I don’t understand why “Slur-relative position” is not present in the Fingering section in the Lower Zone in Write mode when “Staff-relative position” is present in both Write and Engrave Modes. This means that one has to constantly switch between modes to position fingering correctly in one pass, or do it in two passes, which is less efficient and risks more errors.
I can’t completely remember the thinking behind this, but from a quick look at the way things are set up, it looks like we ended up considering the slur-relative position property as being more akin to a slight nudge to the fingering position, rather than fundamentally a different placement. We’ll certainly give this a second thought.
Thank you for considering this possibility, @dspreadbury. It would make a world of difference.
The problem is exaggerated by the fact that I can’t use the “Position Inside” Engraving Setting for fingering because of the issue that I mentioned a while ago in which the end fingerings are not placed outside the slur for slurs placed on the stem side of notes.
To close the loop on this issue, we have talked about this internally and have decided on balance not to make a change in this area.
As you know, Dorico’s properties apply to different scopes: some are global and take effect everywhere; some are layout-specific; some are layout-specific and can differ according to the type of staff on which the music appears, e.g. notation vs. tablature or condensed vs. uncondensed; and some are not only layout-specific but also frame-chain-specific, which means they can differ in different chains of music frames within the same layout.
Global and layout-specific properties can appear in both Write mode and Engrave mode; layout-specific and staff-type-specific and frame-chain-specific properties can only appear in Engrave mode, because only in Engrave mode is it possible for items to be selected separately in the appropriate place to determine the right scope.
We think it is important for Slur-relative position for fingerings to be both layout- and frame-chain-specific because it is possible for the same music to be laid out very differently in different frame chains within the same layout.
The inconvenience of the property being only available in Engrave mode is outweighed by the flexibility this scope provides.
Thank you for looking into that, @dspreadbury, and for your detailed explanation.
I can’t imagine a case in which the positions of fingering relative to slurs would change depending on layout. And if it did, the case would be infrequent… However the cases in which I have to shift between the modes to move fingering around are continual.
If Dorico were not positioning the beginning and ending fingerings relative to slurs incorrectly on the stem side of notes, the problem would arise less often.