Provided by: abcm2ps_6.6.17-1ubuntu1_amd64 bug

NAME

       abcm2ps — translate ABC music notation to PostScript (or SVG)

SYNOPSIS

       abcm2ps [options]  [abc-file [file-options]]  [...]

       abcm2ps [-h]

DESCRIPTION

       abcm2ps translates tunes written in the ABC music notation format to customary sheet music
       scores in PostScript or SVG. It is based on abc2ps 1.2.5 and was developed mainly to print
       Baroque  organ  scores  that  have  independent  voices played on multiple keyboards and a
       pedal-board. The program has  since  been  extended  to  support  various  other  notation
       conventions in use for sheet music.

       Options  given  immediately  after  the  command name apply to the run as a whole; options
       given after an ABC file name apply to that file.

       Formatting parameters can also be set in `format files' and in the ABC files themselves.

OPTIONS

       Options may be grouped if they have no arguments; the last option in a group may  have  an
       argument.

       Where appropriate, starting an option (group) with +, or finishing it with -, disables the
       option(s).

       --parameter value
                 Set formatting parameter parameter          to value. Values established in this
                 way  will  override  values given in format files, and be implicitly locked. See
                 below for a list of formatting parameters.

       -a a      Maximal horizontal compression when staff breaks are chosen automatically.  Must
                 be between 0 and 1 (default: 0.65) See the maxshrink parameter below.

       -A        This  option  (`annotate') inserts reference elements into the PostScript or SVG
                 output.

       -B b      Try  to  typeset  b  bars  on  each  staff  line.  See  the  barsperstaff
                 formatting parameter below.

       -b b      Start measure numbering at b.  See the measurefirst formatting parameter below.

       -c        The  continuation symbol is implicitly appended to each music line. This amounts
                 to automatic line breaking.  See the continueall formatting parameter below.

       -D directory
                 Search format files in directory.

       -d length Set the minimum vertical interstaff space to length (default:  46pt).   See  the
                 staffsep formatting parameter below.

       -E        Output is generated in EPS format, one file per page.

                 In  this mode, each tune is written to a separate numbered file unless the -O is
                 given; output cannot be directed to standard output.

                 EPS files are useful for embedding into PostScript documents, but  can  also  be
                 used to generate images in (pixel-oriented) graphics formats via GhostScript.

       -e list   Select which tunes from an ABC file to print.  list is a comma-separated list of
                 tune numbers (as per the `X:' header). The -e option must  occur  after  an  ABC
                 file name and applies to that file. Ranges of tune numbers may be specified like
                 t1-t2; t2 may be omitted which means `all  remaining  tunes  until  the  end  of
                 file'.  Note  that  filtering  may  cause problems, e.g., with global (non-tune)
                 definitions in the ABC file.

       -F file   Read the format file file. If file      does not have a suffix, .fmt is implied.

       +F        Do not read the default format file.

       -f        Enable flat beams in bagpipe tunes. See the flatbeamsformatting parameter below.

       -G        Omit slurs on grace notes. See the graceslurs formatting parameter below.

       -g        Produce SVG output instead of EPS. In this mode, each tune goes  to  a  separate
                 numbered  output  file  unless  the  -O  is  specified. If output is directed to
                 standard output (-O-), all SVG images are output without an XML header.

       -H        Display the current values of the formatting parameters.

       -h        Display program usage hints and quit.

       -i        Display red circles around errors in PostScript output

       -I length Indent the first line of the tune  by  length  (default:  0).   See  the  indent
                 formatting parameter below.

       -jb[b]    Output  a measure number every b measures. If b is 0, the measure number appears
                 at the left of each staff. The trailing b causes a box to be drawn  around  each
                 measure number (default: no measure numbering).

                 See the measurenb formatting parameter below.

       -l        Generate landscape output. See the landscape formatting parameter below.

       -M        Suppress end-of-tune lyrics. See the writefields w parameter below.

       -m length Set  the  left  margin to length (default: 1.8cm). See the leftmargin formatting
                 parameter below.

       -N[mode]  Number pages according to the mode:

                 0         no page numbers

                 1         page numbers at top left of page

                 2         page numbers at top right of page

                 3         page numbers at top left of even-numbered pages,  top  right  of  odd-
                           numbered pages

                 4         page  numbers  at  top  right of even-numbered pages, top left of odd-
                           numbered pages

                 For compatibility, -N is equivalent to -N2 (default: -N0).

                 If a header is defined using the  header            formatting  parameter,  this
                 option is ignored.

       +N        Equivalent to -N0 (no page numbering).

       -n        Include  notes  and  history  from  ABC  tune  `N:' fields.  See the writefields
                 formatting parameter below.

       -O [directory][name]
                 Define the output file directory and/or name.  By default, the  output  goes  to
                 the  current  directory,  and  the  file name is `Out.ps' for PostScript output,
                 `Outnnn.eps' for EPS output (see -E), `Outnnn.svg' for SVG output  (see  options
                 -g        and -v), or `Out.xhtml' for XHTML+SVG (see -X).

                 When name is present, it replaces `Out' in the output file name. If name      is
                 =, it is replaced by the name of the ABC source file.

