"Undo" does not reset everything regarding system breaks to previous state

Dorico
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1

I encountered something unexpected and I was even inclined to add the “issue” tag:

This is the current situation:

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I have just added the system break in the middle of the page.

Next step: Add a system break at the bottom because the last system is quite spaced out:

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Important thing to notice: Dorico did not only add the system break, it also changed the way it renders systems 3 and 4.

Now: I “undo” adding the system break (or hit Delete, same effect):

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  1. The system break at the bottom is gone. So far, so good.

  2. BUT: The changes Dorico has made to systems 3 and 4 when I added the system break are still there!

This is totally unexpected. When I undo something, I want Dorico to go back to the exact state it was before.

I mean, to me it’s already unexpected that when I have a system break in system 5 and I add a system break some way down the score that Dorico would change anything regarding casting-off before system 5, but…

Just wanted to warn you: If you add a system break, Dorico might change casting-off anywhere else. And if you remove the system break againg, Dorico might not put everything back to the previous state.

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2

I actually think Dorico is right to move that 2-bar rest from system 4 to 3. I think it looks better after the move. But I agree with you that I would not expect that to happen when applying a system break 5 staves down the line. I’d rather expect it to happen when adding the system break at systems 4/5.

I was wondering, if you completely reset the layout and repeat your steps, does it happen in the same way? Or is there a randomness to it?

3

There is no randomness to it at all: When I delete both system breaks, we are back to the original state.

I went back and forth about 10 times to understand what was happening until i decided to take some screenshots and create this topic.

I have to say that I don’t like at all the way Dorico re-evaluates how music flows after I add a manual system break somewhere: In my view, adding a system break should not change anything before that break. I’ve seen it way too often that when I add a system break after eg. system 8, Dorico will shift things around somewhere far away, in systems 4 or 5. Why?? I was fine with what Dorico had done until system 8, now I have to start the whole process again.

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4

I do agree with that. It should not be necessary to check an entire layout every time you e.g. put in a system break, at least not the part that precedes that. If only because that sort of behavior can encourage one to lock entire layouts before fine tuning them, which goes against Dorico’s own principles.

3 Likes