>
> -Don

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