Will someone tell me if I understand this correctly? When a new project is made, properties start out defined as local or global, but setting a local property globally “turns it into” a global property. Am I right that there are no hard rules on which properties are a priori Local and Global, but rather, “what type of property they are” depends on the scope they’ve been set in?
(“That’s it, Harry. There is no good and evil. There is only power, and those too weak to seek it.”)
Daniel mentioned here that a Local property set Globally (so, no longer a Local property at all) can be set back to Local without affecting other layouts. I tried this out in a test project by editing the position of a hairpin in a score, then editing it again in just the score, and indeed saw that the property remained Global (bold font) in the part. My question is: if an item is set globally in five layouts, and in four of them the user makes local overrides, why is the property still considered global? Is there a way to make Dorico “break globality” on a property when its “global-ness” is disturbed by local overrides? Or am I just thinking about this in an unhelpful way?
If I’m understanding your question correctly, the answer is No, you’re not correct. Properties have a defined Global/Local state which is defined by Dorico.
The Start Offset and End Offset properties are local properties. If you have Set Local Properties set to Globally, then moving the hairpin will take effect globally (in all layouts). But in any layout, you can change Set Local Properties to Locally, and then moving the hairpin in any one layout will only affect that layout.
I’m not convinced that Dorico handles this in a way that’s consistent from a user perspective, although there’s probably an underlying programming reason for it. You’re correct that if you move the hairpin as above, the offset properties in the layout in which you moved it change to Local, but in the other layout(s) the offset properties still show as Global. I’m not sure what purpose this serves, since it still obeys the rules of Set Local Properties, implying that it’s actually Local now.
Thanks, asherber. It is difficult as a user to see a property “convert from Local to Global” when its font turns bold. Without a vast cheat-sheet, it’s impossible to know what are “a-priori” or “truly” Local and Global properties, since the font-bolding is the only visual indication once a user has started setting local properties globally. Showing only local or only global properties in the pane helps at first, but properties that are “truly” local and set to global don’t appear under “Show only local.” You can see where I got the mistaken idea that local properties “convert” to global ones!
You addressed the same issue here, and I couldn’t agree more. I once also posted in favor of a distinction between where properties are defined and where they are set, but I don’t know where that post is now. It would help a lot to know which properties were “actually” / “truly” local or global, separate from their application!