[LD Jackson]

I have been using MobileSheets off and on for a while now and have a question. 

As the songs are currently displayed in vertical/portrait mode, if a song is too large to fit into a single column, it overflows to another page. The app I have been using is Songbook and it actually wraps the text display into another column on the same page. This keeps the song all together and allows me to keep both hands on my bass guitar.

Is there a way to duplicate that behavior in MobileSheets? Or at least, be able to simply scroll down to the rest of the song? It is entirely possible that I do not understand exactly how to set the app up properly.

[Skip]

You can do either one.

1- Vertical scroll - Overlay>display mode [bottom left, square with lines]>portrait>vertical scroll [next selection down]>ok. Back to overlay>circle w/triangle>scroll settings>scroll behavior>continously to end>scroll speed>any other setting wanted>ok

2- 2 pages, start as above but select landscape mode>display mode>two pages>uncheck use default display mode for song>ok.

I think I have those right.

[LD Jackson]

You can do either one.

1- Vertical scroll - Overlay>display mode [bottom left, square with lines]>portrait>vertical scroll [next selection down]>ok. Back to overlay>circle w/triangle>scroll settings>scroll behavior>continously to end>scroll speed>any other setting wanted>ok

2- 2 pages, start as above but select landscape mode>display mode>two pages>uncheck use default display mode for song>ok.

I think I have those right.

Thanks, Skip. I suspected I was missing something, but didn't know exactly what.

On another note, is there a way to have the text wrapped into two columns? This would minimize the scrolling.

[Skip]

Someone else is going to have to help on that. I only use SMN in pdf format, no text or chord pro. Maybe something in settings> text file settings may help.

[Zubersoft]

If you leave "Use Multiple Columns" checked under Settings->Text File Settings, then the chord pro file will automatically split up the screen space into multiple columns if possible. It will only do this if the longest line in the page is less than or equal to half the screen width or so (accounting for margins between text). MobileSheetsPro will not create line breaks automatically to force multiple columns - it will just use multiple columns if space allows. If people want an option to force multiple columns (where I create line breaks if any line is longer than half the width of the screen) that would be something I would have to change. So for now, you may have to reduce your font size if you want multiple columns to be used (or edit the file to break up long lines).

[LD Jackson]

If you leave "Use Multiple Columns" checked under Settings->Text File Settings, then the chord pro file will automatically split up the screen space into multiple columns if possible.   It will only do this if the longest line in the page is less than or equal to half the screen width or so (accounting for margins between text).  MobileSheetsPro will not create line breaks automatically to force multiple columns - it will just use multiple columns if space allows.  If people want an option to force multiple columns (where I create line breaks if any line is longer than half the width of the screen) that would be something I would have to change.  So for now, you may have to reduce your font size if you want multiple columns to be used (or edit the file to break up long lines).

I have "Use Multiple Columns" checked. I guess the format of my ChordPro songs, which is what I use almost exclusively, other than a handful of songs in pdf format that I can not find in ChordPro format, is too wide. I have tried to reduce the font size on some of them, but my eyes don't like that much at all. I guess that's a sign of my age? 

I think forcing multiple columns could cause a problem, as it would likely break the song up into sections that would seem "out of place" with the way the song is sang and played. If that makes any sense.

I assume MobileSheets treats ChordPro files the same as text files? I was just wondering if there would be an advantage to using text files?

[Zubersoft]

Chord pro files have a number of features that text files do not have. You will also get the most reliable output from chord pro files as chords have to be designated inside brackets, which makes it much easier for me to identify them (I have to guess on text files what lines are chord lines and what lines are lyrics).

I'm curious how SongBook was able to use multiple columns if it did not break up any of the text. Would it be possible to show an example of a song that SongBook showed with multiple columns that MS Pro will not? Screenshots would be really great.

Thanks,
Mike

[LD Jackson]

Chord pro files have a number of features that text files do not have.  You will also get the most reliable output from chord pro files as chords have to be designated inside brackets,  which makes it much easier for me to identify them (I have to guess on text files what lines are chord lines and what lines are lyrics).

I'm curious how SongBook was able to use multiple columns if it did not break up any of the text.  Would it be possible to show an example of a song that SongBook showed with multiple columns that MS Pro will not? Screenshots would be really great.

Thanks,
Mike

Well, let's see if I can make this work. I am attaching a screenshot of how SongBook displays There Is Power In The Blood. I will be glad to email you the .pro file, if needed.

[Zubersoft]

Yes, please send me the .pro file if possible. Just to verify, if you reduce the font size to match the font size of what is displayed in SongBook, the multiple column feature doesn't work?

Thanks,
Mike

[LD Jackson]

Yes, please send me the .pro file if possible.  Just to verify, if you reduce the font size to match the font size of what is displayed in SongBook, the multiple column feature doesn't work?

Thanks,
Mike

SongBook does not tell me the size of the font. All it has is a slider to increase or decrease the size of the font in the settings. I have MBS set to display the lyrics at 18. I have attached the .pro file.

[LD Jackson]

I just did a quick test with MBS. I have to decrease the lyrics font setting to 10 before the multiple columns show up in vertical mode.

[Zubersoft]

I've tweaked the margins between columns so less room is required before multiple columns are used. On my Nexus 10, I was able to increase the font size up to 17 and still have two columns. This should help once I release the next update.

[LD Jackson]

I've tweaked the margins between columns so less room is required before multiple columns are used. On my Nexus 10, I was able to increase the font size up to 17 and still have two columns. This should help once I release the next update.

Thank you for being so responsive. Not every dev is so willing to talk and discuss with his customers. I really appreciate you and your hard work.

[Zubersoft]

I appreciate users taking the time to report problems and discuss changes with me. It goes both ways

[sciurius]

On another note, is there a way to have the text wrapped into two columns?

The ChordPro standard defines two directives for columns.

{columns: N}

This can be used to set the number of columns to be used for the song.

{colb} or {column_break}

'breaks' to the next column, or page if there a no more columns on the page.

It seems that MSPro does not support these directives, but they could be useful in conjunction with the 'Use Multiple Columns' setting.