                 If name is -       and standard PostScript or embeddable SVG output is selected,
                 the output will be sent to standard output.

       +O        Revert to the default output directory and file name.

       -q        Quiet mode; display only error messages.

       -s scale  Set  the  page  scale  factor  to scale. Note that the header and footer are not
                 scaled (default: 0.75).

                 See the scale formatting parameter below.

       -S        Secure mode; disables file inclusion  via  %%format  and  %%EPS              and
                 disallows direct PostScript injection via %%beginps and %%postscript.

       -Tn[voice], +Tn[voice]
                 Activate  (or  deactivate)  tabulature  drawing.  n  is the tabulature number as
                 defined in %%tabulature           (up to a maximum of 8 tabulatures), and  voice
                 is the voice name, full name or subname as found in V:. When this is absent, the
                 option applies to all voices. Up to 4  such  options  may  be  given.  See  also
                 format.txt.

       -u        Use  implicit  decorations  as  in  abc2ps (default: off).  See the abc2pscompat
                 formatting parameter below.

       -V        Output version number and quit.

       -v        Produce SVG output instead of PostScript. In this  mode  each  page  goes  to  a
                 different numbered file. Output to standard output is disallowed.

       -w length Adjust the right margin such that the staff width is length (default: none).

                 See the staffwidth formatting parameter below.

       -x        Include  the  `X:'  tune  number  in  the title.  See the writefields formatting
                 parameter below.

       -X        Produce XML+SVG output instead of PostScript.  See -O for output file naming.

       -0        Split tunes across page breaks  if  necessary.   See  the  splittune  formatting
                 parameter below.

       -1        Output one tune per page. See the oneperpage formatting parameter below.

FORMATTING PARAMETERS

       The  following  formatting  parameters can be used in format files. They can also occur in
       ABC files when they are preceded by %%,        or on the command line (using a double dash
       to introduce them).

       Parameters specified on the command line or within an ABC file override definitions of the
       same parameter in a format file.

       If the lock keyword is specified at the end of a  parameter  list,  the  value  cannot  be
       changed later unless the later definition also uses lock. There is an implicit lock at the
       end of any parameter specified on the command line.

       Abcm2ps distinguishes between "global" and "local" parameter settings. Global settings can
       be  established  through  the  use of format files, or by specifying formatting parameters
       outside of tunes, i.e., at the beginning of a file before the first tune's  `X:'  or  `T:'
       line,  or  after  the  blank line at the end of a tune before the next tune's `X:' or `T:'
       line. Local settings can be specified inside a tune, and will revert to the current global
       setting  at  the  end of the tune. Do also note that the result of setting some parameters
       depends on where they occur in the source file, i.e.,  setting  topmargin  within  a  tune
       applies  only  to  the second and subsequent pages of that tune, not the first page, since
       when the local topmargin setting is seen, output of the tune has already started.

       abc2pscompat boolean
                 If true, set M as the +tenuto+ decoration and do  a  pitch  translation  if  the
                 notes  are  too  high for a bass clef. Also, an octave translation is applied to
                 bass and alto parts (default: 0; command line: -u)

       alignbars int
                 Align the bars of the next int lines of music. This works only  when  the  music
                 contains only one voice (no V: or %%staves) (default: 0).

       aligncomposer int
                 Define  where to display the composer field. A negative value displays it flush-
                 left, a value of zero centered, and a positive value flush-right (default: 1).

       annotationfont font [encoding] size
                 Set the annotation font to font with size size (default: Helvetica 12)

       autoclef boolean
                 Adjust the clefs when they are not defined in `K:' or `V:' lines (default: 1).

       barnumbers int
                 Synonym for measurenb.

       barsperstaff int
                 Try to typeset with int bars per line (default: 0; command line: -B, +b)

       beginps   Start a sequence of PostScript code lines extending until the next  endps  line.
                 This  parameter  may  only occur within ABC and format files, not on the command
                 line.

                 Each line between beginps         and endps is included in the PostScript output
                 file. The material may not exceed 128 KiB in size.

                 When  the  output  format  is  SVG, the PostScript code is executed by the small
                 built-in PostScript interpreter.  Sequences which cannot be executed (like  font
                 redefinitions) must be made conditional based on the svg        symbol:

       /svg where {pop} {PostScript code that abcm2ps cannot execute} ifelse

       beginsvg  Start  a  sequence  of SVG code lines extending until the next endsvg line. This
                 parameter may only occur within ABC and format files, not on the command line.

                 Each line between beginsvg and endsvg is included in the SVG output file.   This
                 makes  it  possible  to  add  CSS  to the generated SVG files.  The parameter is
                 ignored if SVG  generation  has  already  started  (i.e.,  after  the  first  K:
                 information field.)

       bgcolor colour
                 Define the background colour of SVG images. This parameter is only used when the
                 output is pure SVG (options -g and -v).

