Element: scaling
Description
Margins, page sizes, and distances are all measured in tenths to keep MusicXML data in a consistent coordinate system as much as possible. The translation to absolute units is done with the scaling type, which specifies how many millimeters are equal to how many tenths. For a staff height of 7 mm, millimeters would be set to 7 while tenths is set to 40. The ability to set a formula rather than a single scaling factor helps avoid roundoff errors.
Derived By
Type scaling
Content Model
Contains elements as defined in the following table.
| Component | Type | Occurs | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
1..1 |
|
||
| millimeters | millimeters | 1..1 | The millimeters type is a number representing millimeters. This is used in the scaling element to provide a default scaling from tenths to physical units. |
|
| tenths | tenths | 1..1 | The tenths type is a number representing tenths of interline staff space (positive or negative). Both integer and decimal values are allowed, such as 5 for a half space and 2.5 for a quarter space. Interline space is measured from the middle of a staff line. Distances in a MusicXML file are measured in tenths of staff space. Tenths are then scaled to millimeters within the scaling element, used in the defaults element at the start of a score. Individual staves can apply a scaling factor to adjust staff size. When a MusicXML element or attribute refers to tenths, it means the global tenths defined by the scaling element, not the local tenths as adjusted by the staff-size element. |
|
Referenced By
- Complex Type defaults
Example
<defaults>
<scaling>
<millimeters>14.478</millimeters>
<tenths>40</tenths>
</scaling>
<page-layout>
<page-height>772</page-height>
<page-width>596</page-width>
<page-margins type="both">
<left-margin>35</left-margin>
<right-margin>35</right-margin>
<top-margin>44</top-margin>
<bottom-margin>44</bottom-margin>
</page-margins>
</page-layout>
<system-layout>
<system-margins>
<left-margin>0</left-margin>
<right-margin>0</right-margin>
</system-margins>
<system-distance>121</system-distance>
<top-system-distance>70</top-system-distance>
</system-layout>
<appearance>
<line-width type="stem">0.7487</line-width>
<line-width type="beam">5</line-width>
<line-width type="staff">0.7487</line-width>
<line-width type="light barline">0.7487</line-width>
<line-width type="heavy barline">5</line-width>
<line-width type="leger">0.7487</line-width>
<line-width type="ending">0.7487</line-width>
<line-width type="wedge">0.7487</line-width>
<line-width type="enclosure">0.7487</line-width>
<line-width type="tuplet bracket">0.7487</line-width>
<note-size type="grace">60</note-size>
<note-size type="cue">60</note-size>
<distance type="hyphen">120</distance>
<distance type="beam">8</distance>
</appearance>
<music-font font-family="Maestro,engraved" font-size="41"/>
<word-font font-family="Times New Roman" font-size="20.5"/>
<lyric-font font-family="Times New Roman" font-size="20.5"/>
</defaults>
