Coming from Finale (since 1993) I encountered this:
Create a project with some bars 4/4 C major.
After a few bars change the key to something else.
So far so good
Change your mind and revert the key back to C major
I expected that the double bar line would disappear too, because there is no key change anymore. But it didn’t. Instead a second signpost C major appeared. First why?
No problem, change the double bar line to normal with ⇧B (not undo)
What? Now a 4/4 (q, 1+1+1+1) signpost appears, second why?
You can delete the key signature signpost but not the time signature one , third why?. However you can CUT it in the context menu.
I noticed that deleting the extra key signature signpost right after reverting the key will cause the double bar line to disappear, I just would like to understand the behavior. Or is it a handling error?
After the first days with Dorico I like it. In particular page layout, score condensing, cue notes, flows and DTP skills (and more) are so much better – and more contemporary – than Finale.
Hi @Vadian – the double barline is there because although you’ve got a C major key signature again, that’s still a new key signature, and by default Dorico shows double barlines at key signatures.
If the prevailing key was already C major, the easiest way to get back to that is to delete the later key signature. That will get you back to the prevailing C major key, and remove the double barline (because it’s something Dorico is showing automatically for you, because it knows about the key signature; no key signature = no need for double barline)
You got a time signature signpost because inputting a “normal” barline results in an explicit barline override, which is internally a hidden time signature (because barlines cascade from the time signature, logically). However, to delete that you need to select the barline, rather than the signpost.
So the upshot is: if you don’t need a key signature any more, delete it. Dorico generally requires you to do far less manual fixup than you might be familiar with!
@Lillie_Harris Thank you very much for the explanation. I understand the “barline philosophy”. However from the practical point of view a key change to the prevailing key in the same mode is not a new key signature.
But I got it, deleting the later key signature is the proper way. Indeed the less manual fixup is a big change – and also a big benefit – coming from Finale.
Oh yes it is! Just as when you replaced the double barline with a ‘normal’ barline, it introduced a time signature change. A key principle of Dorico is that if you add something, it means something. If you don’t need something, delete it.
Did you (or any imported XML) explicitly define the original key signature as C major (which would give a signpost specifying that key in the absence of any accidentals appearing to set the key).
Sometimes, seeing no visible key signature at the start of a composition, I forget that in Dorico this does not mean I am in the key of C major or A minor, but in an atonal “key” by default.