                 The colour may be a colour name (white) or an RGB colour in hexadecimal notation
                 (#faf0e6).

       botmargin length
                 Set the bottom margin to length (default: 1cm)

       breakoneoln boolean
                 If this is set, on finding an end-of-line (eoln), pretend that there was a space
                 before the next note or rest. This prevents a beam to be continued  between  two
                 input lines (default: 1).

       bstemdown boolean
                 If  this  is  set,  the  stem  of  the  note  on the middle of the staff extends
                 downwards. Otherwise it extends up or  down  depending  on  the  preceding  note
                 (default: 0).

       comball boolean
                 If this is set together with combinevoices, voice combination takes place in all
                 cases. Otherwise, notes which are too close together in pitch  (i.e.,  a  second
                 interval, in unison, or inverted) are not combined.

       combinevoices boolean
                 If  this  is set, simultaneous notes of the same duration belonging to voices on
                 the same staff are combined into chords.  (default: 0).

       composerfont font [encoding] size
                 Set the `composer' font to font with size size (default: Times-Italic 14)

       composerspace length
                 Set the vertical space before the composer name to length (Default: 0.2cm)

       contbarnb boolean
                 If this is not set, the bar numbers of second repeats are set to  those  of  the
                 corresponding  first repeats. If this is set, all bars are numbered sequentially
                 (default: 0).

       continueall boolean
                 If this is set to true, ignore the line breaks in a tune  (default:  0;  command
                 line: -c, +c)

                 This parameter is deprecated in favour of linebreak <none>.

       dateformat format
                 Format  for  date  and  time output. The admissible values of this parameter are
                 described in the documentation for the strftime(3) C library function. Note that
                 percent signs need to be escaped (default: "b e, Y H:M")

       deco name c_func ps_func h wl wr [str]
                 Define  a decoration. This is an experimental feature which is subject to change
                 in future releases and requires good knowledge of the internals of abcm2ps.  See
                 the files format.txt and deco.abc for details.

       decoration character
                 Define  the  decoration  separator. It may be set to either ! (the default) or +
                         (for compatibility with the ABC 2.0 standard).

       dynalign boolean
                 When set, horizontally align dynamic marks (default: 1)

       dynamic position
                 Set the position of dynamic marks (`crescendo', `diminuendo') in relation to the
                 staff. The position       may be 0 (or auto) for automatic positioning depending
                 on the presence and position of lyrics, 1 or  above  to  place  them  above  the
                 staff, or 2 or below to place them below the staff.

                 If  this  parameter occurs outside a tune or inside a tune header, it applies to
                 all voices. If it occurs inside a tune body, it applies  to  the  current  voice
                 only.

                 This  parameter  may  also  be set using the dyn= key of the V:      information
                 field.

       encoding enc
                 Define the character encoding of subsequent ABC strings.  This parameter is  the
                 same  as  abc-charset.   The recognised charset encodings and associated integer
                 values are: us-ascii or utf-8 (0); iso-8859-1        or latin1  (1);  iso-8859-2
                          or latin2 (2); iso-8859-3         or latin3 (3); iso-8859-4          or
                 latin4 (4); iso-8859-9      or latin5 (5 or 9); iso-8859-10 or latin6         (6
                 or  10).  The  value  native means that special characters are directly accessed
                 from PostScript code.

       flatbeams boolean
                 Draw flat beams (default: 0; command line: -f).

       font font [[encoding] scale]
                 Define a font and its encoding. Use this parameter when you  want  to  refer  to
                 specific fonts in ABC files/tunes. It must occur before any PostScript output is
                 written, generally in a format file.

                 encoding defaults to the encoding set up by the encoding parameter.

                 scale is the width factor to apply to the Times-Roman  character  width.  It  is
                 needed  to  adjust  the string width in case computation with the default widths
                 gives erroneous values; if strings clash, set scale to a value less than 1.0, if
                 there is too much space, set it to a value greater than 1.0.

       footer text
                 Define  the  text  printed  at the bottom of every page. There may be one or two
                 lines. When there are two lines, these must be separated by the characters  `\n'
                 (not  a  real  newline). Each of the lines consists of three areas, left, center
                 and right, which are separated by tabs (real tabs, not '\t') and may be empty  -
                 if the left area is empty, the text must be double-quoted.

                 If  the  footer begins with `-', it will not be printed on the first page of the
                 document.

                 The `$' character introduces variable expansion:

                 $d        The date and time of last modification of the current ABC input file

                 $D        The current date and time

                 $F        The current input file name

                 $Ix       The value of header x of the tune

                 $P        The current page number

                 $P0       The current pagenumber (when even)

                 $P1       The current pagenumber (when odd)

                 $T        The current tune title

                 $V        `abcm2ps-' followed by the program's version number

                 For example, the command  line  option  -N3  is  equivalent  to  `%%header  "$P0
                 $P1"' (note the two tabs). (Default: none)

       footerfont font [encoding] size
                 Set the footer font to font with size size (default: Times-Roman 12)

                 Note that the footer is not scaled.

       format filename
                 Read the format (or PostScript) file filename (default: none; command line: -F).

       gchord position
                 Set  the position of guitar chords in relation to the staff.  position may be: 0
                 or auto for automatic positioning (usually above the  staff),  1  or  above  for
                 positioning above the staff, or 2 or below for positioning below the staff.

                 If  this  parameter occurs outside a tune or inside a tune header, it applies to
                 all voices. If it occurs inside a tune body, it applies  to  the  current  voice
                 only.

