ABC convert link: Tell me what you think

Whistle
1

Many people don’t know how to use concertina.net’s
Tune-o-tron to convert ABC to sheet music. I thought
it might be nice if we could make links for a posted ABC
so that people could just click and get the sheet music,
but the ABC would still be available in the post if some-
one wanted it (i.e., for transposing or editing).

The way the Tune-o-Tron works, though, you can’t
encode the ABC information in a link. So, I created a
wrapper that receives ABC info from a link and reformats
it so that it can be sent to Tune-o-Tron. I also made a
webpage that you can put ABC into, and it will give you
PhpBB code for a link that you can post directly into C&F.
This way, I hope, people will be able to post a link to
sheet music (via concertina.net) along with ABC code.
That way, maybe people woun’t have to ask for sheet
music every time ABC is posted.

So, here’s an example of how I might use this tool. Say
I want to post this ABC to C&F:

X: 1
T: Donegal Lass, The
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
R: jig
K: Dmaj
Ace aed|edB A3|GBd G3|FAd F3|
Ace aed|cdB A2a|aed cdB|ABG A3:|
GBd G3|FAd F3|e2e ecA|e2e ecA|
GBd G3|FAd F2a|aed cdB|ABG A3:|

I highlight the ABC code starting at X:1, hit Edit->Copy in my
browser, and go to this URL:
http://natetunes.com/convertABC/make_ABC_URL.html

I then put my cursor in the large textbox and hit Edit->Paste.
Now that the ABC code from above is in the textbox, I hit the
“Create Link” button. This brings up a new textbox with the
[code for the link already highlighted. All you have to do
is click Edit->Copy again, then go to C&F and hit Edit->Paste.
Now you have a link in your post that looks like this:

[url=http://natetunes.com/convertABC/tunes_convert.html?ABCcode=X%3A%201\nT%3A%20Donegal%20Lass%2C%20The\nM%3A%206%2F8\nL%3A%201%2F8\nR%3A%20jig\nK%3A%20Dmaj\nAce%20aed|edB%20A3|GBd%20G3|FAd%20F3|\nAce%20aed|cdB%20A2a|aed%20cdB|ABG%20A3%3A|\nGBd%20G3|FAd%20F3|e2e%20ecA|e2e%20ecA|\nGBd%20G3|FAd%20F2a|aed%20cdB|ABG%20A3%3A|]Click here to see the ABC as Sheet Music](code%20for%20the%20link%20already%20highlighted.%20All%20you%20have%20to%20do%0Ais%20click%20Edit-%3ECopy%20again,%20then%20go%20to%20C&F%20and%20hit%20Edit-%3EPaste.%0ANow%20you%20have%20a%20link%20in%20your%20post%20that%20looks%20like%20this:%0A%0A%5Burl=http%3A//natetunes.com/convertABC/tunes_convert.html?ABCcode=X%3A%201%5CnT%3A%20Donegal%20Lass%2C%20The%5CnM%3A%206%2F8%5CnL%3A%201%2F8%5CnR%3A%20jig%5CnK%3A%20Dmaj%5CnAce%20aed%7CedB%20A3%7CGBd%20G3%7CFAd%20F3%7C%5CnAce%20aed%7CcdB%20A2a%7Caed%20cdB%7CABG%20A3%3A%7C%5CnGBd%20G3%7CFAd%20F3%7Ce2e%20ecA%7Ce2e%20ecA%7C%5CnGBd%20G3%7CFAd%20F2a%7Caed%20cdB%7CABG%20A3%3A%7C%5DClick%20here%20to%20see%20the%20ABC%20as%20Sheet%20Music)

When you click that link, it goes to my wrapper, which redirects
to concertina.net showing the sheet music.

Tell me what you think.

2

Very nice!

Now you have to give it a spiffy name, like Link-O-Tron. :slight_smile:

Since the ABC is posted with the (long) URL, something like tinyurl.com would be handy with this, too.

http://tinyurl.com/lfo66n

3

second the “very nice”!!

4

It should be linked with text that says
“Click here to see the ABC as Sheet Music”
(which is changeable in the creation tool).

