Automating Finale for Windows

A frequent question for Windows users of Finale is if there is any equivalent to Keyboard Maestro, the popular macro utility for MacOS. Unfortunately the answer is no: There is no solution for Windows that is both powerful and easy to use.

The available solutions – AutoIT and AutoHotkey – are still powerful, but nobody would ever really call them easy to use (especially not in comparison to Keyboard Maestro).

With that said, I’m going to give a brief tutorial on how to begin using AutoHotkey to control Finale, at least to do simple tasks like call up menu items. I may tackle more complex automation in the future.

AutoHotkey is actually an offshoot of AutoIT, and as its name suggests it is particularly well suited to the task of creating hotkeys. You can create scripts using any simple text editor, such as the excellent Notepad++. I’m going to start my macro file off with a series of parameters I’ve cobbled together through internet searches. Most of these parameters aren’t super important to what we’re about to do and in fact could be left off, but it’s easy enough to add them in:

#NoEnv
SetWorkingDir %A_ScriptDir%
CoordMode, Mouse, Window
SendMode Input
#SingleInstance Force
SetTitleMatchMode 1
DetectHiddenWindows On
#WinActivateForce
SetControlDelay 1
SetWinDelay 0
SetKeyDelay -1
SetMouseDelay -1
SetBatchLines -1

Some of the more useful lines in here are:

  • “SetTitleMatchMode 1” – this tells AutoHotkey to only loosely match the name of the active Window, which is important because the name of the window will change with each document, but will always start with “Finale”. For this reason, we don’t want it trying to find an exact Window name.
  • “#SingleInstance Force” – This tells AutoHotkey you want only one instance of the script to run at once – useful during setting up your macro file.

Following this preamble, add this line of code to tell AutoHotkey to only apply the hotkeys when Finale is active:

#IfWinActive Finale ahk_class Finale

Now we can start adding hotkeys. A hotkey is defined by first declaring the Hotkey followed by two colons. The modifier keys each have special characters:

  • Ctrl is ^
  • Shift is +
  • Alt is !
  • Win is #

I’m going to set up F4 to access the Speedy Entry Tool. I start with this:

F4::

Note that if I had wanted, say Ctrl+Shift+F4 I would have used ^+F4::

Next I add the code to execute. This could be as simple as sending alternative key strokes… In fact, for years I used the following as my execute code:

Send, !ts

Meaning “send Alt+t” (which calls up the Tools menu) “then still hold Alt send s” (which activates Speedy Entry). How did I know what letters to use? In Windows menus, items are keyboard accessible by hitting Alt and the underlined character in the menu item.

I’ve never really had issues with using this method, but there is another way, which is to use the WinMenuSelectItem command, like this:

WinMenuSelectItem, , , Tools, Speedy Entry

Let’s pull this apart. The first element is the command itself, WinMenuSelectItem, which tells AutoHotkey to activate a menu item. This is followed by two parameters WinTitle and WinText that I have chosen to leave blank (parameters in AutoHotkey are seperated by commas), as in my experience their usage seems a little finicky. This is followed by the name of the menu to access, followed by the menu item itself. If there were any submenus involved, they would also get listed. As an example, if I wanted to access the ‘View/Show/Hidden Notes and Rests’ command I would use:

WinMenuSelectItem, , , View, Show, Hidden Notes and Rests

I should point out that I try to be very accurate with capitalization here, though AutoHotkey actually doesn’t really care. AutoIT does, however, and since I have also used that for some Finale automation in the past I’ve gotten into the habit.

Finally, end each hotkey macro with Return. If you are going to be doing multiple hotkeys in the same file you might find it handy to write notes to yourself using comments, which start with double semi-colons ;;. There is no limit to the number of different hotkeys you can add to a single file, though trying to assign the same hotkeys to different macros will result in an error.

Save your file with the suffix .ahk. You can either run the script file directly, or convert it to a standalone executable file (.exe). I ensure my macros are always available to me by also dropping a shortcut to my script in my StartUp folder.