                 This   parameter  may  also  be  set  using  the  gchord=  key  of  the  V:
                 information field.

       gchordbox boolean
                 Draw a box around guitar chords. Can  be  set  to  `true'  using  `%%gchordfont'
                 below. (Default: 0)

       gchordfont font [encoding] size [box]
                 Set  the  guitar  chord  font  to  font  with size size. If box               is
                 specified, draw a box around guitar chords (default: Helvetica 12, no box)

       graceslurs boolean
                 Draw slurs on grace notes if true (default: 1; command line: -G, +G)

       gracespace float float float
                 Define the space before, between, and after the grace notes  (default:  6.5  8.0
                 12.0)

       header text
                 Define the text printed at the top of every page. See the footer parameter above
                 for the syntax (default: none)

       headerfont font [encoding] size
                 Set the header font to font with size size (default: Times-Roman 12)

       historyfont font [encoding] size
                 Set the font for history entries to font with size  size  (default:  Times-Roman
                 16)

       hyphencont boolean
                 If  an  under-staff  lyrics  line  ends with a hyphen, put another hyphen at the
                 beginning of the next line (default:0)

       indent length
                 Indent the first line of a tune by length (default:0; command line: -I)

       infofont font [encoding] size
                 Set the information line font to font with size size (default: Times-Italic 14)

       infoline boolean
                 Display the rhythm  (`R:')  and  the  area  (`A:')  of  the  tune  on  a  single
                 `information line' before the first music line (default: 0)

       infoname letter tag
                 Define  the headers to be printed after a tune when writehistory is set. The tag
                 is printed before the actual header value. By default, this outputs the R, B, S,
                 D, N, Z, and H headers, with tags `Rhythm:', `Book:', `Source:', `Discography:',
                 `Notes:', `Transcription:', and `History:', respectively.

       infospace length
                 Set the vertical space before the information line to length (default: 0).

       landscape boolean
                 Set page orientation to landscape if true (default: 0; command line: -l, +l).

       leftmargin length
                 Set the left margin to length (default: 1.8cm; command line: -m)

       linebreak separators
                 Define the character(s) for  breaking  music  lines.   separators  is  a  blank-
                 separated  list  of  none,  one,  or  more  of: >EOL<        (system end-of-line
                 character, the default), $, !, or >none<.

                 For compatibility, when >EOL<          is in the  list,  the  !  character  also
                 causes a line break if it does not look like it is introducing a decoration.

                 The  value  >none< must be the only value in the list. In this case, the program
                 computes the line breaks by itself. The same behaviour occurs if the  separators
                 list is empty. This replaces the former continueall 1      parameter.

       lineskipfac float
                 Set  the  factor  for spacing between lines of text to float times the font size
                 (default: 1.1)

       linewarn boolean
                 If set, outputs a warning when there are too few or too many elements in a music
                 line (default: 1)

       maxshrink float
                 Set  how  much  the  output may be compressed horizontally when staff breaks are
                 chosen automatically. float must be between 0  and  1  (default:  0.65;  command
                 line: -a)

       maxstaffsep length
                 Set the maximum vertical inter-staff space to length (default: 2000pt)

       maxsysstaffsep length
                 Set the maximum vertical system inter-staff space to length (default: 2000pt)

                 When this parameter occurs on the global level or in the tune header, it applies
                 to all staves. Otherwise it defines the maximum  vertical  offset  of  the  next
                 staff.

       measurebox boolean
                 Draw  a  box around the measure numbers if true (default: 0; command line: -j or
                 -k).

       measurefirst int
                 Start measure numbering of the tune at int.   This  parameter  is  obsolete  and
                 should be replaced with %%setbarnb (outside the tune body)

       measurefont font [encoding] size [box]
                 Set  the  font  for measure numbers to font at size size. If [box] is specified,
                 draw a box around the measure number (default: Times-Italic 14, no box).

       measurenb int
                 Draw a measure number every int bars. If int is 0, the measure number appears at
                 the  left  end  of each staff. If int is -1, no measure numbers are displayed at
                 all (default: -1; command line: -j or -k).

       musiconly boolean
                 If true, no lyrics are output (default: 0; command line: -M, +M)

       musicspace length
                 Set the vertical space before the first staff of  a  tune  to  length  (default:
                 0.2cm)

       notespacingfactor float
                 Set  the note spacing factor to float. This value is used to compute the natural
                 space notes take up. The base space of the crotchet  (quarter  note)  is  always
                 40pt.  When  the duration of a note type is twice that of another note type, the
                 space it takes up is multiplied by this factor.

                 The default  value  increases  the  note  space  by  a  factor  of  2  when  the
                 corresponding  note's  value increases by a factor of 4. That is, the space of a
                 semibreve is 80pt and that of a semiquaver is 20pt.

                 Setting this value to 1 sets all note spaces to 40pt (default: 1.414).

       oneperpage boolean
                 If true, output one tune per page; if false, multiple tunes are output per  page
                 if there is sufficient room (default: 0; command line: -1, +1).

       ornament position
                 Set  the  position  of  ornaments (like mordent, trill, ...)  in relation to the
                 staff.  position may be: 0 or auto (default) for automatic positioning  (usually
                 above  the staff), 1 or above for positioning above the staff, or 2 or below for
                 positioning below the staff.

