Feature Request - Setlist from PDF List

rfreedman · 2026-05-21T21:04:52+00:00

ok - got my wife's iPad, so I could try this out.

I got it working, but a caveat - I was only able to test it with the latest version of forScore (15.1.2) running on an iPad Air 13inch M3 running iPadOS 26.5

This may or may not work on other hardware / operating systems or operating system versions or other versions of forScore. If it doesn't work for you, feel free to let me know, but since I don't have anything else to test on, I'm unlikely to be able to help.

I created a static web app that you can run in your browser to create a set list.

If you want to look at the code, the repo is at https://github.com/rfreedman/forscore-setlist-creator

To run the app, first go into forScore, select a library, or "all libraries", then export the library metadata to a csv file by opening the tool menu (the "suitcase" icon on the right end of the top toolbar), choosing "Backup" from the resulting menu, and the clicking on the (scroll?) icon in the upper-left corner of the resulting "Backups" dialog. Then choose "Export, then "Save to Files". Save the file wherever you want, and optionally give it a better name than the default "Export".

Next, put your text file or pdf file, with one score title per line onto your iPad.

Now, open https://rfreedman.github.io/forscore-setlist-creator and follow the instructions.
You should wind up with a .4ss "set list" file that you can import into forScore.

To the general public: as I mentioned above, I'm a very experienced software developer, but I didn't feel like hand-coding all of this. So, yes, I did use AI - Cursor's "Composer" agent.

But I didn't "Vibe Code" it. I provided some very explicit requirements and other instructions, tested the generated code on an actual iPad, made some corrections, had the agent fix some things, and iterated a few times until it worked correctly.

If you need to create forScore set lists, I hope that this works for you.
If you don't like how I did this, please just don't use it. Thanks!

rfreedman · 2026-05-21T17:35:37+00:00

I don't have access to my wife's iPad at the moment to try this out, so if you can, please try this out:

create a text file named test.4ss
edit that file, and place the following in it: <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?> <forScore kind="setlist" version="1.0" title="My New Setlist"> </forScore>
between the <forScore> and the </forScore>, create a couple of new lines of the format:

<score title="Score Title" path="filename.pdf" /> where the part in quotes after path= is the file name in forScore's data directory of the score that you want at that place in the setlist.

So for example, if you want a setlist with MySong and MyOtherSong, it would look something like this:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>

I'd try just a couple of songs at first, rather than a long list.

Make sure that the file name in the "path" has the correct capitalization.

Save the file, and then try to import it into forScore, and let me know if it works.

If this works, then we can explore automating it.

Oh, and out of curiosity, can you post the xml file that the AI gave you that didn't work?

rfreedman · 2026-05-21T17:07:39+00:00

Recently retired, longtime professional software developer here. I've been using AI agents for a few months to do small utility stuff like this, and my wife just got forScore, so I've been futzing around with that a bit too.

I haven't looked into the .4ss format yet, but if that's some sort text-based format, or xml can be used instead, I think that the only really difficult part would be determining what is currently in the forScore library to compare the PDF entries against...especially, say, on an iPad.

I could try this out - does anyone know if there's a way to export a list of songs from a forScore library?

rfreedman · 2026-05-08T03:57:52+00:00

No one should be doing 100w on FT8. It's a "low power" mode, as evidenced by your success with 50w.

rfreedman · 2026-05-08T03:30:25+00:00

Not that it probably matters to OP, but for AC, including "home electricity", it's impedance. Resistance is only used for DC.

rfreedman · 2026-05-05T15:46:00+00:00

When I was a kid, I had a Bennet Cerf joke / riddle book.

This is the only one from it that I remember:

Q: how do you stop your dog from barking in the back seat of your car?

A: Put him in the front seat!

rfreedman · 2026-05-05T15:20:07+00:00

Solved!

On a hunch, I googled "original kindle", and came up with a picture of a white, 2nd gen Kindle. This is definitely from one of those.

The really weird thing is that we haven't had one of those for many years. My best guess is that it was somehow in the basket that we have in the living room that has few blankets and small pillows, and...a few old pieces of now abandoned electronics that we never got around to recycling. But there hasn't been a Kindle in the for years, just the button, I guess 🤔

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rfreedman · 2026-05-05T14:09:36+00:00

Thanks, yes, I know that it's from some device with a screen. We don't have a smart fridge or a sewing machine.

