The scripting will be in Lua and so you should be able to use any networking library that can work with lua (eg see LuaSocket: Network support for the Lua language). I expect that you will be able to send commands to Dorico via the scripting interface. However, if you want to build a full-featured remote control mobile app then this would need a far more detailed API than just the ability to send commands. This is a very interesting request though, so I’ll add ‘Remote Control API’ to the list of plugin feature areas we’ll look at (see the top of this thread).
Paul, Hans and all,
A couple of years ago, based on an implementation by LA orchestrator Tim Davies using the TouchOSC iPad app, a colleague and I built an expanded control surface for Finale using the LEMUR app on iPad:
The LEMUR control surface can communicate via either MIDI or the OSC (OpenSoundControl) protocol.
http://opensoundcontrol.org/introduction-osc
Neither Finale or Sibelius support direct handling of menu selection or other application control in this way, so the control surface works through the third party macro program Keyboard Maestro to run sequences of events “live” in Finale (formerly via Quickeys).
In the DAW world, some applications which support software control surfaces have implemented OSC for direct access while others are using their own proprietary i/o technology. (e.g. software based control surfaces vs hardware remotes).
A brief internet search for “OSC+LUA” turns up what appears to be a number of OpenSoundControl bindings for Lua. I’m not sure how useful the existing open source bindings would be, but the OpenSoundControl protocol seems to offer high resolution and a rich parameter space for anyone who might be interested in digging more into this.
Thanks Robert, that’s very interesting. If there’s an OSC-Lua binding then that may be the sort of thing that will be very simple to accomplish in Dorico. Dorico has a simple URL-like mechanism for all its internal commands, so that they can be represented as a string and provide a means to pass parameters - eg “Window.SwitchMode?WindowMode=kPlayMode”
The fun starts when we think of how we can send useful status info back to the controller. I will certainly give the remote control part of the API some thought when we come to investigate this.
This also interests me greatly. Here’s a video discussing the application of Lemur control in Cubase using Project Logical Editor macros. This is a good example of what can be accomplished with good bidirectional communication between the controller and the app. In this case everything is Midi based, but Osc would obviously also work well.
I’m a latecomer to this discussion, but if anyone is keeping a tally, I would REALLY NEED 3 plug-ins from Sibelius. In this order, Rhythm Section Assistant, Make Pitches Constant, and then Number Bars. Not so much to ask, right?
I’m really looking forward to what Dorico can become and hope to move my publishing company to it one day.
Also coming late; may I request Inversions and Retrogrades, please; and Check for Multiple Stops etc?
Thanks; good luck!
I need a system that lets me create my own plugins with a sophisticated API. A one-note macro recorder isn’t enough. Something on the order of ManuScript (versus something I have to compile and would have platform compatibility issues) should be available and documented. Proofreading and Chord recognition would be high on my list of things “in-the-box” I’d like to see with Dorico.
The trick is surely to have a system that can be made to work both for those with the time and expertise to build their own; and the professionals (like Bob Zawalich) who can respond to others’ needs as well.