Text in Lyrics Window disappearing W/ Solution

General notation questions, including advanced notation, formatting, etc., go here.

Moderators: Peter Thomsen, miker

ToneMan
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Oct 15, 2018 1:21 am
Finale Version: finale V25
Operating System: Windows

Post by ToneMan » Mon Oct 15, 2018 1:58 am

Finale 25 on Windows 10

I had 'copied' lyrics into the Lyrics Window from Microsoft Word,
Everything looked perfectly fine and all pre-formatted for the notes.
When I placed the cursor ahead of the first lyric and attempted to
do a click assignment, all text disappeared in the Lyrics window
and no lyrics were placed on the screen. I had done this basic
procedure several times and never had a problem

The culprit... When I scanned the lyrics I saved them to
a Microsoft Word file to make editing easier. I deduced that there
were Hard-Spaces between each word instead of normal spaces.
This was probably a function of the scanning program attempting
to preserve formatting, [In Word replacing all "White Space" with
a regular space fixed the problem.]

I'll scan to a simple text file before editing in the future.

Hope this is of use to somebody - Regards, Marc


User avatar
zuill
Posts: 4418
Joined: Sat Dec 10, 2016 9:35 pm
Finale Version: Finale 2011-v26.3.1
Operating System: Windows

Post by zuill » Mon Oct 15, 2018 2:07 am

I've had disappearing lyrics several times before when just inputting lyrics directly into Finale. Frustrating and scary.

So, it's not just pasting into Finale that can cause this.

I haven't been able to determine the actual fix that worked for me. I was able to input directly in the score (type into score) on one occasion as a workaround. It might have been a reboot that restored things. Recreating the preferences didn't help for the disappearing lyrics issue.

I never did report it to MakeMusic, as it was a sporadic issue. I'm sure they would have just said recreate the preferences, and I had already tried that.

Zuill
Windows 10, Finale 2011-v26.3.1
"When all is said and done, more is said than done."

Baroque Fiend
Posts: 4
Joined: Mon Jul 04, 2016 4:23 pm
Finale Version: Finale 27
Operating System: Windows

Post by Baroque Fiend » Mon Nov 12, 2018 5:47 am

I am getting the same problem, which I reported. The problem suddenly went away, so the ticket was closed. However it has returned. When I enter lyrics into the Lyrics Window, as soon as I attempt to enter them into the score using click entry, all new work disappears. The only way round this I have found so far, and I hope it keeps working, is to click on the pointer tool, thereby exiting the Lyrics Window, before attempting to enter the lyrics into the score. When I return to the Lyrics Window, the lyrics are still there and I can enter them using click entry.

As the problem has returned, I am going to report it again.

TWeditor
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Dec 11, 2018 3:52 pm
Finale Version: Finale Version 25
Operating System: Windows

Post by TWeditor » Tue Dec 11, 2018 3:53 pm

I have also been having this problem. Any word from finale on their solution to this issue?

Simon_Furey
Posts: 19
Joined: Sun Dec 11, 2016 1:22 pm
Finale Version: Finale 27
Operating System: Windows

Post by Simon_Furey » Sat Dec 15, 2018 1:03 pm

FWIW I have experienced the same problem for years, and I use a similar work-around. I never paste from Word into Finale directly because of all the formatting stuff that Word "inconveniently" hides. For anything other than the simplest songs I generally use some form of text editor for entering lyrics, because the editing facilities within Finale are so basic. Then whether I have scanned words in or typed them in, I always put the final result into a "pure" .txt file before pasting from it into Finale, so I can clear any outstanding anomalies. It isn't really a Finale problem, IMHO, or a Word problem for that matter. It's a general word processing package problem, and the Finale lyrics editor ain't no word processor by any stretch of the imagination.

User avatar
N Grossingink
Posts: 1786
Joined: Mon Dec 19, 2016 2:50 pm
Finale Version: 27.3
Operating System: Mac

Post by N Grossingink » Sat Dec 15, 2018 1:59 pm

TWeditor wrote:I have also been having this problem. Any word from finale on their solution to this issue?
The post right above yours gives a possible solution. Enter the lyrics in the lyric window, switch to the Selection Tool, then back to the lyric tool after which you can successfully enter the lyrics via Click Assignment. Did you try it—does it work?

Sadly, those of us that use Finale full time have learned little tricks to step around the software's many shortcomings. I've used some of these tricks in my own engraving workflow for so long that I've forgotten most of them—they are just part of my own workflow and are invoked unconsciously.

N.
N. Grossingink
Educational Band, Orchestra and Jazz Ensemble a specialty
Sample: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pFF5OeJDeLFGHMRyXrubFqZWXBubErw4/view?usp=share_link


Mac Mini 2014 2.6 Ghz, 8Gb RAM
OSX 10.15.7
Finale 2012c, 25.5, 26.3, 27.3

TWeditor
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Dec 11, 2018 3:52 pm
Finale Version: Finale Version 25
Operating System: Windows

Post by TWeditor » Thu Jan 03, 2019 4:15 pm

Actually, we did try pasting the lyrics into simple text file! We still had the same problems.

Clicking the selection key is decent workaround. I would love to see MakeMusic fix this bug!

Post Reply