.TH ABC2ABC 1 "07 June 2011"
.SH NAME
abc2abc \- a simple abc checker/re-formatter/transposer
.SH SYNOPSIS
\fBabc2abc\fP \fIfile\fP [ \fB-s\fP ] [ \fB-n\fP ] [ \fB-b\fP ]
[ \fB-r\fP ] [ \fB-e\fP ] [ \fB-t \fP\fIsemitones\fP ] [ \fB-nda\fP ]
[ \fB-u\fP ] [ \fB-d\fP ] [ \fB-v\fP ] [ \fB-V\fP\fIvoice number\fP]
[\fB-P\fP\fivoice number\fp] [\fB-nokeys\fP]
[ \fB-nokeyf\fP] [ \fB-usekey\fP\fI(sharps/flats)\fP]
[\fB-useclef\fP\fI(treble/clef)\fP] [ \fB-OCC\fP ]
.SH "DESCRIPTION"
.PP
.B abc2abc
is a simple abc checker/re-formatter/transposer.
It will check whether the \fIfile\fP given on the command line
obeys basic abc syntax.
.PP
If you want to check an abc tune,
it is recommended that you use
.B abc2midi
with the \fB-c\fP option.
This performs extra checks that
.B abc2abc
does not do.
.PP
The output of
.B abc2abc
goes to standard output.
Use redirection to save it to a file.
.SH OPTIONS
.TP
.B \-s
Rework spacing in the file (which affects how notes are beamed together
when the music is printed out). This option does not appear to be working
correctly.
.TP
.BI \-n " X"
Reformats the abc file with line breaks every \fIX\fP bars.
.TP
.B \-b
Don't do bar checking.
.TP
.B \-r
Don't do repeat checking.
.TP
.B \-e
Don't report errors.
.TP
.BI \-t " n"
Transpose tune by \fIn\fP semitones. This function will also
work with K: none or one of \-nokeys or \-nokeyf.
If a voice is assigned to channel 10 (drum channel) using a
%%MIDI channel 10
command, then this voice is never transposed.

.TP
.B \-nda
Convert double accidentals in guitar chord to another chord though
strictly not correct.
.TP
.B \-u
Update notation; the older notation \fB+ +\fP for chords is replaced by 
\fB[]\fP and \fBs s\fP for slurs is replaced by \fB()\fP.
.TP
.B \-OCC
Accept the old notation for chord. Normally this is turned off,
since it conflicts with abc draft standard version 2.0 for
decorations (eg. +crescendo(+).
.TP
.B \-d
Re-notate the tune with all note lengths doubled. The unit length specified by the L: field
command is halved (e.g. L:1/8 to L:1/16).
.TP
.B \-v
Re-notate the tune with all note lengths halved. The unit length specified by the L: field
command is doubled (e.g. L:1/8 to L:1/4).
.TP
.B \-ver
Prints version number and exits.
.TP
.BI \-V " X[,Y...]"
For multivoiced abc files (i.e. contains V: field commands), only voices \fIX[,Y,...]\fP are copied.
.TP
.BI \-P " X,[,Y...]"
For multivoiced abc files (i.e. contains V: field commands), all voices except \fIX[,Y...]\fP remain the same. Voices X,Y... are modified according the other runtime parameters. 
.TP
.BI \-X " n"
For a file containing many tunes, the X: reference numbers are renumbered sequentially
starting from number \fIn\fP.
.TP
.BI \-xref " n"
Only the tune with X: n is processed.
.TP
.B \-nokeys
No key signature will be assumed. Instead, sharps and naturals will
be placed wherever they are needed.
.TP
.B \-nokeyf
No key signature will be assumed. Instead, flats and naturals will
be placed wherever they are needed.
.TP
.B \-usekey " sf
This will force abc2abc to output the notes in the key signature
keys[sf] where sf specifies the number of flats (\-negative) or 
sharps (+positive) in the key signature. It is a number between
\-5 and +5 inclusive.
.TP
.B \-useclef
This works with only the -t (transpose) and provided the abc
file does not already have a clef command in the K: field. It
does not support voices.
.PP
* Normally abc2abc will convert the deprecated notation for
decorations (eg. !ppp!) to the abc version 2.0 draft standard (eg. +ppp+).
If you do not wish to change to this standard include the \-OCC flag.

.SH "SEE ALSO"
.IR abcmtex "(1), " abc2midi "(1), " midi2abc "(1), " mftext "(1)"
.SH AUTHOR
This manual page was written by Anselm Lingnau <lingnau@tm.informatik.uni-frankfurt.de> and is now supported by Seymour Shlien <fy733@ncf.ca>
for the GNU/Linux system.
.SH VERSION
This man page describes abc2abc version 2.04 from January 22 2020.