Re: Export to ?????

[Jan-Peter Voigt]

Hello Don, Urs and all,

just to summarize what I was talking about recently at the Music Encoding Conference in Tours. Yes, I am working on an API to provide a generalized plug for modules that are able to write MusicXML, MEI, Humdrum and others. I am not familiar with ABC, but maybe one can work on it *when* I can present some tidy code. 
In fact for my presentation I created to modules to write Humdrum and MusicXML. But those are not complete right now - no ties, now slurs and a lot more missing. But it writes the notes correctly and I can open the generated MusicXML with MuseScore. I will present it to the community after tidying up the code.
My vision is to have an API that also allows Import modules. That way LilyPond can be a chain-link in a multiformat toolchain. Others can make use of its great typesetting and LilyPond-users (like me) can make use of the great tools outside Lilys world.

Jan-Peter

Am 25. Mai 2017 10:18:13 MESZ schrieb Urs Liska <address@hidden>:

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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