Tool Windows

The tool windows are used to control different aspects of Sibelius. For example, the properties window shows information about the selected item in the score, the playback window contains “transport” controls for playing the score, and the keypad window displays which number pad keys have been used to affect the selected note.

Sighted users have the option of closing all the tool windows so that only the score and menu bars are shown on screen. Unfortunately, Sibelius Access needs the playback, keypad and properties windows to be open at all times, because the information they show is needed to ensure that things run smoothly.

In addition to this, the tool windows can be dragged with the mouse into any position, and although this is useful for sighted users, it means that one tool window can be positioned “on top of” another, so that the information in one of the windows is obscured.

Opening and closing tool windows

The keypad, properties and playback windows must be open at all times. You can also have the video window open but this is the absolute limit. If any other windows are open you will be told that they must be closed. You will also be told if any of the keypad, properties and playback windows need to be opened.

The easiest way to open or close a tool window is to use the window menu (Alt+W). It lists all the tool windows with a check mark next to those which are open. Pressing enter on a checked window name will close that window and pressing enter on an unchecked window name will open that window.

A faster method is to use keystrokes which open and close the windows without you needing to go to the tool window. These keystrokes are shown after the windows name in the window menu. The down side to using this method is that the keystrokes which you use may be assigned to launch another application. For example, Ctrl+Alt+K is often assigned to launch the Kurzweil scanning package.

Moving tool windows

The tool windows must not overlap. If this happens you will be told which windows are overlapping so that you can fix the problem.

There are two things you can do in this situation. The first is to press Ctrl+Shift+F1. This runs a function which tries to move the tool windows around into the safest possible position. This is the recommended thing to do.

Your other option is to go to the window, press Alt+Space to open the windows system menu and choose move. You can then use the arrow keys to move the window. If you do this, you must remember to press Enter to actually confirm the move and return the arrow keys to there normal use.

Moving to a tool window

There are many situations in which you will need to use one of the tool windows directly. For example, controlling the mixer, editing the playback properties of a note or changing the number of staves shown in a part.

The keystrokes for moving to tool windows are as follows:

Information on using the different tool windows can be found in the relevant topics.