Re: Installing Lilypond 2.23.10

[Jean Abou Samra]

Le 19/07/2022 à 18:26, David Sumbler a écrit :
> I should think that most users only use one version at a time, unless 
> they have the understanding to help in testing development versions, 
> in which case they would probably know that they can have several 
> versions.


There are also those who write lots of scores in one stable
version and then would prefer not to upgrade them all to the
next stable version even if they use the new version for new
scores.


> > I think you are overcomplicating things by trying to mimic
> > the previous installation process with the new binaries.
> > Changing /usr/local/ is normally done by package managers
> > and dedicated tools, not by hand. If you don't know what
> > you're doing there, don't touch it. (This kind of advice applies
> > to any command using sudo, actually.)
>
> I merely moved the new installation to the place where it would have 
> been put by the script, had there been one.  I have successfully 
> administered my own Linux boxes for the last 20 years or so without 
> any major mishaps...
>
> > Instead, follow these simple steps. (I agree that _finding_ them
> > is not simple, but again it will eventually be in the learning
> > manual, with screenshots. That change has landed and will appear
> > in the next release.)
> >
> > 1. Download the archive.
> > 2. Unpack it.
> > 3. Move the lilypond-2.23.10 directory inside it in your
> >     home folder.
> > 4. In your .emacs, change the path in (expand-file-name ...)
> >     to "~/lilypond-2.23.10/share/emacs/site-lisp".
> >
> > And that's all.
>
> Thanks for those clear instructions.  And having set up an alias, as 
> suggested by David W., I found that typing 'lilypond' in a bash 
> terminal produces the expected result.  However, this is not something 
> I often do.
>
> My usual work pattern is to edit .ly files etc. in emacs, and then to 
> use the Lilypond-mode command C-c C-l or C-c C-f to produce a PDF or 
> Postscript file.  Unfortunately I found that this now just produces an 
> error message, such as:
>
> lilypond /home/david/Cloud/LilyPond/test.ly
> /bin/bash: line 1: lilypond: command not found
>
> Compilation exited abnormally with code 127 at Tue Jul 19 16:07:42
>
> I eventually realized that having the alias included in .bashrc was 
> not working because this is only for interactive shells.  But I have 
> tried putting it in .bash_profile, logging out and then logging in 
> again, and this doesn't work either.


An alias only has effect in the shell, not on the system
in general. You'd need to set up actual scripts in a place
where they will be found. One way to do so is to add
symlinks in a directory that is on your PATH, like ~/bin.

ln -s /path/to/lilypond-2.23.10/bin/* ~/bin

Though, in my opinion, the best way is to actually point
your editor to the executable, see below.



> If somebody can suggest how I get emacs-mode Lilypond-command-lilypond 
> and Lilypond-command-formatps to work, it will be very much 
> appreciated, as always.


Try this:

Edit any .ly file in Emacs

M-x customize-variable

In minibuffer, enter 'LilyPond-lilypond-command'

A customization screen appears, click on the arrow on the
left to expand the variable. On the right, write the full
path to LilyPond:

/.../lilypond-2.23.10/bin/lilypond

Now C-x C-s to save, and q to quit Custom.

After that, try C-c C-l on the .ly file. It should
be compiled with the lilypond executable you specified.

Best,
Jean