IWBNI it were possible to edit a set of selected items on any selection dialog box at once. As it is now, when more than one item is selected on a selection dialog box, the Edit button is disabled.

For example, with this feature it would be possible to perform the following operations in one step:

• Change the font of a selected set of expressions.
• Set the Playback Option Type to None for a selected set of expressions.
• Change a selected set of expressions to be Display On Screen Only (Do Not Print).
• Change the font of a selected set of articulations.
• Change the settings on the Handle Positioning dialog box for a selected set of articulations.
• Set the Playback Effect to None for a selected set of articulations.
• Change the thickness of a set of smart line styles.

This could be implemented by allowing more than one item to be selected at once on all selection dialog boxes. As it is now, this is possible on all selection dialog boxes except the Repeat Selection and Stem Connection dialog boxes. When more than one item is selected, the Edit button would remain enabled. When the Edit button is pressed with more than one item selected, the appropriate designer dialog box would be displayed. For example, if the Edit button is pressed when two text expressions are selected on the Expression Selection dialog box, the Text Expression Designer dialog box would be displayed.

If the setting for a given control on the designer dialog box is not the same for all of the selected items, the control would be blank in the case of a text box, grayed in the case of a checkbox, and would show "(no change)" in the case of a list box, in the same way that similar controls are displayed on the Staff Styles dialog box. When any such setting is modified, the control would become fully enabled and would affect all selected items. For a model of this type of interface, see the dialog box that may be used to change the font of a group of cells in Microsoft Excel. Also, see the Staff Styles dialog box in Finale.

Initially, this feature could be implemented on the Expression Selection and Articulation Selection dialog boxes. Ultimately, this feature could be implemented on all of the following selection dialog boxes:

• Articulation Selection
• Chord Suffix Selection
• Custom Arrowhead Selection
• Executable Shape Selection
• Expression Selection
• Percussion Map Selection
• Repeat Selection
• Shape Selection
• Smart Line Style Selection
• Stem Connections