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<!--Table of Child-Links-->
<A NAME="CHILD_LINKS"><STRONG>Subsections</STRONG></A>

<UL CLASS="ChildLinks">
<LI><A NAME="tex2html460"
  HREF="node1.html#SECTION00110000000000000000">License, Version and Legalities</A>
<LI><A NAME="tex2html461"
  HREF="node1.html#SECTION00120000000000000000">About this Manual</A>
<UL>
<LI><A NAME="tex2html462"
  HREF="node1.html#SECTION00121000000000000000">Typographic Conventions</A>
<LI><A NAME="tex2html463"
  HREF="node1.html#SECTION00122000000000000000"><SPAN CLASS="logo,LaTeX">L<SUP><SMALL>A</SMALL></SUP>T<SMALL>E</SMALL>X</SPAN> and HTML</A>
<LI><A NAME="tex2html464"
  HREF="node1.html#SECTION00123000000000000000">Other Documentation</A>
<LI><A NAME="tex2html465"
  HREF="node1.html#SECTION00124000000000000000">Music Notation</A>
</UL>
<BR>
<LI><A NAME="tex2html466"
  HREF="node1.html#SECTION00130000000000000000">Installing 
<FONT Face="Serif"  Color="Navy"><I>MMA</I></FONT> </A>
<LI><A NAME="tex2html467"
  HREF="node1.html#SECTION00140000000000000000">Running 
<FONT Face="Serif"  Color="Navy"><I>MMA</I></FONT> </A>
<LI><A NAME="tex2html468"
  HREF="node1.html#SECTION00150000000000000000">Comments</A>
<LI><A NAME="tex2html469"
  HREF="node1.html#SECTION00160000000000000000">Theory Of Operation</A>
<LI><A NAME="tex2html470"
  HREF="node1.html#SECTION00170000000000000000">Case Sensitivity</A>
</UL>
<!--End of Table of Child-Links-->
<HR>

<H1><A NAME="SECTION00100000000000000000">
Overview and Introduction</A>
</H1>

<P>
<SPAN  CLASS="textit">Musical MIDI Accompaniment</SPAN>, 
<FONT Face="Serif"  Color="Navy"><I>MMA</I></FONT> ,<A NAME="tex2html1"
  HREF="#foot223"><SUP><SPAN CLASS="arabic">1</SPAN>.<SPAN CLASS="arabic">1</SPAN></SUP></A> generates standard
MIDI<A NAME="tex2html2"
  HREF="#foot213"><SUP><SPAN CLASS="arabic">1</SPAN>.<SPAN CLASS="arabic">2</SPAN></SUP></A> files which can be used as a backup track for a soloist.
It was written especially for me--I am an aspiring saxophonist and
wanted a program to ``play'' the piano and drums so I could practice
my jazz solos. With 
<FONT Face="Serif"  Color="Navy"><I>MMA</I></FONT>  I can create a track based on the chords in
a song, transpose it to the correct key for my instrument, and play my
very bad improvisations until they get a bit better.

<P>
I also lead a small combo group which is always missing at least one
player. With 
<FONT Face="Serif"  Color="Navy"><I>MMA</I></FONT>  generated tracks the group can practice and
perform even if a rhythm player is missing. This all works much better
than I expected when I started to write the program ... so much
better that I have used 
<FONT Face="Serif"  Color="Navy"><I>MMA</I></FONT>  generated tracks for live performances
with great success.

<P>
Around the world musicians are using 
<FONT Face="Serif"  Color="Navy"><I>MMA</I></FONT>  for practice, performance
and in their studios. Much more than ever imagined when this project
was started!

<P>

<H1><A NAME="SECTION00110000000000000000">
License, Version and Legalities</A>
</H1>

<P>
The program 
<FONT Face="Serif"  Color="Navy"><I>MMA</I></FONT>  was written by and is copyright Robert van der
Poel, 2003--2015.

<P>
This program, the accompanying documentation, and library files can be
freely distributed according to the terms of the GNU General Public
License (see the distributed file ``COPYING'').

<P>
If you enjoy the program, make enhancements, find bugs, etc. send a
note to me at 
    
      <A HREF="mailto:bob@mellowood.ca"> Bob van der Poel </A>; or a postcard (or even money) to PO Box 57,
Wynndel, BC, Canada V0B 2N0.

<P>
The current version of this package is maintained at: <TT><A NAME="tex2html3"
  HREF="http://www.mellowood.ca/mma/">http://www.mellowood.ca/mma/</A></TT>.

