2.5. Toolbar UI

Toolbar UI

What it Is

The ToolBar is a graphical extension of the Menu and provides convenient access to a small set of common actions.

How Does it Look/Behave

The ToolBar is located toward the top of the main application window. On operating systems where the Menu is also part of the main window, the ToolBar is immediately right of it. It contains buttons with graphics and no labels. Descriptive texts show on mouse over. Buttons change availability based on the current selection or the internal state of the application. For instance, the Delete button is unavailable when an irremovable element is selected (such as the score node).

The following list describes in brief the name and job of all the entries currently available in MAIDENS' toolbar.

Create element

Causes a child node to be added to the end of the selected element's children list. The exact type of node added depends on the selected element, e.g., if a Voice is currently selected, a Cluster will be added. Also, if the currently selected element does not accept children, this button will become disabled. Consult the section on MAIDENS' project hierarchy for details. Clicking this button is equivalent to right clicking an element in the score and selecting Add node type, e.g., Add cluster.
Delete element

Causes the selected element to be removed from its parent children list. If the currently selected element is not deletable, this button will become disabled. Consult the section on MAIDENS' project hierarchy for details. Clicking this button is equivalent to right clicking an element in the score and selecting Delete node type, e.g., Delete cluster.
Nudge element before

Causes the selected element to replace the one before it in its parent children list. If the currently selected element is already first in its container, this button will become disabled. For instance, if a Voice has two Clusters, the first containing a C and the second containing a D, selecting the second cluster and clicking Nudge element before in the toolbar will move the D one position to left, thus making it display and play before the C. Currently, nudging is confined to the boundaries of selected element's parent (for example, one cannot nudge the D further to the left once it hits the first position in its Voice).
Nudge element after

Causes the selected element to replace the one after it in its parent children list. list. If the currently selected element is already last in its container, this button will become disabled. For instance, if a Voice has two Clusters, the first containing a C and the second containing a D, selecting the first cluster and clicking Nudge element after in the toolbar will move the C one position to the right, thus making it display and play after the D. Currently, nudging is confined to the boundaries of selected element's parent (for example, one cannot nudge the C further to the right once it hits the last position in its Voice). Also note that you cannot nudge an element through ghost rests. See section A Word on Ghost Rests in Add a Note Rest or Chord for more information.
Nudge Mode

Controls the operating mode of the Nudge Element Before and Nudge Element After buttons, as described previously. This is a toggle button that displays a filled padlock icon when engaged and the same icon outlined when disengaged. It cycles between restricted nudging (e.g., a Cluster can only be "nudged" within its home Measure boundaries — this is the default; icon is filled) and free nudging (e.g., a Cluster can now be "nudged" into its neighboring/adjacent measures, thus "escaping" its home Measure; icon is outlined). Note that the free mode does not apply to all node types, so it might not function for some of them.
Play

Causes a MIDI rendition of the current score to be compiled and played back. When playback starts, this button becomes disabled. Playback starts as close as possible to the selected element and stops at the end of the score unless stopped earlier. If there is no selection, playback starts at the beginning of the score. As of v.1.5.5, a score following mechanism will highlight notes, chords or rests (Clusters in MAIDENS parlance) as playback progresses. Within limits, you can still scroll or zoom the page while playing back (provided you do not zoom/scroll to a page region not containing the currently playing notes), but you cannot and flip pages (but you don't need either, as this is now handled automatically). For the time being, playback tempo is fixed at 60 BMP (60 fourths/crotches per minute). You cannot perform any editing tasks while playing back.
Stop

Stops playback and re-enables the Play button. This button is normally disabled, and only becomes enabled after playback has started.
Previous page

Flips to the previous page of the score, provided there is one. If the first page of the document is already on display, this button becomes disabled. A label to the left of the Previous page button updates in realtime to show current and total pages number.
Next page

Flips to the next page of the score, provided there is one. If the last page of the document is already on display, this button becomes disabled. A label to the left of the Previous page button updates in realtime to show current and total pages number.
Zoom

Controls the level of detail the score is drawn at. The new zoom level is applied when the slider knob is released. You can also hover the slider track and rotate your mouse wheel in order to change the zoom in real-time, but in small increments. The right end of the slider has a fixed value of 400%, causing the score to be redrawn four times its original size. The left end of the slider causes the score to fit the current UI's height, and thus has a dynamic value. Resizing the MAIDENS UI to a larger height can cause the score to also grow if more room becomes available, but the opposite is not true (shrinking MAIDENS does not shrink the score, and scrollbars grow instead, to accommodate for the difference).
Fit width

Computes and applies a zoom factor that would cause the score width to completely fit the current UI's width. No "lock" is applied (resizing MAIDENS will not maintain the applied zoom factor).
Fit selection

Maneuvers zoom and/or scrollbars to ensure that the currently selected element is shown within the current viewport. This may be of help when you scroll both vertically and horizontally at high zoom factors (and locating the current selection becomes challenging).