Dolet^® 4 for Finale Release Notes

Version 4.8 for Mac OS X

June 9, 2009

Installation - Using Dolet - What's New - Translation Limits - Reporting Problems - Thank You!

Installation

To install the Dolet 4 for Finale plug-in, first quit out of Finale. Then simply drag the MusicXML folder containing the Dolet4.bundle file into your Finale plug-ins folder. If you have multiple versions of Finale on your computer, just make a copy of the MusicXML folder and place it in the each additional Finale plug-ins folder. When you restart Finale, the plug-ins will be available. Keep these release notes and the license files wherever you like.

Dolet 4 for Finale is not compatible with earlier versions of the Dolet for Finale plug-in. Remove any Dolet2.bundle and Dolet3.bundle files from Finale any plug-ins folders where you are installing the Dolet4.bundle file.

Dolet 4.8 for Finale does not support Finale 2010. While the software will install, the plug-in will not appear in the Finale 2010 plug-ins menu. Use Finale 2010's built-in MusicXML features to export and import MusicXML files. We plan to support Finale 2010 in a future version of the Dolet for Finale plug-in.

The Dolet 4 for Finale plug-in is a Universal binary and requires Mac OS 10.3 or later. If you need to run Dolet for Finale software on Mac OS 10.2, you need to stay with version 3.2 of the plug-in. The Dolet 4 for Finale plug-in cannot run under Rosetta, so only Finale 2007 through 2009 are supported on Intel-based Macs.

Using Dolet for Finale

Dolet software serves as a translator between music programs. These translations are done using the MusicXML file format. Dolet can read and write MusicXML files, allowing you to exchange music between Finale and any other program that can read or write MusicXML.

To bring MusicXML files into Finale, first create a new Finale document. Go to the Plug-ins menu and select the MusicXML submenu. Then select the "Import MusicXML..." item. If you have an empty Finale document open, Dolet 4 for Finale will import the MusicXML file into this empty document, making use of your document settings wherever possible. Otherwise, Dolet 4 will create a new default Finale file and import into that.

To bring files from other programs such as Sibelius and PDFtoMusic Pro into Finale, first save the files in these programs in MusicXML format. Then use the Import MusicXML feature to read the file into Finale.

To save a Finale document as a MusicXML file, go to the Plug-ins menu, the MusicXML submenu, and then select the "Export MusicXML..." item. You can choose to save files in MusicXML 2.0, Compressed MusicXML 2.0, MusicXML 1.1, and MusicXML 1.0 formats. The earlier versions are useful when sharing files with programs that do not yet support the newer versions of the MusicXML format.

If you want to read a Finale file in an earlier version of Finale, first save a MusicXML file in the newer version of Finale using Export MusicXML. Then read this MusicXML file in the older version of Finale using Import MusicXML.

You may translate an entire folder of Finale files to MusicXML format or vice versa. These batch routines will overwrite any files with the same name that are currently in that directory. Use the "Translate Folder of MusicXML Files..." menu item to save Finale files from your MusicXML files (batch import). Use the "Translate Folder of Finale Files..." menu item to save MusicXML files from your Finale files (batch export). Batch translation is not available during the 30-day free trial period.

Dolet 4 for Finale supports Finale 2004 through 2009 on Mac OS X. It will read and write files in MusicXML 1.0, MusicXML 1.1, and MusicXML 2.0 formats. When you do a batch export, the format used is based on the last MusicXML file you exported (MusicXML 2.0 by default).

When using Dolet 4 for Finale, please be sure to just use the full version from the plug-ins menu. Going back and forth between the MusicXML functions in the Plug-ins and File menus may confuse Finale and produce error messages. If this happens accidentally, just restart Finale to get things working correctly again.

What's New

Version 4.8 disables the plug-in from running in Finale 2010, where it would lead to incorrect results compared to Finale 2010's built-in MusicXML support. It also includes the following fixes:

Measure-attached items now export reliably from measures that do not use beat chart spacing.
Multiple text encoding changes in a text block no longer sometimes cause export to hang.
Import no longer fails when the open document has just one non-empty bar.

Version 4.7 added support for reading and writing files in the Open Score Format beta version 0.9.1. More information about Open Score Format is available at http://openscoreformat.sourceforge.net/.

Version 4.7 also included the following new features and fixes:

MusicXML 2.0 XSD validation is now available during the 30-day free trial period.
"Above Staff or Entry" positioning for expressions is now exported more accurately.
Hidden page-attached text blocks will no longer lead to export of invalid MusicXML files.
Finale 2009a and 2009b will no longer crash while exporting a note-attached expression in a staff that does not appear in the current system.

Fixes in previous releases are listed in the Dolet 4 for Finale Version History at http://www.recordare.com/finale/v4versions.html.

The Dolet 4 for Finale plug-in supports the MusicXML 2.0 format. Version 2.0 provides a compressed file format for MusicXML files, which use the .mxl file extension. These compressed files are usually 20 times smaller than the corresponding MusicXML file, making them much easier to share with other musicians.

Version 2.0 of the MusicXML format makes possible many of the new features supported in the Dolet 4 for Finale software, including:

Linked page-attached graphics
Export of linked measure-attached graphics
Page-attached text after page 1
Many line width document options
MIDI pan and channel volume settings
Piano pedal playback, including half-pedaling
Text tracking
Underline and strikeout text
Tick barlines
Pluck symbols (p, i, m, a)
Export of text blocks attached to multiple pages
Improved page numbering support
Improved export of chord symbol and fretboard formatting
Improved lyric elision support

Other new features in version 4 of the Dolet for Finale plug-in are:

Finale 2008 and 2009 support
Check for Updates menu item
Piano pedal line import
Fretboard import
Composite time signature import
Nested tuplet import
Capo chord symbol export
Better import of accidentals and ties, especially with MusicXML files created from Sibelius.
Better metronome mark import and export
Better export of page, system, and staff formatting
Less freezing of stem directions on import, leading to improved formatting
Improved export of overlapping group braces
Improved import of lyrics when lyrics are present in non-consecutive parts
Improved tie and slur export when voice 2 is used

Translation Limits

Any type of translation has limits. Things expressed in one language sometimes cannot be expressed the same way in another language. Sometimes the translator does not yet understand all the idioms and vocabulary in both languages. The Dolet software and MusicXML format provide much greater music notation accuracy than MIDI translations, but both types of limits apply to this software.

The Dolet for Finale plug-in supports most of the musical features that are shared between Finale and MusicXML. However, this Version 4 release does not support the following Finale features:

Figured bass
Beam extensions
Graphical Finale shape expressions
Many MIDI tool performance details
Exact articulations, expressions, and chord symbols in symbol fonts other than those provided with Finale or selected third parties (GoldenAgeMusic, Sonata, November, NovemberExtra, Toccata, Bill Duncan's ChordSuf)
Importing guitar bends
Exact positioning for articulations
Importing measure widths, beat charts, and exact note positions

Reporting Problems

Given Finale's great flexibility, you may find problems in how we handle scores set up in your particular format. Please contact us at if you encounter problems with our software.

If you do find a problem, please give us a description of what the Dolet plug-in is doing, compared to what you expect it to do. Attaching the Finale file that shows the problem will help us to find and fix the problem more quickly. Please let us know which versions of Finale and OS X you are using. Should you see a message box reporting an error, please be sure to include the text of the message.

Thank You!

Thank you very much for your interest in Recordare^® and MusicXML™ software. We greatly appreciate your support of an open, Internet-friendly format for representing musical scores.

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Last updated September 23, 2009.

Dolet® 4 for Finale Release Notes