<P>
This document reflects version 16.06
 of 
<FONT Face="Serif"  Color="Navy"><I>MMA</I></FONT> .

		<Table CellSpacing=0 Width="80%" Align="Center" CellPadding=10 BGColor="#dddddd" Border=3>
           <tr> <td>
	       <BR><SPAN  CLASS="textit"> I have done everything I can
    to ensure that the program functions as advertised, but I assume
    no responsibility for <SPAN  CLASS="textbf">anything</SPAN> it does to your computer
    or data.</SPAN>

<P>
<BR>
  <DIV ALIGN="CENTER">
Sorry for this disclaimer, but we live in paranoid times.
  
</DIV>
  <BR>

<P>
This manual most likely has lots of errors. Spelling, grammar, and
  probably a number of the examples need fixing. Please give me a hand
  and report anything ... it'll make it much easier for me to
  generate a really good product for all of us to enjoy.

<P>
<BR> 
	
           </td></tr>
        </Table>

<P>

<H1><A NAME="SECTION00120000000000000000">
About this Manual</A>
</H1>

<P>
This manual was written by the program author--and this is always a
very bad idea. But, having no volunteers, the choice is no manual at
all or my bad perspectives.<A NAME="tex2html4"
  HREF="#foot259"><SUP><SPAN CLASS="arabic">1</SPAN>.<SPAN CLASS="arabic">3</SPAN></SUP></A>
<P>

<FONT Face="Serif"  Color="Navy"><I>MMA</I></FONT>  is a large and complex program. It really does need a manual;
and users really need to refer to the manual to get the most out of
the program. Even the author frequently refers to the manual. Really.

<P>
I have tried to present the various commands in a logical and useful
order. The table of contents should point you quickly to the relevant
sections.

<P>

<H2><A NAME="SECTION00121000000000000000">
Typographic Conventions</A>
</H2>

<P>

<UL>
<LI>The name of the program is always set in the special logo type:
  
<FONT Face="Serif"  Color="Navy"><I>MMA</I></FONT> .

<P>
</LI>
<LI>
<FONT Face="Serif"  Color="Navy"><I>MMA</I></FONT>  commands and directives are set in small caps:
  D<SMALL>IRECTIVE</SMALL>.

<P>
</LI>
<LI>Important stuff is emphasized: <SPAN  CLASS="textit">important</SPAN>.

<P>
</LI>
<LI>Websites look like this:
  <TT><A NAME="tex2html5"
  HREF="http://www.mellowood.ca/mma/index.html">http://www.mellowood.ca/mma/index.html</A></TT>
<P>
</LI>
<LI>Filenames are set in bold typewriter font: <TT><SPAN  CLASS="textbf">filename.mma</SPAN></TT>

<P>
</LI>
<LI>Lines extracted from a 
<FONT Face="Serif"  Color="Navy"><I>MMA</I></FONT>  input file are set on individual
  lines:

<P>

      <Table Hspace="40%" CellSpacing=0 CellPadding=10 BGColor="OldLace" Border=3>
        <tr><td>
    <B>A command from a file  </B> 
   
	    </td></tr>
      </Table>

<P>
</LI>
<LI>Commands you should type from a shell prompt (or other operating
  system interface) have a leading <TT>$</TT> (to indicate a shell
  prompt) and are shown on separate lines:

<P>

      <Table Hspace="40%" CellSpacing=0 CellPadding=10 BGColor="OldLace" Border=3>
        <tr><td>
    <B>$ enter this  </B> 
   
	    </td></tr>
      </Table>

<P>
</LI>
</UL>

<P>

<H2><A NAME="SECTION00122000000000000000">
<SPAN CLASS="logo,LaTeX">L<SUP><SMALL>A</SMALL></SUP>T<SMALL>E</SMALL>X</SPAN> and HTML</A>
</H2>

<P>
The manual has been prepared with the <SPAN CLASS="logo,LaTeX">L<SUP><SMALL>A</SMALL></SUP>T<SMALL>E</SMALL>X</SPAN> typesetting system.
Currently, there are two versions available: the primary version is a
PDF file intended for printing or on-screen display (generated with
<TT>dvipdf</TT>); the secondary version is in HTML (transformed with
<SPAN CLASS="logo,LaTeX2HTML">L<SUP><SMALL>A</SMALL></SUP>T<SMALL>E</SMALL>X2<TT>HTML</TT></SPAN>) for electronic viewing. If other formats are needed
... please offer to volunteer.

