In piano view I can right click on the piano keys and select "Use these note names instead" and it works. Problem is how do you keep it that way.
Everytime I close that view and reopen it (even after locking it) it's back to the piano key instead of the descriptive words. Is it intended to revert to the default every time you close the view?

This is from the HELP file:
To Change the Active Track's Instrument Definition
Right-click the left side of the Notes pane (where the piano keys or note names are displayed) to display the Note Names dialog box.

To use the note names from the assigned instrument (the default), click Use the Assigned Instrument Settings. Click Configure to change the instrument definitions.
To override the default setting, click Use These Settings Instead, and choose the note names and mode you want to work with.
Click OK when you are done
The Piano Roll view is updated with the settings you request.

But it doesn't stay that way.
v 7.02

Bump..

Anyone?
Everytime I reopen a piano view I have to reset the left 'piano keys' to the note names manually. In my case, RealGuitar string descriptions.

I'm not sure if you can permanently change the note names of a virtual instrument in Sonar. I know you can do so with your own inst. defs. by just editing the definition itself. Virtual instruments seem to provide their own midi i/o, which is not asignable to any pre-existing instrument definition. They do not even appear in the instrument definition list upon inserting to a project, although they do appear in the track's available midi i/o ports.

This is for MusicLab's RealGuitar with their supplied .ini (instrument definition file) file which I'm using.
I do notice whenever I use that file OR ANY OTHER instrument definition file, under 'Use the assigned instruments setting' I get error "The parameter is incorrect"
When I use 'Use these note names instead' it works, but only until I close the window. I must repeat upon re-open

Hi Steve-

Same here! I got sick of losing those RG note names and created a Drum Map to use for the strokes instead. This might sound a little strange, but it works great! One nice thing about going this way is you can delete all the notes in the Main Zone and include both Repeat Zones so you end up with an uncluttered map of just the notes you need to alter strokes. For RG (and RealStrat -- it has the same Stroke Map) I use one MIDI track for the notes in the Main Zone and another assigned to the Drum Map.

-Susan

8 years later... Does anyone have an answer for this?

If the developer of a plug-in chooses to implement the appropriate opcode, SONAR will pick up the names and display them. This can be seen when using Cakewalk Session Drummer and FXpansion BFD. Unfortunately many developers choose not to add the feature to their plug-ins.

scook
If the developer of a plug-in chooses to implement the appropriate opcode, SONAR will pick up the names and display them. This can be seen when using Cakewalk Session Drummer and FXpansion BFD. Unfortunately many developers choose not to add the feature to their plug-ins.

Can that be done by the user? A little hackery perhaps? (Legal safe hackery not all out mayhem) Or is the opcode not something editable?