[jdeluyck]

I was wondering if you'd consider adding the possibility to jot just add a score to a set list, but allow to go to a certain bookmark in said score? 

We frequently perform just individual pieces from bigger works, and sofar I haven't found a way to do this.

[BRX]

Did you try snippets (that is an excerpt from the score with just the pages you need which you can label as you like and use in a setlist without having to duplicate the file)?

Also you can make smart buttons in a score (=song) with which you can jump to the part in a score you like (or in another song if needed).

I think there often is a bit confusion for new users (and even experienced ones) with the terminology of bookmarks, snippets, csv files, link points, actions, smart buttons so it might be good to consult the manual first (if you haven't so far) to see what's what and what they can do for you.

[jdeluyck]

I've now been using this piece of software for more than 8 years and I keep discovering new things 

I didn't know about the snipplet functionality. Having not tested it yet, does it actually keep in sync with the main big file? Ideally i'd not have the same thing twice in my scorelist - one big and then the (say 9) individual pieces.

I'll have a go and see how it works. Still think just linking to a bookmark would make more sense  but it's how I'd do it.

[BRX]

Yeah, I know the feeling. :-) (And didn't look at your join date).

Well, I don't really understand what you mean with "in sync". Of course each snippet is an individual entry, but can be deleted and created as needed. Or you just edit the pages of the "big score" to just show the part/pages you want to play. But you have somehow to tell MS what you actually want to display and show in the setlist. There's no automatic "syncing" or "keeping in sync".

[jdeluyck]

I meant, do annotations sync over? If you make them in a snippet, do they show up in the original and vice versa?

[BRX]

If you create a snippet you get a menu where you can choose to copy metadata and annotations. Try and see for yourself. But I don't think they sync automatically after that.

[Lawrie]

Why not import the score using a CSV file?  You get a song entry for each section and you get to choose the name for each section/song title.
that way, there's only one PDF.
Downside: if you add annotations while using the song title, then those annotations are not available when you view the entire work - work around: make a set list of all the song titles and don't bother with viewing the entire document.

[Zubersoft]

A snippet is just another song in the library which references the same file as the original but with a different page range. That is the best way to solve this problem with the features that are available. Bookmarks don't currently define a page range, so it creates all sorts of problems if I allowed those to be added to a setlist (on top of all the design/architecture issues that it would create). I've discussed this on the forum before, but I'm not excited about the idea of redesigning large parts of the app to support loading a bookmark as part of a setlist, as then every feature also has to support that, but the underlying code is not set up for that. It's something I'll revisit in the future.

Mike

[BRX]

Mike, I'm wondering, does the database keep annotations for pages of a song, which aren't in the active page range? Say, you have annotations in the page rannge 1-10, later change the page range to 11-20 because you want to display another part of the song, but change back to 1-10 later again. Are the annotations for these pages still there?

[itsme]

@BRX: you can easily investigate that yourself

[Lawrie]

<snip> A snippet is just another song in the library which references the same file as the original but with a different page range </snip>
Mike

Thanks Mike.  Your reply made me realise that I was conflating the function of the Snippet tool with the Snipping function in the annotations editor.  For some reason I had it in my head that the pdf got modified in the Snippet tool.

So I re-read the manual, and to make sure I have it right this time: basically the Snippet tool allows you to manually create a new song in the database in the same way that a CSV import would have done automatically, but with the added advantage of being able to optionally preserve any annotations that may already exist in the source song?

[Zubersoft]

Yes, that is correct Lawrie. It behaves exactly as you've described.

BRX - no, if you change the page order and the pages are removed, all the annotations are also removed as they are tied to the song pages, not the PDF pages (which is necessary how the page ordering feature works on top of support for multiple files in one song).

Mike

[jdeluyck]

I tested out the snipplet function - this works, but has the drawback that annotations are not synced between the master and the snipplet. Or atleast, whatever annotation I added on the snipplet did not show up on the master.

I'm also a bit confused now as to what the difference is between importing using a CSV, or using the snipplets function? Or is the end result the same - 1 PDF, different scores?

Is there a way except a setlist to re-combine those into 1?

[Lawrie]

Yes, that is correct Lawrie. It behaves exactly as you've described.
<snip>

Thanks Mike.

I tested out the snipplet function - this works, but has the drawback that annotations are not synced between the master and the snipplet. Or atleast, whatever annotation I added on the snipplet did not show up on the master.

I'm also a bit confused now as to what the difference is between importing using a CSV, or using the snipplets function? Or is the end result the same - 1 PDF, different scores?

Is there a way except a setlist to re-combine those into 1?

Annotations are stored in the database and are associated with the song, not the underlying PDF, thus an annotation made on a snippet song will not be seen in the source song*.

CSV vs Snippet - the end result is the same, it's just the path to get there that differs:  
a) a CSV import gives multiple songs that all use the same PDF - the CSV import automatically creates the songs.
b) a snippet is a manual feature that allows you to create song(s) that also use the same PDF.

A setlist would allow you to sequentially access each song as if it was a single song, and also maintain any annotations that exist in the individual songs.  Of course, if you use a setlist, you can also include other songs that are not in the shared PDF.  OR, if, as has happened to me in the past when playing in the pit for musicals, sometimes the MD will choose to repeat a song/number/section of the score and if you use a setlist you can have said song make multiple appearances.

You could also use the original source song that the snippets were made from, OR create a song that references the PDF in it's entirety.  Be aware that any annotations in the snippets will NOT appear in the song that references the entire PDF*.

* There is an option to "Embed Annotations" which will write them to the underlying PDF instead.  I haven't used this feature as I prefer to be able to create and/or edit my annotations without delay.  From page 133 of the manual:

Embed Annotations:
When the option to embed annotations is selected, the annotations will be saved in the underlying file instead of being managed and displayed only in MobileSheets. If using an image file, the annotations will be embedded in the image file permanently and there will no longer be any way to edit those annotations. If using a text or ChordPro file, the file will be converted to a PDF so that the annotations can be stored in it. The benefit of embedding annotations in a PDF is that the annotations can be seen and edited in external applications, and the annotations will also rotate with the page. The downside of embedding annotations is that they can only be edited in MobileSheets if you enable the "Allow editing of embedded PDF annotations" feature, which requires PDFs to be reloaded every time the user enters or exits the annotation editor, which can cause a delay.

[BRX]

@BRX: you can easily investigate that yourself

Sometimes (and often) I do, sometimes I don't. Here I wasn't just lazy (only a bit) but expecting Mike's answer with the intent to suggest such a feature which would be a way to change a big score to the parts you want to be "filtered" without losing annotations for other parts. But Mike's answer already shows that this isn't feasible.