<P>

<H2><A NAME="SECTION00123000000000000000">
Other Documentation</A>
</H2>

<P>
In addition to this document the following other items are recommended
reading:

<P>

<UL>
<LI>The standard library documentation supplied with this document
  in PDF and HTML formats.

<P>
</LI>
<LI>The 
<FONT Face="Serif"  Color="Navy"><I>MMA</I></FONT>  tutorial supplied with this document in PDF and HTML
  formats.

<P>
</LI>
<LI>A short reference on writing P<SMALL>LUGIN</SMALL>s is available in both
  PDF and HTML formats.

<P>
</LI>
<LI>Various <TT><SPAN  CLASS="textbf">README</SPAN></TT> files in the distribution.

<P>
</LI>
<LI>The Python source files.

<P>
</LI>
</UL>

<P>

<H2><A NAME="SECTION00124000000000000000">
Music Notation</A>
</H2>

<P>
The various snippets of standard music notation in this manual have
been prepared with the MUP program. I highly recommend this program
and use it for most of my notation tasks. MUP is available from Arkkra
Enterprises, <TT><A NAME="tex2html6"
  HREF="http://www.Arkkra.com/">http://www.Arkkra.com/</A></TT>.

<P>

<H1><A NAME="SECTION00130000000000000000">
Installing 
<FONT Face="Serif"  Color="Navy"><I>MMA</I></FONT> </A>
</H1>

<P>

<FONT Face="Serif"  Color="Navy"><I>MMA</I></FONT>  is a Python program developed with version 2.7 of Python. At
the very least you will need this version (or later) of Python or any
of the 3.x versions.

<P>
To play the MIDI files you'll need a MIDI player. aplaymidi, tse3play,
and many others are available for Linux systems. For Windows and Mac
systems I'm sure there are many, many choices.

<P>
You'll need a text editor like <SPAN  CLASS="textit">vi</SPAN>, <SPAN  CLASS="textit">emacs</SPAN>, etc. to
create input files. Don't use a word processor!

<P>

<FONT Face="Serif"  Color="Navy"><I>MMA</I></FONT>  consists of a variety of bits and pieces:

<P>

<UL>
<LI>The executable Python script, <TT>mma</TT>,<A NAME="tex2html7"
  HREF="#foot404"><SUP><SPAN CLASS="arabic">1</SPAN>.<SPAN CLASS="arabic">4</SPAN></SUP></A> must somewhere in your
  path. For users running Windows or Mac, please check 
<FONT Face="Serif"  Color="Navy"><I>MMA</I></FONT>  website
  for details on how to install on these systems. As distributed the
  file ``mma.py'' (and, when installed) ``mma'' are executable scripts
  with the correct permissions already set (this has no effect for
  Windows).

<P>
</LI>
<LI>A number of Python modules (all are files ending in ``.py'').
  These should all be installed under the directory
  <TT><SPAN  CLASS="textbf">/usr/local/share/mma/MMA</SPAN></TT>. See the enclosed file
  <TT><SPAN  CLASS="textbf">INSTALL</SPAN></TT> for some additional commentary.

<P>
</LI>
<LI>A number of library files defining standard rhythms. These
  should all be installed under the directory
  <TT><SPAN  CLASS="textbf">/usr/local/share/mma/lib/stdlib</SPAN></TT>. In addition, the library
  files depend on files in <TT><SPAN  CLASS="textbf">/usr/local/share/mma/includes</SPAN></TT>.

<P>
</LI>
</UL>

<P>
The scripts <TT><SPAN  CLASS="textbf">cp-install</SPAN></TT> or <TT><SPAN  CLASS="textbf">ln-install</SPAN></TT> will install 
<FONT Face="Serif"  Color="Navy"><I>MMA</I></FONT> 
properly on most Linux systems. Both scripts assume that main script
is to be installed in <TT><SPAN  CLASS="textbf">/usr/local/bin</SPAN></TT> and the support files in
<TT><SPAN  CLASS="textbf">/usr/local/share/mma</SPAN></TT>. If you want an alternate location, you
can edit the paths in the script. The only supported alternate to use
is <TT><SPAN  CLASS="textbf">/usr/share/mma</SPAN></TT>.

<P>
The difference between the two scripts is that <TT><SPAN  CLASS="textbf">ln-install</SPAN></TT>
creates symbolic links to the current location; <TT><SPAN  CLASS="textbf">cp-install</SPAN></TT>
copies the files. Which to use it up to you, but if you have unpacked
the distribution in a stable location it is probably easier to use the
link version.

