rcrath / musicalc Goto Github PK

To deal with things like sample rates, BPM rates, measures, beats, etc as inputs, we need to specify how those inputs will be written. Currently time is written in hh:mm:ss.ttt format, and for ease of use it makes sense for the general case of an undecorated number (e.g. 1.25) to be understood as a time specification (e.g. one second and 250 ms).

For measures and beats, something like 2;3 could be understood as two measures plus 3 beats. Like time, it works in non 10-based increments and therefore could benefit from a unique separator. Calculations would require knowing whether a beat is a quarter note or eighth note, and how many notes are in a measure. We can default to 4/4, but 6/8 shouldn't be hard to specify either. Using '/' for that is a bit weird if the solver needs to process any kind of division. Might be ok to require spaces around any mathematical operators.

Some standard suffixes like 'bpm' or 'kHz' (case insensitive) could likely be used for those kind of standard inputs. Defaults should be noted and used where possible so you don't have to write 44.1kHz all the time.

To move forward, I think a doc desribing a few example cases would be helpful for development and use. Each case would motivate a real world situation where you find yourself needing a solver, describe the input you would put into the solver, and the expected output. These cases would serve as documentation reference for users, and test cases for the solver. They will also greatly help build a syntax that is flexible and unambiguous.