On Fri, 1 Feb 2002, John Chambers wrote: > I have no control over what people put on their web sites, so I have a > strong incentive to use "Be liberal in what you accept" as a major > rule.
I disagree, both with this rule and with the idea that you have no influence over how people choose to write their ABC. By your own words, the reason this problem exists is because of the widespread use of software that has casually accepted the use of "-" as a slur without complaint -- i.e., software that has been too liberal. So in effect, you have chosen to become part of the problem, rather than the solution! While it may be the case that you wrote your software intending for it to be a "solution" for non-standard ABC, it is quite possible now that some people write non-standard ABC precisely because *your* software enabled them to do so without ever learning the correct syntax. At the very least, I think that using "-" as a slur should result in a clear *warning* to the user that the ABC standard discourages this practice, and it is not guaranteed to work with other ABC software. Then I suppose you could be as liberal as you want in idiot-proofing your software without much risk of further exacerbating the problem. > I don't want to waste my time responding to users' complaints about my > web site bombing for ABC that works elsewhere. I can respect this, but at the same time, I don't feel that it justifies "dumbing down" the standard to the lowest common denominator. Interpreting ^F-|F as two F sharps makes the most sense. It is consistent with the standard's definition of a tie; it follows ABC's trend of borrowing from the traditional rules for notating accidentals; and it ensures that it will be possible, when necessary, to force the second sharp to be displayed. Interpreting the second F as a natural gives no appreciable benefit that I can see (besides which, it is poor notation anyway, since a natural sign should be used even in the absence of a slur or tie, as a courtesy to the performer). John To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html