<P>
In addition, you <SPAN  CLASS="textit">can</SPAN> run 
<FONT Face="Serif"  Color="Navy"><I>MMA</I></FONT>  from the directory created by
the untar. This is not recommended, but will show some of 
<FONT Face="Serif"  Color="Navy"><I>MMA</I></FONT> 's
stuff. In this case you'll have to execute the program file
<TT>mma.py</TT>.

<P>
To run either install script, you should be ``root'' (or at least, you
need write permissions in <TT>/usr/local/</TT>). Use the ``su'' or
``sudo'' command for this.

<P>
If you want to install 
<FONT Face="Serif"  Color="Navy"><I>MMA</I></FONT>  on a platform other than Linux, please
get the latest updates from our website at <TT><A NAME="tex2html8"
  HREF="www.mellowood.ca/mma">www.mellowood.ca/mma</A></TT>.

<P>

<H1><A NAME="SECTION00140000000000000000">
Running 
<FONT Face="Serif"  Color="Navy"><I>MMA</I></FONT> </A>
</H1>

<P>
For details on the command line operations in 
<FONT Face="Serif"  Color="Navy"><I>MMA</I></FONT> ,
<A HREF="node2.html#sec-running">see the "running" section</A>.

<P>
To create a MIDI file you need to:

<P>

<OL>
<LI>Create a text file (also referred to as the ``input file'') with
  instructions which 
<FONT Face="Serif"  Color="Navy"><I>MMA</I></FONT>  understands. This includes the chord
  structure of the song, the rhythm to use, the tempo, etc. The file
  can be created with any suitable text editor.<A NAME="tex2html9"
  HREF="#foot405"><SUP><SPAN CLASS="arabic">1</SPAN>.<SPAN CLASS="arabic">5</SPAN></SUP></A>
<P>
</LI>
<LI>Process the input file. From a command line the instruction:

<P>

      <Table Hspace="40%" CellSpacing=0 CellPadding=10 BGColor="OldLace" Border=3>
        <tr><td>
    <B>$ mma myfile &lt;ENTER&gt;  </B> 
   
	    </td></tr>
      </Table>

<P>
will invoke 
<FONT Face="Serif"  Color="Navy"><I>MMA</I></FONT>  and, assuming no errors are found, create a MIDI
  file <TT><SPAN  CLASS="textbf">myfile.mid</SPAN></TT>.

<P>
</LI>
<LI>Play the MIDI file with any suitable MIDI player.

<P>
</LI>
<LI>Edit the input file again and again until you get the perfect
  track.

<P>
</LI>
<LI>Share any patterns, sequences and grooves with the author so
  they can be included in future releases!
</LI>
</OL>

<P>
An input file consists of the following information:

<P>

<OL>
<LI>
<FONT Face="Serif"  Color="Navy"><I>MMA</I></FONT>  directives. These include T<SMALL>EMPO</SMALL>, T<SMALL>IME</SMALL>,
  V<SMALL>OLUME</SMALL>, etc. <A HREF="node29.html#sec-directives">Directives</A>.

<P>
</LI>
<LI>P<SMALL>ATTERN</SMALL>, S<SMALL>EQUENCE</SMALL> and G<SMALL>ROOVE</SMALL> detailed in
  <A HREF="node4.html#sec-pats">Patterns</A>,
  <A HREF="node5.html#sec-seqs">Sequences</A>, and
  <A HREF="node6.html#sec-grooves">Grooves</A>.

<P>
</LI>
<LI>Music information. See <A HREF="node8.html#sec-music">Musical
    Data</A>.

<P>
</LI>
<LI>Comment lines and blank lines. See below.

<P>
</LI>
</OL>

<P>
Items 1 to 3 are detailed later in this manual. Please read them
before you get too involved in this program.

<P>

<H1><A NAME="SECTION00150000000000000000">
Comments</A>
</H1>

<P>
Proper indentation, white space and comments are a <SPAN  CLASS="textit">good
  thing</SPAN>--and you really should use them. But, in most cases 
<FONT Face="Serif"  Color="Navy"><I>MMA</I></FONT> 
really doesn't care:

<P>

<UL>
<LI>Any leading space or tab characters are ignored,

<P>
</LI>
<LI>Multiple tabs and other white space are treated as single
  characters,

<P>
</LI>
<LI>Any blank lines in the input file are ignored.