                 If this parameter occurs outside a tune or inside a tune header, it  applies  to
                 all  voices.  If  it  occurs inside a tune body, it applies to the current voice
                 only.

       pageheight length
                 Set the page height to length        (default: hardcoded)

       pagewidth length
                 Set the page width to length (default: hardcoded)

       parskipfac float
                 Set the factor for spacing between text paragraphs to float (default: 0.4)

       partsbox boolean
                 Draw a box around the part names if true (default: 0)

       partsfont font [encoding] size [box]
                 Set the font for part names to font with size size. If box        is  specified,
                 draw a box around the part names.  (default: Times-Roman 15)

       partsspace length
                 Set the vertical space before a new part to length (default: 0.3cm).

       pdfmark mode
                 If  mode  is  different  from 0, output PostScript marks to generate a PDF index
                 after translation to PDF.

                 If mode is greater than 1, generate marks for  titles  and  subtitles;  if  mode
                          equals 1, generate marks for main titles only (default: 0).

       postscript text
                 Define  a  postscript  sequence to be included in the header of the output file.
                 This formatting parameter may be used to override any postscript function or  to
                 define  new  functions for use in deco. It should be processed before any output
                 occurs, that is, in a format file or at the beginning of the first ABC file.

       repeatfont font [encoding] size
                 Set the font for repeat bracket numbers/texts to font at size size.

       rightmargin length
                 Set the right margin to length (default: 1.8cm)

       scale float
                 Set the global page scale factor to float. This does not apply  to  headers  and
                 footers (default: 0.75; command line: -s).

       setdefl boolean
                 When  true,  output some indications about the note/chord and/or decorations for
                 purposes of customisation.  These  indications  are  stored  in  the  PostScript
                 variable  defl.  Note:  This is a potential compatibility problem. The parameter
                 was introduced in version 4.9.4.  (default: 0)

       setfont-1 font [encoding] size

       setfont-2 font [encoding] size

       setfont-3 font [encoding] size

       setfont-4 font [encoding] size
                 Set up alternate fonts for strings. In most strings, you can switch  to  one  of
                 the  alternate fonts using $1..$4; $0         switches back to the default value
                 for that string.  (default: Times-Roman 0)

       shiftunisson boolean
                 Usually in multi-voice tunes, when two voices are in unison there is often  only
                 one  note head. If this flag is set, two note heades are output (one is shifted)
                 if one is a minim (half note)  and  the  other  a  crotchet  (quarter  note)  or
                 shorter,  i.e.,  a  "black" note, or if one note is dotted and the other is not.
                 The parameter is really spelled "shiftunisson" (default: 0).

       slurheight float
                 Set the slur height factor to float (default: 1.0).

       splittune boolean
                 If false, a tune is output on a new page if it doesn't fit on the one  currently
                 being output. If true, a tune may be split across page breaks (default: 0).

       squarebreve boolean
                 If true, display breve notes in a square shape (default: 0)

       staffnonote boolean
                 If  false, staves not containing notes are suppressed. This includes staves that
                 only contain visible rests (default: 1)

       staffsep length
                 Set the vertical inter-staff space  to  a  minimum  of  length  (default:  46pt;
                 command line: -d)

       staffwidth length
                 Set  the  right  margin such that the staff width is length (default: none - but
                 see paperwidth and rightmargin).

       stemheight float
                 Set the stem height to float (default: 20.0)

       straightflags boolean
                 If true, use straight flags on stems (mostly useful for bagpipe tunes  (default:
                 0)

       stretchlast boolean
                 If  true, stretch the last staff of a tune to fill the whole line even though it
                 may be underfull (default: 0)

       stretchstaff boolean
                 If true, stretch all underfull staves to fill the whole line (default: 1)

       subtitlefont font [encoding] size
                 Set the font for subtitles (second and subsequent `T:' headers  in  a  tune)  to
                 font with size size (default: Times-Roman 16)

       subtitlespace length
                 Set the vertical space before subtitles (second and subsequent `T:' headers in a
                 tune) to length (default: 0.1cm).

       sysstaffsep length
                 Set the minimum distance between staves in a system to length (default: 36pt).

                 This parameter applies to all staves if it occurs on the global level or  within
                 the tune header. Otherwise, it defines the minimum distance to the next staff.

       tempofont font [encoding] size
                 Set  the font for tempo (metronome) indications to font with size size (default:
                 Times-Bold 15)

       textfont font [encoding] size
                 Set the text font to font with size size (default: Times-Roman 16)

       textoption option
                 Set the default text option to option.  This option is  used  for  text  between
                 %%begintext  and  %%endtext,  %%text,  and  %%EPS.  option may be a keyword; see
                 begintext for values.

                 When option is skip, no text (nor EPS) is output.

       textspace length
                 Set the vertical space before text blocks to length (default: 0.5cm).

       timewarn boolean
                 If true, a cautionary time signature is added to the end of the line before if a
                 time signature change occurs at the beginning of a line of music (default: 0).

       titlecaps boolean
                 If true, output the tune title in uppercase letters (default: 0)

       titlefont font [encoding] size
                 Set the title font to font with size size (default: Times-Roman 20)

       titleformat text
                 Defines the format of the tune title. This format overrides the standard way the
                 tune title is displayed. text is a sequence of letters,  numbers,  commas,  plus
                 and minus signs.

