File sample attached - have tried all the normal and recommended steps to my knowledge. This file started as an xml import.
scratch.zip (452 KB)
I admit I can’t get to the bottom of it.
Perhaps the easiest thing to do in this case would be to switch to full score galley view, copy everything (Select to End of Flow), and paste to a new project.
I’ve seen this before but I can’t instantly find it. The problem is that each bar has a hidden time signature attached to it, and the initial time signature only applies to the first bar. You need to go through the entire flow, delete every barline, then delete the initial time signature, then re-add the initial time signature (which is 2/4, 0.5).
FWIW, this won’t work - you clearly didn’t try it 
I’m not seeing any hidden time signatures. Signposts are set to show everything.
Look in the Properties panel.
And see XML-Import Question - Dorico - Steinberg Forums and Not possible to add bars after XML import [workaround identified] - #12 by perdja - Dorico - Steinberg Forums
I just tried doing what I suggested, and it worked fine for me.
Sorry, it’s down to semantics. If you Select All, it won’t work (because you’re copying the dodgy time signatures). To me, copying everything means copying everything; not just the stuff to the right of the initial time signature.
Right. So in cases like this, it’s always safer to Select to End of Flow.
Sure.
LOL, sorry for blowing up your post, Ed. Time for a Sunday nap…
I’m not apologising to Ed - between us we got his problem solved within 20 minutes…
No problem. I took pianoleo’s advice and it worked. The actual file is over 100 measures so it wasn’t fun to delete all the barlines. There should be a much easier and intuitive way to find and fix such issues.
…but this is down to a dodgy MusicXML file, which isn’t really Dorico’s fault. Given you’re only the third person who’s ever reported this particular problem (as far as I can tell) the time it would take to fix within Dorico could probably be spent better on implementing something else.
If the hidden time signatures were visible as signposts, they could be easily found, selected and deleted. This would be worthwhile for more use cases than just this one.
Hidden time signatures nearly always ARE visible as signposts. It’s only dodgy MusicXML files that do this.
As a test, I just imported the original xml in Sibelius. It warned me it was an older xml file then it came in perfectly with no hidden time signatures plus the multirests were fine. Therefore the Dorico team knows how to handle these files but has just not implemented it yet.
That’s a whopping great assumption you’re making. It’s quite unlikely that you know how Sibelius and Dorico respectively handle a) MusicXML import and b) time signatures. There may be big differences particularly in the way that each application handles time signatures and barlines, and those differences may have absolutely nothing to do with MusicXML import.
You seem to be assuming that the current Dorico team wrote the MusicXML importing code that is currently in Sibelius, therefore “they know how to do it right”.
I know Avid don’t move at the speed of light when developing software, but that’s a big assumption.
There have been at least one and probably two new versions of the MusicXML specification released since that team parted company with Avid.
agreed, and this was an old musicxml file.