This is a breakaway thread from the one with the subject "Proposed new
available and recommended behavior of \relative"
I am *OPPOSED* to the proposal to change \relative syntax, as the proposal now
stands. I think it is confusing to new users to have the first pitch in a
\relative block be absolute and the rest be relative.
But I have another idea. I'm not sure if people will like it right away
because it means changing/adding MORE syntax, but I think it will be MORE
useful and more *intuitive*!
Here's the idea.
1. Define absolute octave syntax with the @-sign (let it be a mnemonic for
_A_bsolute) to be the syntax for temporarily specifying an ABSOLUTE PITCH
within a \relative block, such that the next pitch, if it doesn't use the
@-sign also, is relative to the absolute pitch.
2. Keep \relative X { ... } working the same way as it is (DON'T make
convert-ly change it around).
3. Make \relative { X ... } work such the first pitch after the brace is
expected to be an absolute pitch syntax with the single equal sign. If it is
not, a warning is printed and the pitch is interpreted as relative to c' (the
current behavior, except for the warning, right?).
Why a new syntax? I frequently find that if I jump to the end of a big, long
\relative { ... }, then frequently I don't remember which octave I'm in.
Octave check is not a solution, because if I guess the part that comes before
the = sign wrong, I'll keep getting warnings until I fix it. What is wanted is
a way to temporarily jump into absolute note entry mode. An @-sign comes
immediately after the note name, and is followed by any apostrophes or commas
as necessary to specify the absolute octave.
Examples:
1. { c4 c' c@'' c@, }
These are interpreted as absolute pitches, so the @-signs are redundant
here.
They could be silently ignored, or the at signs could be an error
outside of \relative blocks.
2. \relative c' { c4 g, g@' g }
This is the same as { c'4 g, g' g' } in absolute mode, if I read it
right.
The last g is relative to the absolute g.
3. \relative { c@'4 c g' c }
This is the same as { c'4 c' g' c'' } in absolute mode.
This would be the form that new users of LilyPond would be encouraged
to use in the documentation.
4. \relative { c4 c g' c }
This is the same as
\relative c' { c4 c g' c }
EXCEPT that a warning will be printed about encountering
\relative { X ... }
where X is not specified absolutely (with at-sign).
What do people think?
--Christopher
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