<P>
</LI>
</UL>

<P>
Each line is initially parsed for comments. A comment is anything
following a ``//'' (2 forward slashes).<A NAME="tex2html10"
  HREF="#foot361"><SUP><SPAN CLASS="arabic">1</SPAN>.<SPAN CLASS="arabic">6</SPAN></SUP></A>
<P>
Multi-line or block comments are also supported by 
<FONT Face="Serif"  Color="Navy"><I>MMA</I></FONT> . A block
comment is started by a ``/*'' and terminated by a
``*/''.<A NAME="tex2html11"
  HREF="#foot363"><SUP><SPAN CLASS="arabic">1</SPAN>.<SPAN CLASS="arabic">7</SPAN></SUP></A> Nesting of block comments is not supported and will
generate unexpected results.

<P>
Both simple and block comments are stripped from the input stream.

<P>
Lines starting with the C<SMALL>OMMENT</SMALL> directive are also ignored (but
not stripped). See the <A HREF="node29.html#comment">comment
  discussion</A> for
details.

<P>

<H1><A NAME="SECTION00160000000000000000">
Theory Of Operation</A>
</H1>

<P>
To understand how 
<FONT Face="Serif"  Color="Navy"><I>MMA</I></FONT>  works it's easiest to look at the initial
development concept. Initially, a program was wanted which would take
a file which looked something like:

<P>

      <Table Hspace="40%" CellSpacing=0 CellPadding=10 BGColor="OldLace" Border=3>
        <tr><td>
    <B>Tempo 120 
<BR>
Fm 
<BR>
C7 
<BR>  ...</B> 
   
	    </td></tr>
      </Table>

<P>
and end up with a MIDI file which played the specified chords over a
drum track.

<P>
Of course, after starting this ``simple'' project a lot of
complexities developed.

<P>
First, the chord/bar specifications. Just having a single chord per
bar doesn't work--many songs have more than one chord per bar.
Second, what is the rhythm of the chords? What about bass line? Oh,
and where is the drummer?

<P>
Well, things got more complex after that. At a bare minimum, the
program or interface should have the ability to:

<P>

<UL>
<LI>Specify multiple chords per bar,

<P>
</LI>
<LI>Define different patterns for chords, bass lines and drum
  tracks,

<P>
</LI>
<LI>Have easy to create and debug input files,

<P>
</LI>
<LI>Provide a reusable library that a user could simply plug in, or
  modify.

<P>
</LI>
</UL>

<P>
From these simple needs 
<FONT Face="Serif"  Color="Navy"><I>MMA</I></FONT>  was created.

<P>
The basic building blocks of 
<FONT Face="Serif"  Color="Navy"><I>MMA</I></FONT>  are P<SMALL>ATTERN</SMALL>s. A pattern is
a specification which tells 
<FONT Face="Serif"  Color="Navy"><I>MMA</I></FONT>  what notes of a chord to play, the
start point in a bar for the chord/notes, and the duration and the
volume of the notes.

<P>

<FONT Face="Serif"  Color="Navy"><I>MMA</I></FONT>  patterns are combined into S<SMALL>EQUENCE</SMALL>s. This lets you
create multi-bar rhythms.

<P>
A collection of patterns can be saved and recalled as G<SMALL>ROOVE</SMALL>s.
This makes it easy to pre-define complex rhythms in library files and
incorporate them into your song with a simple two word command.

<P>

<FONT Face="Serif"  Color="Navy"><I>MMA</I></FONT>  is bar or measure based (we use the words interchangeably in
this document). This means that 
<FONT Face="Serif"  Color="Navy"><I>MMA</I></FONT>  processes your song one bar at
a time. The music specification lines all assume that you are
specifying a single bar of music. The number of beats per bar can be
adjusted; however, all chord changes must fall on a beat division (the
playing of the chord or drum note can occur anywhere in the bar).

<P>
To make the input files look more musical, 
<FONT Face="Serif"  Color="Navy"><I>MMA</I></FONT>  supports
R<SMALL>EPEAT</SMALL>s and R<SMALL>EPEAT</SMALL>E<SMALL>NDING</SMALL>s. However, complexities like
<SPAN  CLASS="textit">D.S.</SPAN> and <SPAN  CLASS="textit">Coda</SPAN> are not internally supported (but can be
created by using the G<SMALL>OTO</SMALL> command).