Here is the entire file:

#NoEnv
SetWorkingDir %A_ScriptDir%
CoordMode, Mouse, Window
SendMode Input
#SingleInstance Force
SetTitleMatchMode 1
DetectHiddenWindows On
#WinActivateForce
SetControlDelay 1
SetWinDelay 0
SetKeyDelay -1
SetMouseDelay -1
SetBatchLines -1

#IfWinActive Finale ahk_class Finale

;;SPEEDY ENTRY
F4::
WinMenuSelectItem, Finale, Finale, Tools, Speedy Entry
Return

I hope this helps some poor Windows users out there. I really, really wish there was a solution as easy to use as Keyboard Maestro on Mac, but with a little effort AutoHotkey really does offer a similar level of power.

-Jacob Winkler

Finale 26.2 Hotfix update

This is an addendum to the announcement yesterday of the Finale v26.2 update; This is mostly important for users who already installed the original v26.2 update; version 26.2.0.456.

Shortly after releasing Finale version 26.2 yesterday, MakeMusic became aware of an issue in which the document setting for “Under/Outer Note” ties was placing the tie end too far to the left of the notehead.

The good news is that this problem lives in Finale’s drawing engine, meaning that your document data is safe and unchanged.

Another issue was reported for documents set to “Keep Current” for grace note spacing, where if Music Spacing is applied, horizontal positioning of grace notes can unexpectedly be altered. 

MakeMusic has already fixed and fully tested these two issues, and have pushed out a hot fix today. If you have already installed v 26.2, you will get another in-app notification to install the 26.2.1 hotfix next time you launch Finale.

The main installer downloads have been updated as well as of today.

Finale 25.5 update released

MakeMusic continues its recent pattern of releasing incremental point updates at regular intervals to fix bugs and make minor improvements to Finale’s UI.

Finale 25.5 is the latest of these, offering a few minor enhancements while fixing some bugs which were evident, particularly on the newest OS versions (like Mac OS X High Sierra).

For instance, the following new features of this upgrade are very much “under the hood” type enhancements; stuff that subtly makes Finale easier to use:

1) Garritan Instruments for Finale. The Garritan Instruments for Finale installer has been updated to improve speed and produce a higher installation success rate.

2) Finale’s file structure has been updated in an effort to make the application more localizable.

3) MusicXML. Measure number text is now exported when a file contains measure numbers that are repeated in multiple movements or sections.

On Mac, users can now access the clear key functionality of a full keyboard on a laptop computer by using FUNCTION+SHIFT+DELETE.

If you plan to use CLEAR or FUNCTION+SHIFT+DELETE when working in PART view, keep in mind that Clear functionality is a Stack operation, meaning that rather than clearing only notes and other staff attached objects, it will also delete global system text such as tempo text or rehearsal marks affecting all other parts. Use with caution.

The update includes a number of little UI fixes. For instance, text in a number of dialog boxes now displays correctly.

And, good news for for Mac High Sierra users: a whole bunch of crash scenarios have been sussed out and fixed.  The Finale installer ReadMe file has a complete list of these.

While there isn’t anything really “exciting” about this update, what *is* exciting is the way MakeMusic has been supporting their Finale notation product with more frequent point release updates to fix bugs and make Finale run more smoothly.

For more information, visit www.finalemusic.com

 

 

 

Finale 25.1 released

10/19/16 : Coinciding with the hoopla and fanfare of the release of Steinberg’s new Dorico notation program, MakeMusic today released their first incremental upgrade to Finale 25.

MakeMusic seems to be on a mission to increase the pace of their development of Finale, and this free incremental upgrade is a case in point. Along with the usual minor bug and cosmetic fixes typical for a .1 point release, there is a small but healthy list of new features and UI improvements to sweeten the pot:

It is now possible to export not only the score, but the the parts to MusicXML by selecting File > Export > Linked Parts to MusicXML.

In the Score Manager, you can now Mute or UnMute every instrument in one shot by clicking the M button at the top of the column. Solo works the same way, (click the S button), which simplifies toggling between Mute and Solo configurations more easily in the Score Manager.

