Explode, Reduce: greyed out in menu; absent from context menu

[montyVerdi]

OK in earlier versions, but just noticed in 5.81.
Same on Catalina
mac spec:

context menu shot:

main menu shot:

dorico spec:

[montyVerdi]

This problem has corrected.
i.e. there was a problem that now seems to be fixed. I shall further test to try to establish what happened/i did to cause/resolve.
If any one can offer I’d love to hear!!!
Sorry for any panic!
cheers
MV

[Derrek]

Just in case this helps, I sometimes forget to copy the chord before I try to explode it. Needless to say, Dorico refuses to read my mind in those circumstances> (Can’t image what’s wrong with it. )

[DanielMuzMurray]

I’ve been a computer programmer for the last 37.5 years and it would be pretty easy to code.

Edit: Joking!

[montyVerdi]

spot on Derrek

[montyVerdi]

ditto (Plus a decade or 2)

[benwiggy]

FWIW, I can’t replicate this problem.

@DanielMuzMurray

I’ve been a computer programmer for the last 37.5 years and it would be pretty easy to code.

What –– reading people’s minds?

(Also, remember the forum rule about judging the ease of doing things. )

[DanielMuzMurray]

@benwiggy

Also, remember the forum rule about judging the ease of doing things.

I was only making a sarcastic joke about unreasonable expectations (reading user’s minds, in this case.) It looks like I need to re-read about how to use humour effectively in a forum lol

[benwiggy]

I just came back to add “or was that the joke?”. My comprehension is as much to blame.

Tangential joke

There’s a great bit in the 1980’s film DOA, where an English professor is schooling a heavy:

“Imply is how you say it; infer is how you take it.”
“Oh yeah? Well, infer this!”

[k_b]

monty verdi, without being at the computer, Dorico offers the Explode and Reduce options once you have actually copied music.
We can’t see this from your screenshot.
We see a selection of all 4 existing staves.
You would have to select the source material, copy it, select the target staves, then go into the menu to Explode or Reduce.
These are all consecutive steps.

[montyVerdi]

No, Ben. Thanks for looking, but my subsequent apologetic post was when it stopped happening and I am assuming that Derrick’s potential diagnosis of the issue was in play (He said it happened to him (implied) and the cause was that there was nothing selected so therefore nothing to paste. In my case it could have been so, even though it looked like the highlit items were selected. Since then I have been using the function and crefully selecting and it’s all great.
Won’t repeat my apology but the thing is that with complex software, missing something is ALWAYS possible.

Many thatnks to all on the forum that added their threepence-worth.

MP

[k_b]

@montyVerdi

In my case it could have been so, even though it looked like the highlit items were selected

Hi monty verdi,
you must have at least one stave unselected, otherwise you might have a source but no target.
If everything (every stave) appears selected, where would you then want to explode or reduce to?

[montyVerdi]

Thanks for your input K_B, but your suggestion is completely wrong; you MUST select the stave where the explosion is to take place. To paraphrase your question, if you didn’t select anything where would you expect the result to go? and how could you choose where to put it?

1. manual for Explode

   PROCEDURE

2. In Write mode, select the music you want to explode.

3. Press Ctrl/Cmd-C to copy the music.

4. Select the staves onto which you want to explode the selected music.

5. Choose Edit > Paste Special > Explode. You can also choose this option from the context menu.

NOTE manual step 3.

I guess my post was concerned with the unavailability of the option to Explode or Reduce on the context menu. Since then I closed and reopened Dorico and have been happily Exploding to my hearts content ( I hada project requiring that functionality which is what set me off in the firast place!).

Cheers
‘Claudio’ e ‘Guiseppe’

| k_b
March 27 |

• | - |

montyVerdi:

In my case it could have been so, even though it looked like the highlit items were selected

Hi monty verdi,
you must have at least one stave unselected, otherwise you might have a source but no target.

Th source is (apparently) the contents of the clipboard. The target is the selected staves

[k_b]

@montyVerdi

Th source is (apparently) the contents of the clipboard. The target is the selected staves

I see; to me it looked as if your screenshot was taken at the moment when you had just copied all 4 staved and wasn’t able to Explode.
Thanks to your explanation it is now clear that your screenshot was taken after you had copied and already selected the target staves. But why did you include the first stave with the source material, too? That’s why it can’t work.

The procedure would be: select the 1st stave only (Violin 1) with the source material, copy it, then: select the three empty staves 2-4 only (omitting the first stave). This would be the righ time to do the pasting/exploding.

[Derrek]

That would only work if one copied only the bottom three notes. Four notes (in the chord) require four target staves.

And yet, if one leaves the chords in and chooses all four staves as target, one gets the chord plus an additional top note in Violin 1.

I do not recall the explode working this way in the past, but my memory may not be correct in this.

[k_b]

I think the Explode function in Dorico is smart, if there are more (or less) target staves, Dorico just fills the gaps..

[montyVerdi]

I agree entirely. very smart.

I was never complaining about the function not working; just that it was not available for me on any of the menus. My keyboard shortcut didn’t work either. AS to what went wrong I have no idea as I can’t replicate the original problem. What’s even weirder I was able to replicate at the time on my other system. Now that is REALLY weird!

I just have to move on and hope it keeps working although i finished to project that required it. But explode and reduce are 2 of my most used tools.

Thanks for your input

[montyVerdi]

My final word (oh, yeah, heard that before!!)
I can replicate the problem as described quite easily by ensuring that there is nothing on (in?) the clipboard. For example when Dorico is just started.
Because Explode and Reduce are both ‘paste’ functions they are not available if the clipboard is blank. End of story!! My mistake was probably to think that if something was highlighted then it was selected!!
Thanks to all who responded. It’s a great forum.
Because Explode is such a useful function (for me at least) I just did a few examples based on my original screen dump of the string quartet. This is not necessarily comprehensive but more generally-illustrative.
I am just showing the before and after with the understanding that the violin bar has been selected! Definitely!

1. only violin1 selected:
   
   
   
   
   
   
   2: Violin1,2 viola selected:
   
   
   
   
   
2. All 4 selected:
   
   
   
   
   

NOW the topic has been solved.
Thanks and happy harmonizing