                 A  letter  stands for an ABC header (reasonable values include A, B, C, D, H, N,
                 O, P, R, S, T, X, and Z, but  any  letter  may  occur)  and  can  optionally  be
                 followed by a number. This number may be 0 (to center the header), 1 (to display
                 it flush-right), or -1 or - (to display it flush-left); if no  number  is  given
                 the default is 0.

                 A  plus  sign  may  appear  between  two  fields, in which case these fields are
                 concatenated (this only works if they are of the same type and alignment).

                 A comma starts a new `box' below the previous one.  In each box, the fields  are
                 placed in their respective alignment zones.

                 Unrecognized characters will be ignored.

                 As  an  example,  `%%titleformat R-1 P-1 Q-1 T C1 O1, T + T N1' will display two
                 stacked boxes. The first box contains the rhythm, part, and tempo on  the  left,
                 the  first (main) title in the centre, and the composer and origin on the right.
                 The second box (below the first) will contain  the  concatenated  subtitles  (if
                 any) in the centre and any notes on the right.

       titleleft boolean
                 If true, output the tune title flush left (instead of centered) (default: 0)

       titlespace length
                 Set the vertical space before the tune title to length (default: 0.2cm).

       titletrim boolean
                 If  true,  if  the  last  word  of  a  title starts with a capital letter and is
                 preceded by a comma and a space, this word is moved  to  the  beginning  of  the
                 title.  For  example, T:College Hornpipe, The is printed as The College Hornpipe
                        (default: 1).

       topmargin length
                 Set the top margin to length (default: 1cm)

       topspace length
                 Set the vertical space at the top of a tune to length (default: 0.8cm)

       transpose int [#|b]
                 Transpose the music by int        (a signed number) halftones for display.

                 If this parameter appears on the global  level  or  inside  a  tune  header,  it
                 applies  to  all  voices.  If  it  appears inside a tune body, it applies to the
                 current voice only.

                 If a # or b is present, the new key signature(s) will have sharps  or  flats  in
                 case of enharmonic keys.

                 Note that textual guitar chords will not be transposed.

       tuplets when what value
                 Define   how  to  draw  tuplets.   The  when  parameter  can  be  0  (to  decide
                 automatically whether to draw a slur or bracket over the tuplet),  1  (to  never
                 draw  one) or 2 (to always draw one). The what parameter defines what to draw: 0
                 means a bracket, 1 a slur; 2 extends beams across rests  (does  not  work  yet).
                 The  value  parameter  defines  how  to  annotate the tuplet: 0 means to write a
                 simple number (p), 1 writes nothing, and 2 writes a ratio (p:q).

       vocal position
                 Set the position of lyrics in relation to the staff.  position may be: 0 or auto
                 (default)  for  automatic  positioning (usually above the staff), 1 or above for
                 positioning above the staff, or 2 or below for positioning below the staff.

                 If this parameter occurs outside a tune or inside a tune header, it  applies  to
                 all  voices.  If  it  occurs inside a tune body, it applies to the current voice
                 only.

       vocalabove boolean
                 If true, output lyrics above the staff (instead of below it) (default: 0)

       vocalfont font [encoding] size
                 Set the font for lyrics inside a tune to font with size  size  (default:  Times-
                 Bold 13)

       vocalspace length
                 Set the vertical space between a staff and its lyrics to length (default: 23pt)

       voicefont font [encoding] size
                 Set the font for voice names (default: Times-Bold 13).

       volume position
                 Set  the  position  of  volume indications (!p!, !fff!, ...)  in relation to the
                 staff.

                 position may be: 0 or auto (default) for automatic  positioning  (usually  below
                 the  staff),  1  or  above  for  positioning  above the staff, or 2 or below for
                 positioning below the staff.

                 If this parameter occurs outside a tune or inside a tune header, it  applies  to
                 all  voices.  If  it  occurs inside a tune body, it applies to the current voice
                 only.

       wordsfont font [encoding] size
                 Set the font for lyrics at the end of a tune to font with  size  size  (default:
                 Times-Roman 16)

       wordsspace length
                 Set the vertical space before the end-of-tune lyrics to length (default: 0.5cm)

       writefields list boolean
                 Determines  which  ABC information will be output.  list is a list of ABC header
                 letters.  boolean  determines  whether  that  header  will  be  output  or  not.
                 (default: COPQTWw 1; command line: -M, -x)

       The following formatting parameters can only occur inside tunes and not in a format file:

       %%begintext [mode]
                 Start  printing  a  free-form  text.  The  text  to  be  printed  appears on the
                 subsequent lines of the the input file up to a line containing  %%endtext.   The
                 text lines may start with %%.

                 The parameter may be:

                 obeylines Line breaks in the input file are kept (default)

                 align or justify
                           Lines are justified

                 ragged or fill
                           Line breaks are ignored but output is left-justified

                 center    Lines are centered

                 skip      The text lines are not printed at all

                 If mode is omitted, it defaults to the current value of %%textoption.

