Methodology forprogramming challenge

[J. Landman Gay]

I've had an inquiry to write software that would notate dance and music, 
using Labanotation. There is already something called LabanWriter that 
does this, but the proposed software would add some features.

The problems involved:

Notation is done from bottom to top in parallel columns. Each column 
represents one dancer, or one instrument. The columns must align. (So 
far, okay.)

Symbols used in notation vary in height, though all are multiples of a 
standard size. That means that a tall symbol in one column might have 
two or more shorter corresponding symbols in a parallel column. The tall 
symbol might itself be followed by other symbols of varying heights. 
This is hard to explain, but an example is here:

<http://www.dance.ohio-state.edu/~labanwriter/labantalk/>

My first thought was to use a custom font and parallel linked fields. 
But the difference in heights among various symbols makes that 
difficult, since some symbols would need to span two or more lines.

Another approach would be to stack buttons vertically, with each button 
sized to accomodate the appropriate symbol icon. This would make editing 
a nightmare, I think, because standard editing techniques used for text 
would have to be written from the ground up to support button changes or 
deletions. Just selecting a series of symbols with the mouse would seem 
almost impossible to do using buttons. Also, long dances with multiple 
instruments might require many thousands of buttons. Printouts would be 
difficult, especially because we'd often need to scale them to fit on 
standard paper.

My initial reaction is to say that the job is more trouble than it is 
worth, and give it a pass. But I thought I'd ask here to see if anyone 
has any ideas. If anyone has a sure-fire idea and is interested in 
working with me on it, feel free to write privately.

-- 
Jacqueline Landman Gay         |     jacque at hyperactivesw.com
HyperActive Software           |     http://www.hyperactivesw.com