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Frequently Asked Questions
Before I answer your FAQ, just ask yourself mine:
Q0: Are you using PMX 1.43 and MusiXTeX at least T.80?
A0: If not, many M-Tx 0.52 (and later) scores will fail.
For some of them, there are workarounds below.
Summary:
Q1. The notes are squished together near the left margin.
Q2. The lyrics are printed on the bottom line of the stave.
Q3. [][][][][] appears in my TeX log.
Q4. pmxa says "TeX string too long"
Q5. There is a mistake at the pmxb stage.
Q6. Can't you give us a script to automate the whole process?
Q7. I'm having a problem with this file that worked before.
Q8. At the TeX stage it says "Undefined control sequence \setlyrics".
Q9. At the TeX stage it says "I can't find file `musixlyr'".
Q10. Suddenly for no reason I don't get lyrics any more.
Q11. Just what is the difference between MusiXTeX, PMX and M-Tx?
Q12. The C code supplied gives compilation errors.
Q13. Is there a way to change the font for the lyrics?
Q14. Why do I get "I can handle too few voices but not too many"?
Q15. How can I put in expression markings?
Q16. The examples supplied don't work.
Q17. I need a left repeat immediately after the pickup.
Q18. Why can't I have 14 voices if I have 7 staves?
Q19. At the TeX stage it says "Undefined control sequence \enableauxlyr".
Q20. My MusiXTeX is older than T.73 and does not recognize \grouptop.
Q21. I tried putting in some forced beams, and the alignment between
lyrics and notes went haywire.
Q22. My output has line breaks at different places to my input.
Q*. I need advanced features not supported by M-Tx.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Q1. The notes are squished together near the left margin.
A1. You have failed to run musixflx. See Question 6.
Q2. The lyrics are printed on the bottom line of the stave, not
below where I want them.
A2. Use the Space: preamble command. The reason for this behaviour is
explained in the User's Manual under "General vertical and horizontal
spacing."
Q3. I've changed hardly anything in my score, but now there are many
little boxes like [][][][][] in my TeX log.
A3. You must delete the .mx2 file created by musixflx, otherwise MusiXTeX
doesn't know you are re-doing the first pass.
Q4. I get a message saying something about a TeX string being too long
at the pmxa stage.
A4. Lyrics lines (except those in lyrics paragraphs) are passed via
TeX commands. The total length of a typed lyrics line with its
label must not exceed a certain limit (80 characters in PMX 1.10,
128 characters starting at PMX 1.14).
Q5. Everything passes perfectly through prepmx and pmxa, but there is
a mistake at the pmxb stage.
A5. This should not occur. Tell Don Simons (dsimons@logicon.com)
about it.
Q6. Can't you be a bit more helpful and give us a script to automate the
whole process?
A6. Here are a DOS batch file and a couple of Unix shell scripts (bash).
@echo off | # file mtx
rem File mtx.bat | prepmx $1 && pmx $1
prepmx %1 %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 %8 %9 | rm $1.pmx
if errorlevel 1 then goto exit |
echo %1 | pmxa |
if errorlevel 1 then goto exit | # file pmx
pmxb | echo $1 | pmxa && pmxb \
del %1.mx? | tex $1 && musixflx $1 && tex $1
tex %1 | rm $1.tex $1.log $1.mx1 $1.mx2 pmxtex.*
if errorlevel 1 then goto exit |
musixflx %1 |
tex %1 |
:exit |
Q7. I'm having a problem with this file that worked before.
A7. Read the manual for a list of backward incompatibilities and what
to do about them. In extreme cases you may need to get an older
version of M-Tx from ftp://ftp.calvyn.ac.za/dirk/mtx/obsolete.
Q8. At the TeX stage it says "Undefined control sequence \setlyrics".
A8. You have not designated any style as "Vocal" or "Choral" but
are trying to use lyrics.
Q9. At the TeX stage it says "I can't find file `musixlyr'".
A9. The file musixlyr.tex should be moved from the M-Tx installation
directory to a directory in the TeX input path. E.g. the same
directory where you keep your own MusiXTeX files.
Q10. Suddenly for no reason I don't get lyrics any more.
A10. If your supply of lyrics is not exhausted, the reason could be:
1. Each lyrics line starting with L: takes effect at its own
paragraph. Unused lyrics from the previous paragraph get thrown
away.
2. The beam-end and slur-end symbols ] and ) must IMMEDIATELY follow
the note to which they apply, before chordal notes, ornaments etc.
otherwise the lyrics placement algorithm doesn't see them.