                 Inside the text, an empty line starts a new paragraph.  Page breaks cannot occur
                 in the middle of a paragraph.

       %%center text
                 Print one line of centered text

       %%EPS filename
                 Include filename as an EPS file

                 The file content is aligned to the left or right or centered  according  to  the
                 current value of %%textoption.

       %%endtext Finish a block of free text started by %%begintext

       %%multicol command
                 Define multicolumn printing. command may be:

                 start     Save  the  current vertical position and left and right margins. These
                           margins may then be changed to print music or text.

                 new       Reset the vertical position to the place of  the  previous  start  and
                           restore the left and right margins. These can then be changed again to
                           display another column.

                 end       Restore the left and right margins and skip down the page to  a  `safe
                           place'.

                 This command may also be used to group some tunes and text on the same page.

       %%newpage [int]
                 Start a new page, restarting page numbering from int if applicable.

       %%repbra int
                 Repetition  brackets  are  normally  displayed as written in a voice. %%repbra 0
                 suppresses them for the current voice.

       %%repeat [n [k]]
                 Replace a sequence of notes by one or many repeat marks. When placed after a bar
                 line,  n indicates the number of measures to be repeated, either 1 or 2. If n is
                 1, k gives the number of repetitions of the preceding measure. If n is 2,  k  is
                 not  used.  When  placed  after  a note or rest, n gives the number of notes and
                 rests to be repeated, and k gives the number of repeats. When omitted,  n
                 and k default to 1.

       %%score definition
                 See below.

       %%sep [h1 h2 length]
                 Print  a  separator  (line) of length length with vertical space h1 above and h2
                 below (defaults: h1 and h2: 0.5cm; length: 3cm)

       %%setbarnb int
                 Set the number of the next measure to int.  When not inside a tune body, this is
                 equivalent to %%measurefirst.

                 If  the  option  appears  at  the  beginning  of the tune (after K:), the second
                 measure will have the new number.

       %%staff [+|-] num
                 Put the following material on staff num (or the num-th previous or next staff if
                 a  sign  is  given).  This  will lead, e.g., to beams between notes in different
                 staves. Useful for keyboard music; see, for example, sample4.abc.

       %%staffbreak length [f]
                 Leave a space of length in the current staff. If length is greater  than  0.5cm,
                 the  left  side of the staff (system) is redrawn. In a multi-voice tune, a staff
                 break must be specified in each voice.

                 If the f is not given, the staff break is removed if it occurs at the  start  or
                 the end of a line.

       %%staves definition
                 See below.

       %%tablature arguments
                 Define a tablature for the current voice. See format.txt for the details.

       %%text text
                 Output a single line of text.

       %%vskip length
                 Leave  vertical  space  of height length.  length may be negative, in which case
                 the following material is moved closer to that above.

ADDITIONAL FEATURES

   Clefs
       Clefs can be given in K: and V: headers. The full syntax is

       [clef=]type[line][+8|-8] [middle=pitch]

       The `clef=' can be omitted when the type is a clef name.

       type denotes the clef type. It may be:

       A note pitch (G, C, or F)
                 The pitch indicates which clef is meant: G is the treble clef, C the  alto  clef
                 and  F  the  bass  clef.  It also gives the name of the note that appears on the
                 clef's line.

       A clef name
                 The available clef names are treble (clef gives the pitch for G), alto or  tenor
                 (C), and bass (F)

       perc or P In  percussion  mode,  accidentals  change  the  glyphs  used for note heads. By
                 default, sharp notes are drawn as `x' and flat notes as circled `x'. This may be
                 changed by redefining the PostScript functions pshhd and pflhd.

       none      No clef will be displayed.

       The  line gives the number of the line within the staff that the base clef will be written
       on. The default values are 2 for the treble clef, 3 for the alto clef, and 4 for the tenor
       and bass clefs.

       The  +8  and  -8 options draw an 8 above or below the staff, respectively.  `middle=pitch'
       (or `m=pitch', for short) is an alternative way of defining the line number of  the  clef:
       The pitch indicates what note will be displayed on the middle line of the staff.

       When  no  clef  is  specified,  clef  changes  between  bass  and  treble will be inserted
       automatically.

   Multi-voice typesetting
       Multiple voices may be defined within the header or the tune using

       V:name definition ...

       where name is a word consisting of letters and digits only (like  violin1).  In  the  tune
       body,  the  following  notes  refer  to  this  voice  until  another  V: is encountered. A
       definition can be one of:

       clef=...  See above

       name=name or nm=name
                 The name will be displayed at the beginning of the first staff. It  can  contain
                 \n  sequences which will force line breaks. If it contains whitespace it must be
                 double-quoted.

       subname=name or snm=name
                 The name will be displayed at the beginning of all staves except for the  first.
                 It  can  contain  \n  sequences  which  will  force  line breaks. If it contains
                 whitespace it must be double-quoted.

       merge     The voice goes on the same staff as the previous voice.

       up or down
                 Forces the direction of the stems for the voice.

       dyn=up or dyn=down or dyn=auto
                 Forces positioning of dynamic marks (above or below the  staff)  or  reverts  to
                 automatic positioning (the default)

       gstem=up or gstem=down or gstem=auto
                 Forces  the  direction of the stems of grace notes (always up or always down) or
                 reverts to automatic positioning (the default)

       stem=auto Reverts to automatic positioning of note stems (up or down) (the default)

       lyrics=up or lyrics=down or lyrics=auto
                 Places lyrics above or below the staff or reverts to automatic positioning  (the
                 default)

       gchord=up            or gchord=down
                 Places guitar chords above (the default) or below the staff.

       stafflines=value
                 Sets the number of lines on the staff in question.  (default: 5)

       staffscale=value
                 Sets  the  scale  of  the  associated  staff  up to 3.  (default: 1)   All other
                 definitions are ignored.

