Can't input marcatos in Shape Designer

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John Ruggero
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Post by John Ruggero » Sun Apr 02, 2017 3:09 am

I am attempting to create parenthetical marcato signs in the Shape Designer, but the standard Maestro keystrokes don't seem to work for marcato signs in the Shape Designer Text Tool. I notice that while some other keystrokes function correctly, others are not. Is this a known bug, or am I missing something?

The correct keystrokes are supposed to be:

Opt-Sh-E for a marcato for over a note

Opt-U, Y for a marcato for under a note.

I finally was able to find a keystroke for a marcato for under a note by trial and error: Opt-Sh-O, but have been unable to find one for a maracto for over a note.
2020 M1 Mac mini (OS 12.6) Finale 25.5, Dorico, Affinity Publisher, SmartScore 64 Pro, JW Plug-ins, TG Tools, Keyboard Maestro
www.cantilenapress.com

"The better the composer, the better the notation."


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Peter Thomsen
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Post by Peter Thomsen » Sun Apr 02, 2017 6:23 am

If I Recall Correctly, this is a known problem with the Mac version - as pointed out by Jan Angermüller from the german
Elbsound Studio.
The problem is isolated to the Shape Designer.
You can enter symbols correctly in e. g. text blocks and text expressions.
Unfortunately you can not paste text in the Shape Designer’s Text (sub-)Tool.

Marcato for over a note is located in character slot #180.
Marcato for under a note is located in character slot #255.

Characters in the ASCII range {1 – 127} are entered correctly, but for characters in the upper range {128 – …} Mac Finale seems to be “misunderstanding” the character number.

If you use Unicode Input, you can enter the ‘marcato for over a note’:
Hold down the Option key (the alt key), and type 00AB.
Mac OS X 12.6.9 (Monterey), Finale user since 1996

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John Ruggero
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Post by John Ruggero » Sun Apr 02, 2017 2:45 pm

Thanks so much, Peter. That worked very well.

Where does one find that type of unicode for each Maestro character? I find U+0084 for the upper marcato in the Text Tool> Insert Symbol list and wouldn't know what to do with it or how to convert it to 00AB. (If I just need to learn about unicode, please don't trouble yourself with a lengthy explanation.)
2020 M1 Mac mini (OS 12.6) Finale 25.5, Dorico, Affinity Publisher, SmartScore 64 Pro, JW Plug-ins, TG Tools, Keyboard Maestro
www.cantilenapress.com

"The better the composer, the better the notation."

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Peter Thomsen
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Post by Peter Thomsen » Sun Apr 02, 2017 3:12 pm

John,

I will not bother you with “a lengthy explanation” about hexadecimal Unicode numbers, and how Mac Finale’s Shape Designer “misunderstands” the numbers.

Just note that the 16 number characters are {0 - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - A - B - C - D - E - F}.

Instead of trying to “calculate” the Unicode hex number you need, I suggest that you find the right keystroke by “trial and error”.
Might be faster - and you avoid the headache.
Just try the hex numbers one by one:
00A0
00A1
00A2
00A3
00A4
00A5
00A6
00A7
00A8
00A9
00AA
00AB
00AC
00AD
00AE
00AF
00B0
00B1
00B2
&c.
(Geddit?)
Mac OS X 12.6.9 (Monterey), Finale user since 1996

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John Ruggero
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Post by John Ruggero » Sun Apr 02, 2017 4:37 pm

Thanks, Peter. I will do what you suggest and make myself a list. Since I know nothing about the unicode, I had a few more questions before I start.

Is it correct that after the 00, the code must start with a letter?

Are all of the Maestro characters included between 00A0 and 00FF?

Is this translation necessary for and work only with the Shape Designer?
2020 M1 Mac mini (OS 12.6) Finale 25.5, Dorico, Affinity Publisher, SmartScore 64 Pro, JW Plug-ins, TG Tools, Keyboard Maestro
www.cantilenapress.com

"The better the composer, the better the notation."

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Peter Thomsen
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Post by Peter Thomsen » Sun Apr 02, 2017 5:49 pm

John Ruggero wrote:… Is it correct that after the 00, the code must start with a letter? …
No, A comes after 9.
In Other Words: A means ten, B means eleven, C means twelve, D means thirteen, E means fourteen, F means fifteen.

Unicode hexadecimal code is based on the powers of 16:
1
16
256
4096

Examples:
000A means (0 * 4096) + (0 * 256) + (0 * 16) + (10 * 1) = 10
00FF means (0 * 4096) + (0 * 256) + (15 * 16) + (15 * 1) = 255

Counting in hexadecimal: 0000 - 0001 - 0002 - 0003 - 0004 - 0005 - 0006 - 0007 - 0008 - 0009 - 000A - 000B - 000C - 000D - 000E - 000F - 0010 - 0011 - 0012
where 0010 means sixteen, 0011 means seventeen, &c.

John Ruggero wrote:… Are all of the Maestro characters included between 00A0 and 00FF? …
No, the Maestro characters are located in the slots between 0 and 255, i. e. between 0000 and 00FF.

The “good old” so called ASCII range is the slots between 0 and 127, i. e. between 0000 and 007F.

In the Shape Designer there are no problems with entering the characters in the ASCII range, probably due to the fact that the Shape Designer is as old as the ASCII range.
The problems arise when you try to enter characters from the higher slot numbers, i. e. 128 or higher.

John Ruggero wrote:… Is this translation necessary for and work only with the Shape Designer?
Yes, only in the Shape Designer.
Mac OS X 12.6.9 (Monterey), Finale user since 1996

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motet
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Post by motet » Sun Apr 02, 2017 5:57 pm

Many calculators will convert for hexadecimal to decimal. The one that comes with Windows has a "programmer" mode. If the Mac doesn't have such, here's a website:

http://www.binaryhexconverter.com/hex-t ... -converter

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John Ruggero
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Post by John Ruggero » Sun Apr 02, 2017 10:01 pm

Thanks, Peter. I get it now. I obviously knew nothing about hexadecimals, but a little more now. OCTO. sent me to the following online list of Maestro keystrokes and decimal numbers: https://usermanuals.finalemusic.com/Pri ... IX_Notes_2 and Motet's hex converter takes care of the rest, so I am set. Thanks everyone.
2020 M1 Mac mini (OS 12.6) Finale 25.5, Dorico, Affinity Publisher, SmartScore 64 Pro, JW Plug-ins, TG Tools, Keyboard Maestro
www.cantilenapress.com

"The better the composer, the better the notation."

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