That way no one but the poster (and anyone
hitting the quote button) have to see the whole
link. Or are you worried about the amount of text
necessary for the database to carry around?

5

No, not really. Just hoping phpBB doesn’t break the string or auto-truncate anything. :slight_smile:

Off-topic: It’s funny how serendipity or synchronicity works.

Last week I sat down to study the tunes from Brian Finnegan’s first solo album, When the Party’s Over. Including The Donegal Lass, the last track on the CD. A few days later it popped up here with your transcription, fearfaoin. Then last night I went to see Paddy Keenan, and his guitarist Fionn Ó Lochlainn played a solo set beginning with … The Donegal Lass. And now again you use it as your ABC sample. And this coming Saturday I get to hang out with Brian for a while.

OK, OK, ye gods of Serendip! I get the message! I’ll play the bloody tune!

:laughing:

6

yeah…if the hints are getting that blatant it’s best to go with 'em!

7

I see… Hm. Also, if people wish to use it for email,
URL shortening would be useful. I’ll have to see if
bit.ly or tinyurl are exposed enough to allow for
automatic creation. That might be a nice feature.

8

That’s very nice, Fearfoin.

I see that two or three incarnations of forum-software ago, Rick or someone had set up some software that did that online. I’m not sure how long it lasted. Never did see it in action.

It did take me three clicks of the page before I saw the Stave. I’m not complaining! We have a procedure. Well done, sir!

9

Click here to see the ABC as Sheet Music


Just testing!

10

How long are files kept in concertina.net’s temp folder?

just testing…

Benedict’s Fancy pdf

11

Not very long, I think. I guess we’ll find out in this case, won’t we? :wink:

12

20 minutes, according to their documentation.
That’s exactly why I did this, because you can’t
just link to the graphics file. So we have to have
concertina.net regenerate every time someone
clicks the link.

13

That’s not supposed to happen. What browser are you using?
Is it consistent (i.e., if you click the link again, do you need
to click the button to get it going)?

P.S., I definitely want people to complain, so I know what
needs to be fixed!

14

Gipsy’s Hornpipe. Click here to see the ABC as Sheet Music

Works very nice, thank you!
Perhaps the “copy to clipboard” step can be part of the link creation?

15

I tried to find a way to do that, but could only
find methods that required Flash, or would only
work in Internet Explorer. If anyone has any
suggestions, please let me know.

16

I use ABC Explorer, a small freeware programme which converts, sorts, stores and plays, as a midi, ABC,s, is updated regularly and seems to have a host of features which I have no need of; including it would seem the automatic generation of chords, editing and composing.

Prior to discovering this programme I always used concertina net’s conversion programme but now have no need; highly recommended - http://abc.stalikez.info/abcex.php.

Paul

17

Yes, there are tons of nice ABC programs.
I just wanted something to make it easier
for newbies who haven’t yet realized that
ABC can be converted to sheet music.
I’ve been surprised how frequently this has
come up.

Once someone knows the score, they can
download a slick editor and they won’t need
the links. Though it can be handy if you don’t
feel like cutting and pasting yourself…

I’m curious about how you use ABC Explorer
when surfing C&F, westwind. If you see ABC
code here that you want to convert, would
you bring up ABC Explorer and then cut and
paste the ABC from C&F into ABC Explorer?
Or does it have some sort of hook into your
browser so you don’t have to go through that
step? I was toying with the idea of creating
a Firefox plugin that would add a menu item
when you highlighted ABC code to let you
automatically bring that ABC up somewhere.
But I don’t want to bother with that if some
one already has software that works that way.

18

UPDATE:
I added a button to the link creation page that takes
your long link to tinyURL.com if you want to use a
shortened link instead. Once you go there, though,
you’re on your own, so you have to copy the shortened
link yourself and put it here with any [url] tags you deem
appropriate.

Handy if you want to email someone a sheetmusic link.

19

Yes, I would just open ABC Explorer, highlight, copy and either paste the ABC into explorer or just use the programmes import from clipboard feature (F9).