Bugs in The Digital Tradition take two forms: actual problems with my code and errors and inconsistencies in the song data. The first I can usually do something about. The second is mostly out of my control.

Things that are problems with the original data:

• Alphabetization errors
• Mispellings and other errors in the text.
• Missing tunes.
• Assorted weirdnesses with tune display or playback (I'll share the blame on that one).

There may very well be others, but I have to admit that I haven't looked at ever single song and tune.

Things that are wrong with the application (that I know of):

• Only the first part of multi-part tunes are currently displayed. The hooks are in place to implement the additional parts, but I wanted to get this version out to you more than I wanted to fix a handful of tunes.
• Tunes with chords display the chord (roughly) but only play the melody line. This will be fixed in a future version.

Plans for the future:

• If there's a demand, I can add an option to save tunes as MIDI files.
• I'll continue making improvements to the interface and features. If you have suggestions, send me a note.

Revision History:

Version 3.1 (August 2002)

• Reworked database structure, greatly increasing search speeds and browsing speed.
• Completely redesigned the conversion from DOS process, eliminating a lot of errors in the data (and finding some new ones).
• Fixed a variety of Windows instability and printing issues.

Version 3.0 (May 2000)

• Added keyboard navigation of song list.
• Added preferences option to set default printing margins.
• Added preferences option to save score control bar position.
• Window sizes and locations are now saved between sessions.
• Added transpose option for tune playback.
• Added "Save as abc" option.
• Added "Import labels" to go with "Export labels"
• Space bar now starts and stops tune playing.
• [Windows] Save and Print menus are now available in song windows.

Version 3.0 (January 2000 limited prerelease)

• The application has been completely rewritten in REALBasic, since the application framework I was using previously is no longer supported. All of the features of the previous version are supported, with a few exceptions:
  • Tune output via sampled sounds wasn't included. I figured that Quicktime is ubiquitous enough that this was no longer necessary. If I was wrong, let me know.
  • For similar reasons, the ability to play to external MIDI devices is no longer built in.
  A number of new features have been added to this version, however:
  • Additional information in the song list window
  • A new Labels function for marking and finding your favorite songs
  • A Recent Songs menu for going back to things you've looked at in the current session.
  • Additional searching options, including Child and Laws numbers, and the ability to search for all songs using a particular tune.
  • Improved tune display; among other things, guitar chords and other "above the staff" markings are now shown.
  • Note/Word cueing -- notes and words are now highlighted in the score as the tune plays.