On Tue, 2026-08-11 at 14:30 +0200, C. Stroppel wrote:
> Hi Richard, Jeremiah und the Denomo team,
>
> I am currently writing a C++ export generator for native .denemo XML
> files to convert LilyPond structures into Denemo.
I'm uncertain quite what you mean here. Do you mean a program to create
a Denemo score from a file (or collection of files) written in LilyPond
so that the Denemo score will generate the same typeset as does
LilyPond when run on that file (or collection of files)?
> Is there any existing informal documentation on the XML structure,
No, I'm afraid there is not.
The format was created before I started working on Denemo, and I
noticed that there was at the time ambitions to support arbitrarily
nested slurs (even though LilyPond only supports two layers). That work
was never finished and the second LilyPond layer of slurs ("expressive
slurs") was implemented via Denemo Directives, ignoring the nested slur
mechanism which had never been completed.
There are probably other dead ends in the implementation...
> and
> would it be okay to ask questions here on the mailing list whenever I
> hit a roadblock?
so you are indeed welcome to ask...
> As I reverse-engineer the format, I am compiling my findings into a
> human-readable PDF guide.
> I would love to share and contribute the finished PDF back to the
> project.
> Are you satisfied with Denemo's LilyPond import and export, or do you
> think there is room for improvement that I could work on in the long
> term?
The current LilyPond import is very crude - basically just aimed at
importing the bulk data - the notes. Anything more is a very big
challenge. The export of LilyPond from Denemo has quite a few loose
ends (e.g. hooks were put in to allow the user to generate warnings
from LilyPond when wrong duration bars are created but no-one has
created a user-facing mechanism for setting them - as no-one has felt
the need).
Nice to hear from you - I guess you actually use Denemo yourself?
Richard
