Just checking – is there still no global notation option for this situation? It’s quite common and using force duration in all these instances is a real pain.
Current:
Desired:
And before the double dot stans come in here, no, I’m not going to use double dots in simple time. 
Thanks!
This exact topic has come up on Music Engraving Tips a few times and several well respected publishers and engravers use the dotted half tied to 8th. It would be great to implement a global option for this.
I agree Dorico should have an option for this. I’ve added it to our backlog of tasks, and when we come to spend some more time on note and rest grouping, we’ll see about adding it.
I’d be interested to know how engravers who use this notation decide when to use it. It’s very much a non-default option for me.
I’m in favour of Dorico allowing it (which it does, of course) but my usage of it is always exceptional: there would need to be a strong contextual reason to avoid [minim tied to dotted crotchet] in favour of [dotted minim tied to quaver].
It would also be interesting to know how such an implementation would work as an option in Dorico. Are there engravers who would prefer it as the default tie group in 4/4? I suspect not.
If Dorico were to allow this notation to appear only in appropriate contexts: eg on a piano stave where the other voice(s) have the rhythm [dotted minim - crotchet], that might be useful, but it’s a complex algorithm to write, devil in the detail etc.
cheers
Jeremy
It may be a regional thing, but at least in American band music, it’s far more common to see the dotted half to eighth tie than the half to dotted quarter tie. Beyond that, to me it makes far more sense to parse the long note as splitting on the 4th downbeat of the bar rather than thinking about it in two halves. Additionally, when releasing those ties, it is common to lift off the last eighth note to add space before the next attack; this is not nearly as clear to think about with a half tied to a dotted quarter.
So with that said, the way I would use it would be more akin to a global default than an occasional change.
Looking forward to the future note and rest grouping expansions whenever they end up coming (hopefully sooner rather than later) – there aren’t a huge number of situations that aren’t already covered, but those that remain absent of a global option can be a real pain when you have a piece / several pieces full of them.
Is there a solution already? Please?
Standard! Jazz Ensemble/Big Band. Marching Band. Probably even modern music theatre and musical. Concert Band/Wind Band. Fanfare orchestra’s (Europe, Canada, Japan). Brass Band. You name it.
Sometimes I’m under the impression the Dorico team is in desperate need of a specialist in anything that is not Classical music. Each time some rather obvious feature appears to be missing, we have to beg for it for a long period until something happens. That’s a pity.