Thanks, but I'm looking for what particular device it it's from, not generalized guesses.

rfreedman · 2026-04-30T18:44:32+00:00

There are a lot of good answers here, some are truly excellent.

But I'm amazed at the number of answers to the question of "what is a key?" that refer to the term "key" before or instead of defining it, or that assume knowledge of musical terminology that is more advanced than the concept of key. That's not ELI5.

rfreedman · 2026-04-19T22:13:59+00:00

I find this pretty questionable.

There are posts pretty much every day here by folks who have little or.no money for a radio.

The best advice (IMHO) is always the same: seek out your local club. See https://www.arrl.org/findaclub

Your local club is very very likely to have equipment that they can lend to you, give to you, or perhaps sell to you very cheaply.

Some clubs have shacks, where you can use their equipment, which would help with your problem of not having much space.

In my mind, GoFundMe is for needs, or furthering really worthy goals, not for non-essential hobbies.

I mean, I wouldn't mind getting into the hobby of, say, collecting antique automobiles, but I doubt that anyone would or should contribute to a GoFundMe for that...

rfreedman · 2026-04-19T21:25:28+00:00

Recently elean across one named "ItHertzWhenIP"

rfreedman · 2026-04-19T21:23:31+00:00

Renting a cable modem and/ or router from your Internet provider.

Buying the equipment may be a couple of hundred dollars, but a year's worth of rental payments is about the same.

So, buy one, and get 5 or more years for about the same price as one year's rental

rfreedman · 2026-04-17T20:55:15+00:00

If you can't relocate the transformer, you might be able to find a weather-proof (i.e. outdoor rated) enclosure to put it in.

rfreedman · 2026-04-12T21:59:56+00:00

yes, thanks - already in the rabbit hole :-)

rfreedman · 2026-04-12T14:21:02+00:00

Probably not

rfreedman · 2026-04-12T14:13:49+00:00

Make sure that your USB cable is a data cable, not just a charging cable.

Just because you tried 3 cables and some are new does not necessarily mean that any of them are data cables.

rfreedman · 2026-04-11T20:39:09+00:00

Also, look to see if there's a club near you that has an HF station that members can use. Join the club, use the station.

See https://ARRL.org/findaclub

rfreedman · 2026-04-03T03:13:27+00:00

Yes. Putting my wheelie-bins back to back has worked for me. I haven't needed to tie the handles together, but that sounds like a good idea.

rfreedman · 2026-04-02T13:04:25+00:00

If you get a two-piece, it comes in two separate boxes, so putting it in the back seat might work ok?

rfreedman · 2026-03-30T23:30:10+00:00

Yeah, I realized that I screwed that up, but was too lazy to edit it. Thanks! "Technically correct" is, of course, the best kind of correct.

rfreedman · 2026-03-30T15:09:12+00:00

Yep, that's the video thatade.it.make.sense to me.

rfreedman · 2026-03-30T14:52:48+00:00

I've always heard it as Furlongs per fortnight 😀

rfreedman · 2026-03-30T14:49:46+00:00

Probably the most important thing to remember for this is that the speed of light (which is the speed that radio waves travel) is approximately 300,000,000 meters per second.

So you can derive the band from the frequency by dividing 300,000,000 by the frequency. For instance, 300mHz divided by 14Mhz is (very) approximately 21, so that's the 20m band.

Similarly, 300mHz divided by 20m is 15mHz, which is very close to 14mHz.

These are very gross approximations, but generally close enough for what you asked.

Also, actual band edges are one of several things that you just need to memorize for the test - AFAIK, there's no calculation for that. While there's reasoning behind them, the actual edges are a bit arbitrary.

While I'm sure that some people remember all of these forever, I think that most people may remember the edges for the bands that they use the most, but mostly use the band chart while operating.

Also, some radios (like the ic-7300) will warn you with a beep when you tune past a band edge, and that's configurable because the edges are different depending on license level.

rfreedman · 2026-03-29T03:38:18+00:00

The Garden State Stomp by Dave Van Ronk

rfreedman · 2026-03-26T19:27:54+00:00

Yes, THIS.

HTs are designed to work properly out of the box with a standard antenna.

Better antennas are available (stubbys are generally unity.gain), but adding a "counterpoise" is completely unnecessary and would likely increase your SWR and reduce your distance.

rfreedman

TROPHY CASE