Note that it still isn’t possible to toggle between selection of a single instrument and selection of every instrument except the current one by clicking an instrument while holding down a modifier key, as is possible in DP and other programs, but this addition of a basic global select all / none is an excellent incremental step.

The “Repeat Endings” sub-dialog of Document Options has a new feature for controlling the backward repeat bracket position:

fin-backward-repeat-bracket-positon

First ending brackets can now be set to align by default with the thin inner line of the backward repeat rather than the end of the repeat symbol, so the first and second ending repeat brackets don’t appear to overlap one another.

A subtle but nice improvement is the addition of increment / decrement arrows at the bottom of the scroll bars in the Key Signature dialog, making it easier to select a Key Signature:

fin-key-sig-dialog

A new “Allow Transparency” checkbox allows exported graphics to have  transparent backgrounds when exporting EPS, PDF, PNG, SVG or TIFF graphics.

In previous versions of Finale, I always found the “slider” selection method for Number of Beats and Beat Duration in Finale’s Time Signature dialog to be a bit frustrating, as it was pretty easy to slide right past the target values:

fin-old-time-sig-selection

In Finale 25.1, these sliders have been replaced. Number of beats can either be incremented / decremented using the arrow keys, or typing in the number of beats directly. Beat duration can be selected from a pop up menu:

fin-new-time-sig-selection

As with previous versions of Finale, time signature denominators can be selected from whole note to 32nd (with their corresponding dotted variants).

Rewire mode has been improved in Finale. You now have the choice of using either Finale’s tempo map or syncing tempo to your  DAW via a new Slave to ReWire Tempo check box in the playback transport. A Sync button has also been added to the Playback Controls to update your score data when using a DAW to playback:

fin-slave-to-rewire

Among the noteworthy fixes:

Finale 25.1 is now optimized for high DPI Windows computers. This means that the tool pallets will now display at a more optimal size on high DPI Windows hardware.

Finale’s graphic output is now true black.

There is no question that Finale 25 is a the most significant Finale upgrade in a long time, and actually seeing useful new features and UI tweaks in a point upgrade like this is very encouraging.

However, some of the excitement of the new architecture and excellent new features continues to be tempered by the unavailability as yet of compatible releases of some of the popular pro level third party plugins. Here is the current status as I am aware of it:

Robert Patterson’s website states that Patterson Plugin Collection for Finale and Copyist’s Helper plugins are optimized for Finale 25 (64 bit).

There is currently a v3 beta of TG Tools for Finale 25 available on Tobias Geisen’s website.

It is unknown at this time when Jari Williamsson (JW plugins) will release 64 bit versions of all of his plugins compatible with Finale 25. As of this writing, there are 13 plugin beta versions for Windows posted on his website, but nothing yet currently available for Mac. JW plugins are (to date) freeware, so if you find them useful, consider making a donation to help with future development.

Finale, Finally…

8/16/16 • The latest version of Finale was announced today by MakeMusic, and it’s evident that MakeMusic has put a good deal of thought and effort into this release.

Finale is finally a true 64-bit application. On my venerable 2009 MacPro running OS X 10.11.6, after installation, I opened a few scores to poke around in. The first thing I noticed was a substantial speed increase with certain operations. For instance, on a large score, Human Playback, which was glacial in 2014.5, loads almost instantaneously. Editing within a larger file seems much more responsive.

more >> “Finale, Finally…”

Plug-ins that run other plug-ins in Sibelius

Since Sibelius version 1, plug-ins have been able to run other plug-ins. For example, the Proof-read plug-in is just a container that lets you call the main Run() method of the plug-ins Check Pizzicatos, Check Clefs,… so you can do all your proofreading at once. These plug-ins were designed to be called by other plug-ins, and typically do not display a dialog when they run.

.image001

This document will discuss plug-ins that call the top-level Run() method of other plug-ins, which is equivalent to running the plugin from the plug-in menu.

more >> “Plug-ins that run other plug-ins in Sibelius”