Q11. Just what is the difference between MusiXTeX, PMX and M-Tx?
A11. MusiXTeX is a typesetting system in which you are allowed to do
anything, but which needs to be told very precisely, in a rather
cryptic language, just what you want to do. PMX is a preprocessor
for MusiXTeX that makes all the layout decisions in a way that
looks professional and relieves the user from any need to know
MusiXTeX. In addition, PMX offers a simplified input language
for describing notes and other score elements. M-Tx is a language
for representing printed music in text, with the aim of retaining
as much of the actual two-dimensional look and feel as possible,
and incorporating lyrics, chords and uptext in its design. The
current implementation of M-Tx produces a PMX file as output.
Q12. The C code supplied gives compilation errors.
A12. Make sure that the unzipped text files are in the right format
for your system. If you have an old unzipper that does not have
an auto-convert option (-a or -l), you can try the following:
1. Maybe your editor has an option called "fix line boundary
problems" or "save as a DOS file" or words to that effect.
2. The standard MSDOS editor EDIT will convert such a file if you
open it and save it without changing anything.
3. Download the GNU unzip program (probably called something
like UNZ520X.EXE) from your nearest archive. It can auto-convert.
Q13. Is there a way to change the font for the lyrics?
A13. You can use any available TeX font-changing command.
E.g. put the line
%% \\\medtype\
at the start of the paragraph where you need a bigger font.
Q14. Why do I get "I can handle too few voices but not too many"?
A14. 1. You need to have a blank line between all the voice/lyrics systems.
This is how M-Tx knows to move on.
2. You may have forgotten to label a lyrics, uptext etc. line.
3. You may have forgotten %% in front of a PMX command line.
Q15. How can I put in expression markings?
A15. Use U: lines -- read the manual for details.
Q16. The examples supplied don't work.
A16. Did you convert the text files to your system's format? See A12.
Q17. I need a left repeat immediately after the pickup.
A17. Repeat signs may legally appear in the middle of a bar, and are
therefore not accepted as substitutes for a bar line even though
they have a `|' in them. You need to put a bar line in as well
if you use a pickup. E.g. "d | |: g b a g".
Q18. Why can't I have 14 voices if I have 7 staves?
A18. PMX allows only 7 "music lines" because some small but not quite
obsolete computers might have too little memory to run it with more.
You can increase 'NM=7' in the Fortran source, but there are some
new problems arising at 'NM=10'. If you are lucky you might not
run into them.
Q19. At the TeX stage it says "Undefined control sequence \enableauxlyr".
A19. You seem to have an obsolete musixlyr. Get the latest one.
Q20. My MusiXTeX is older than T.73 and does not recognize \grouptop.
A20. Get up to date -- there are other good things about T.89. But
in the meanwhile, put the line
%%\def\grouptop#1{\songtop}\def\groupbottom#1{\songbottom}
in your preamble, but don't try to use more than one group or choir.
Q21. I tried putting in some forced beams, and the alignment between
lyrics and notes went haywire.
A21. Use [[ instead of [ on the left bracket. This tells M-Tx to
use a forced beam but still have a syllable to every note.
Q22. My output has line breaks at different places to my input.
A22. This isn't a bug, it's a feature. Line breaks must be explicitly
requested, e.g.
%% L5
makes line 5 start at the current music paragraph.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Q*. I need MusiXTeX features not supported in PMX, let alone M-Tx.
A*. You can always ask me to put them in, but that might take a long
time. So here are a few hints to tide you over.
(a) Read the PMX manual. It explains how to put many advanced
features into the music lines.
(b) It may happen that you need a feature that even PMX does not support.
There is not much that MusiXTeX cannot do. If you can find it in the
MusiXTeX manual, there is a good chance that you can put it in as an
"inline TeX" command.
(c) If not even inline TeX works, you will have to edit the TeX file itself.
Some free advice which you need not take: if your system has 'diff' and
'patch' utilities, the following cycle may be useful (at least, it is on
my Linux system):
1. Edit the .mtx file.
2. Make a .tex file via prepmx and pmx.
3. Edit the .tex file to put in the advanced features. This may be PAINFUL.
4. Make a patch file using 'diff'.
5. If you need changes in other portions of the score, edit the .mtx
file and make a .tex file as in steps 1 and 2.
6. Apply the patch file using 'patch'. The utility is clever enough to
make the changes even if the line numbers have changed.
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