       By default, each voice goes on its own staff. The `%%staves definition' pseudo-comment can
       be  used to control staff assignment. The definition consists of voice names (from V:) and
       pairs of parentheses, braces or brackets.

          •  When a voice name is not within a pair of special characters, it goes on a  separate
             staff.

          •  For  voice  names  enclosed  in brackets, a bracket is displayed at the beginning of
             each line that joins the staves of the voices in question.

          •  For voice names enclosed in braces, all  the  voices  go  on  two  staves  (keyboard
             score). There can be at most four voices between a single pair of braces.

          •  For voice names enclosed in parentheses, all the voices appear on a single staff.

       The `|' character prevents measure bars from being drawn between two staves.

       If `%%staves' occurs in a tune, all the voices not mentioned will not be output at all.

   The %%score directive
       The  %%score directive occurs in the ABC draft 2.0 standard and is similar to the %%staves
            specification described earlier. The rules are:

          •  Voice names within parentheses form a "voice group" and go  on  a  single  staff.  A
             voice  name  that  is not within parentheses forms its own voice group and goes on a
             staff by itself.

          •  Voice groups within braces form a "voice block" and are preceded by a big  brace  in
             the output. This is especially useful for keyboard music.

          •  Voice  groups  or  voice  blocks  within  brackets  form a "voice block" and will be
             preceded by a big bracket in the output.

          •  If a `|' character occurs between two voice groups or voice blocks, the bar lines in
             all of the associated staves will be continuous.

          •  A single voice surrounded by two voice groups can be preceded by an asterisk to make
             it into a `floating' voice. This means that, for each note of the voice, a  separate
             decision  is  made  whether  it  is  printed on the preceding or the following voice
             group's staff.

          •  Voices that appear in the tune body but not in the %%score  directive  will  not  be
             output at all. If there is no %%score           directive, each voice will be output
             on its own staff.

          •  A %%score directive inside a tune resets the mechanism so voices can be  removed  or
             added.

   Voice overlay
       You  can  add  notes  to  a  staff without introducing a complete extra voice by using the
       ampersand (&).  A single measure can be split into two voices like

       |F2A2Bc&F2c2bc|

       The (&...&...&) construction allows splitting multiple measures:

       |!f!(&GG<G|GG F=E| E2  E(_D/E)|_D D  C      D |C4- |C
            &DC<C|CC_D C|=B,2_B,B,   |_A,A,(G,/A,/)B,|F,4-|F,)zzD=E|

       A double ampersand (&&) will allow overlaying more  than  two  lines  of  music  but  this
       feature has not yet been implemented.

   Lyrics
       Aligned  lyrics  under a staff are written as a w: line directly below the staff line. For
       example:

       edc2 edc2|
       w:Three blind mice, three blind mice

       Each word in the w: line (delimited by blanks) is associated with one note,  in  sequence.
       The following special symbols modify this behaviour:

       *         Skips one note.

       -         Splits a word into two syllables which are associated with two adjacent notes. A
                 `-' is drawn between them.

       |         Advances to the next bar line

       ~         Is output as a space, but unites two words so they appear under a single note.

       _         Draws a thin underscore from the previous note to the next.

       To include more than one line of lyrics, use multiple w: lines. To include hyphens without
       splitting a word over multiple notes, use -.

       If  a word starts with a digit, this is interpreted as a stanza number and outdented a bit
       to the left.

   Slurs and ties
       The direction of slurs and ties may be controlled using the (, and  (',  and  -,  and  -',
       constructions.

   Microtone pitches
       Microtone  pitches  are  indicated  by  a  fraction  after an accidental, as in 3/4c. When
       omitted, the numerator defaultes to 1 and the denominator to 2  (so  /c  is  the  same  as
       1/2c).  The numerator and denominator values may not exceed 256. There is built-in support
       for quarter-tone accidentals (1/2 and 3/2 sharps and flats); for other  values,  rendering
       functions must be defined using %%postscript (see features.txt).

   EPS inclusion
       EPS files may be included inside tunes using the pseudo-comment `%%EPS file'.

SEE ALSO

       The   original   documentation  can  be  found  in  files  features.txt,  format.txt,  and
       options.txt, which on a Debian system are in /usr/share/doc/abcm2ps.

AUTHOR

       This manual page was written by Anselm Lingnau <lingnau@debian.org> for the Debian  system
       (but may be used by others).  Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this
       document as long as its origin is not misrepresented.

                                                                                       ABCM2PS(1)