<P>

<H1><A NAME="SECTION00170000000000000000">
Case Sensitivity</A>
</H1>

<P>
Just about everything in a 
<FONT Face="Serif"  Color="Navy"><I>MMA</I></FONT>  file is case insensitive.

<P>
This means that the command:

<P>

      <Table Hspace="40%" CellSpacing=0 CellPadding=10 BGColor="OldLace" Border=3>
        <tr><td>
    <B>Tempo 120  </B> 
   
	    </td></tr>
      </Table>

<P>
could be entered in your file as:

<P>

      <Table Hspace="40%" CellSpacing=0 CellPadding=10 BGColor="OldLace" Border=3>
        <tr><td>
    <B>TEMPO 120  </B> 
   
	    </td></tr>
      </Table>

<P>
or even

<P>

      <Table Hspace="40%" CellSpacing=0 CellPadding=10 BGColor="OldLace" Border=3>
        <tr><td>
    <B>TeMpO 120  </B> 
   
	    </td></tr>
      </Table>

<P>
for the exact same results.

<P>
Names for patterns, and grooves are also case insensitive.

<P>
The only exceptions are the names for chords, notes in S<SMALL>OLO</SMALL>s,
and filenames. In keeping with standard chord notation, chord names
are in mixed case; this is detailed in <A HREF="node8.html#sec-music">Musical
  Data</A>. Filenames are covered in
<A HREF="node32.html#sec-paths">Paths and Filenames</A>.

<P>
<BR><HR><H4>Footnotes</H4>
<DL>
<DT><A NAME="foot223">...,</A><A
 HREF="node1.html#tex2html1"><SUP><SPAN CLASS="arabic">1</SPAN>.<SPAN CLASS="arabic">1</SPAN></SUP></A></DT>
<DD>Musical MIDI
  Accompaniment and the short form 
<FONT Face="Serif"  Color="Navy"><I>MMA</I></FONT>  in the distinctive script
  are names for a program written by Bob van der Poel. The ``MIDI
  Manufacturers Association, Inc.'' uses the acronym MMA, but there is
  no association between the two.

</DD>
<DT><A NAME="foot213">...
MIDI</A><A
 HREF="node1.html#tex2html2"><SUP><SPAN CLASS="arabic">1</SPAN>.<SPAN CLASS="arabic">2</SPAN></SUP></A></DT>
<DD>MIDI is an acronym for Musical Instrument Digital
  Interface.

</DD>
<DT><A NAME="foot259">... perspectives.</A><A
 HREF="node1.html#tex2html4"><SUP><SPAN CLASS="arabic">1</SPAN>.<SPAN CLASS="arabic">3</SPAN></SUP></A></DT>
<DD>The problem, all humor aside, is
  that the viewpoints of a program's author and user are quite
  different. The two ``see'' problems and solutions differently, and
  for a user manual the programmer's view is not the best.

</DD>
<DT><A NAME="foot404">...mma,</A><A
 HREF="node1.html#tex2html7"><SUP><SPAN CLASS="arabic">1</SPAN>.<SPAN CLASS="arabic">4</SPAN></SUP></A></DT>
<DD>In the
    distribution this is <TT>mma.py</TT>. It is renamed to save a few
    keystrokes when entering the command.

</DD>
<DT><A NAME="foot405">... editor.</A><A
 HREF="node1.html#tex2html9"><SUP><SPAN CLASS="arabic">1</SPAN>.<SPAN CLASS="arabic">5</SPAN></SUP></A></DT>
<DD>
<FONT Face="Serif"  Color="Navy"><I>MMA</I></FONT>  is
    pretty open about the ``encoding'' of the file, but to keep Python
    3.x happy you should use ``cp1252'' (a standard Windows format).

</DD>
<DT><A NAME="foot361">... slashes).</A><A
 HREF="node1.html#tex2html10"><SUP><SPAN CLASS="arabic">1</SPAN>.<SPAN CLASS="arabic">6</SPAN></SUP></A></DT>
<DD>The first choice for
  a comment character was a single ``#'', but that sign is used for
  ``sharps'' in chord notation.

</DD>
<DT><A NAME="foot363">...
``*/''.</A><A
 HREF="node1.html#tex2html11"><SUP><SPAN CLASS="arabic">1</SPAN>.<SPAN CLASS="arabic">7</SPAN></SUP></A></DT>
<DD>These symbols are used in many other languages, most
  notably ``C''.

</DD>
</DL>
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Bob van der Poel
2016-06-11
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