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GNU LilyPond
Welcome to the home of the GNU Music Typesetter
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Node:Overview, Next:Note entry, Up:Reference Manual
Overview
The purpose of LilyPond is explained informally by the term `music typesetter'. This is not a fully correct name: not only does the program print musical symbols, it also makes aesthetic decisions. Symbols and their placements are generated from a high-level musical description. In other words, LilyPond would be best described by `music compiler' or `music to notation compiler'.
LilyPond is linked to GUILE, GNU's Scheme library for extension programming. The Scheme library provides the glue that holds together the low-level routines and separate modules which are written in C++.
When lilypond is run to typeset sheet music, the following happens:
- GUILE Initialization: various scheme files are read
- parsing: first standard
lyinitialization files are read, and then the userlyfile is read. - interpretation: the music in the file is processed "in playing order", i.e. the order that you use to read sheet music, or the order in which notes are played. The result of this step is a typesetting specification.
- typesetting: The typesetting specification is solved: positions and formatting is calculated.
- the visible results ("virtual ink") are written to the output file.
During these stages different types of data play the the main role: during parsing, Music objects are created. During the interpretation, contexts are constructed, and with these contexts a network of graphical objects ("grobs") is created. These grobs contain unknown variables, and the network forms a set of equations. After solving the equations and filling in these variables, the printed output (in the form of molecules) is written to an output file.
These threemanship of tasks (parsing, translating, typesetting) and data-structures (music, context, graphical objects) permeates the entire design of the program.
Please send GNU LilyPond questions and comments to lilypond-user@gnu.org.
Please send comments on these web pages to lilypond@packages.debian.org
Copyright (c) 1997--2001 Han-Wen Nienhuys and Jan Nieuwenhuizen.
Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium, provided this notice is preserved.