John Greschak - Finale Suggestion 252: Increase Maximum EDUs Per Measure

No. 252

Increase Maximum EDUs Per Measure

IWBNI the limit on the number of EDUs per measure were increased.

As it is now, the number of EDUs per measure may not exceed 32767 which is 1 EDU less than 32 quarter notes. While it is possible to set the time signature of a bar to 100/4, undesirable behavior occurs when using such long bars. For example, there are problems with using measure-attached expressions or clefs after the 32nd quarter note.

Long bars are often required in the following situations:

Chants.
Cadenzas.
Unmeasured music.
Illustrative bars such as a bar to depict a scale by using whole notes.
Also, one might compose music initially within a large measure to avoid the complexities or implications of barlines.

The number 32767 is the maximum positive value for a signed 16-bit integer. The limit on the number of EDUs per measure could be increased to 2147483647 which is the maximum positive value for a signed 32-bit integer. 214748367 is 1 EDU less than 2097152 quarter notes. At a tempo of 120 quarter notes per minute, this is a duration of 291 hours.

Created: January 14, 2000 (based on a submission from Barbara Touburg)
Last Updated: January 14, 2000
Version: Finale 2000b