LabanWriter 4.6 New Features

Heads Up!

4.6 will run on OS9, but it's the last version that will. Future changes will support only OSX. This warning gives you time to change over to OSX before the next release.

File Extensions

There used to be a popup menu on the open dialog that said "LW files", "All Known Files" and "All Files". This is now gone. LabanWriter will now allow you to open any file whose name ends in ".lw", even if it doesn't have its yellow LW4 file icon.

So if you have a score that has lost its yellow LW4 icon, add ".lw" to the name to open it in LabanWriter. This also applies to a Labanwriter document you may receive by email and cannot open.

Additions and New Features

You can now select all types of symbols (staffs, floor plans, text, LN symbols) with the marquee selection when the command key is down. After selecting all, you can click to drag on the staff itself, not on a symbol on the staff, and take everything to the next page or another document. If, after selecting all with the command key, you next hold down the option key, you can drag a copy of everything to the next page leaving the original where it was. People have asked for a way to retain a page layout, and this can be a way. Once the full page has been moved, remove the symbols leaving the skeleton of the staffs and floorplans in the layout you want to keep.
If you are running OSX, you should have no problems using Chinese or the other Asian languages
Rotated text: complete rewrite done which now allows multiple styles, and the 255 character limit has been removed
Separate size space at top and bottom of staff is now allowed. Preference and altered Change Staff dialog have been added to accommodate this.
Hit Return key to unselect all selected items.
Super and Subscript for text (Cmd Shift S and Cmd Shift T) is now available.
cmd-shift-i now produces italic text (formerly this inserted a page which you now do only under Layout menu)
Key command shortcuts for text styles, see Type menu
Key command shortcuts for colors, see Attributes menu
New meandering path added added to Paths
2 larger carets added to Caret/Bows palette
New uplifted, buoyant, weighty and heavy symbols added to Dynamics palette
Several new symbols have been added to the LMA palette at the request of those writing horizontally and using in addition to the Effort & Shape symbols: shape flow, directional, carving, arc-like, spoke-like symbols as described in Peggy HackneyÕs book Making Connections. The symbols within the gray box at the bottom of the palette are stretchables. LMA users are welcome to make more requests.
Modified left & right hip symbols to make them more distinctive
Added both shoulders symbol to the Body Parts palette
>Added large light accents to Accent palette
Added half a support bow in the Bows palette which can be flipped horizontally & vertically
In the hands and feet palette where you can select specific fingers, toes and parts thereof, the hand and foot symbols now remain the regular size when you select the tip(s) but enlarge for clarity when you select any of the knuckles.
Color can now be added to a selected circle or spiral once it is placed. See Attributes menu.
Symbols already on a floorplan now automatically adjust their spacing when the floorplan size is changed.
Delete Page in Layout menu now allows for multiple page deletions.
Adding multiple ticks to a body part in the Manipulate palette by clicking on the arrows, no longer requires holding down the shift key. To remove a tick, select the body part then using the Manipulate palette again, select the arrow where you want the tick removed.
Repeat signs can be flipped from one side of the staff to the other without changing/flipping the symbol itself. Useful for flipping large groups of symbols where a repeat sign is included.
Two pre-made sizes of the white diamond and the black diamond are now available:

Changes

You can now make documents with unlimited pages.
Circle/Spiral palette interface has been changed again, for the better we trust. It should be more intuitive. Let us know if you have problems.
We have limited the click area of circles and spirals to be the line itself, making it easier to select symbols on top of spirals without selecting the spiral. You now have to CLICK EXACTLY ON THE LINE rather than in the vicinity of it. DO NOT TRY TO SELECT THE WHOLE CIRCLE. You can also select a line or circle with the marquee.
Resize handles on low level symbols are now white for visibility
cmd-shift-i which formerly inserted a page now produces italic text. To insert a page go to the Layout menu.

Fixed Bugs

Fold sign alignment on placement is corrected
Bug when copying rotated text
Bug where rotated text lost color when unrotated
Dotted lines, when chosen, will now show at bottom of a first measure if there is no starting position
15/16ths female floorplan pin now flips perfectly
Missing 15/16ths triangle arrowhead added
Alignment Palette now saves its position when closing if Save Palette Positions has been selected in Preferences
Force into 1 column alignment corrected
Placement of arrows on circles corrected though you may still have to place some arrowheads by hand when 16ths of a circle are involved.
Measure repeat alignment corrected: thick top bar line caused repeat to be offset incorrectly
Symbol drift fixed when changing number of outside columns in staff change dialog
Bug that caused symbols to move when changing the top pad of a staff
Bug when saving at 200 % and drawing Support and half Support bows
Bug when adding a floorplan on the right with existing staves
Bug with Effort symbol for light and diminished strength
Improved importing of LW3 files with bad spline data
Bug when trying to read in half Support bows from files
Bug which caused crash when resizing adlib signs
Problem where joints converted to limbs would not stick to a staff
Bug with jumps where takeoff and landing lines on generic jumps would overlap the in-air section
When you added white space to a jump it made the jump shorter. That's been fixed to keep the jump the same size.
Improved importing of LW3 scores