Re: Unique ids in MusicXML 3.1 and beyond

Yes, Joe has suggested such a selector interface, and I am all for it. I
don't think we can fit it in to MusicXML, but I think it should be in MNX.
I also think this selector interface should be supplemental, meaning that
we can still use the existing XML selector functions like getElementById in
addition to the semantically meaningful selector interface.

I personally would like to be able to address elements in the browser like
this. Imagine the possibilities of browser-based music software that could
come from this! It's very exciting.

On Fri, Sep 8, 2017 at 10:28 AM, Adrian Holovaty <adrian@holovaty.com>
wrote:

> On Fri, Sep 8, 2017 at 4:01 PM, James Sutton <jsutton@dolphin-com.co.uk>
> wrote:
>
>> Here is a couple of cases:
>>
>> 1. If any program (eg OMR engine) needs to output non-MusicXML
>> information (eg bounding-boxes of items)  then it could be passed via
>> another channel (XML, JSON, text, ..), cross-referencing by uid
>>
>> 2. a) If a conductor taps a note on her tablet, the note could be
>> highlighted on all the players' tablets by passing a uid. The MusicXML
>> might be generated by a completely independent program which outputs uids.
>>
>> b)  the note might be changed, or a notation might be removed or corrected
>>
>> This does open a general way of referring to elements in a MusicXML file
>> and for passing any information about elements which is not catered for in
>> the MusicXML format.
>>
>
> For these use cases, it would be nice to have a general "selector" API for
> music notation in general — not just MusicXML, but any symbolic common
> Western notation across any app.
>
> Joe has brought up this idea in the past, and I think it's a great one.
> Imagine something like this, to select the second beat of the first voice
> in the first bar of the first part:
>
>     bars[0].parts[0].voices[0].beats[1]
>
> It seems inelegant to shoehorn such a thing into MusicXML via a change to
> the way IDs work, but I admit I don't understand your original proposal,
> despite having read it a few times. :-/
>
> Adrian
>
> --
> Adrian Holovaty
> Soundslice: https://www.soundslice.com/
> Personal: http://www.holovaty.com/
>