I used to complain pretty frequently that opening Staff View would crash Sonar.  I haven't had the issue lately.
 
But today I am trying to mix a project and find I need to correct some things.  I can't open Staff View without crashing Sonar—which means I can't use Staff View at all.
 
I suppose this bug is related to specific projects because I haven't had the problem lately, but now I am dead in the water.
 
Any ideas on workarounds?  Sorry, but I cannot freaking visualize multi-part music (like a piano score) in piano roll.

Here is a link to freeware from Finale, called Finale Notepad, which can display midi in scored fashion:
 
http://www.finalemusic.com/products/finale-notepad/
 
I gave up on Sonar Staff View ever getting any significant development time, and use Finale Notepad once in a while - hopefully, it will meet your short-term needs.
 
Bob Bone
 

Bob, Thanks.  I have Finale, but am not clear how that will help me edit MIDI parts in a SONAR project.

Sorry - I though you were just using it for reference.
 
Bummer.
 
Bob Bone
 

I eventually got the view open but through some complicated and non-recreatable process that took 5 crashes and reboots.  (Note: If Sonar crashes, it does not know what file you worked on last, so you have to look through your directories—in my case, a main folder and an external drive—to find the latest version to reload.)
 
I tried opening other views and then the Staff View.  Opening Lyrics, Event List, and then Staff worked, but that may have been random because I have tried that combination before and crashed.  Very odd.

What kind of external drive are you using?..and is this project tied to that drive?...and or other projects that cause this crashing?...As you state it was ok for a while...Just asking...As I have had issues with USB 3.0 My books, and projects..So I no longer put projects on them...Not that this is your issue...But could be a pointer?.
 

Hi Konrad,
 
This issue may be specific to your system.  I just finished a new orchestral movement, 347 measures, 37 MIDI tracks with not a single crash (X3e).  I work about 85% of the time in staff view, actually numerous staff views, I have 4 staff views docked and locked and not one issue (other than the long-standing ones everyone who uses the staff view knows about).
 
Maybe a graphics issue on your machine?
 
Jerry
www.jerrygerber.com
 
 

Konrad,
 
Sorry to hear about your problems with the staff view. Unfortunately, I can't re-create on my system, nor help...
 
Also, I sincerely hope you don't expect anyone from CW to answer your post or even be more far fetched and hope that CW will ever address/fix/improve/enhance/develop the Staff View to remotely match what is available in other DAW. For example, look at what Cubase offers since V6 (over two years ago!) and prepare to drool: www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqDK2Rhpb3g
 
It's well documented that in the past many years, despite hundreds of posts (with many that included pure begging) that the bakers will not get involve with the main feature of Sonar that involves the fundamental language of music: Notation. I can only assume (hopefully incorrectly) that most people at CW are not trained musicians that know/use notation fluently/frequently thus not truly understanding the true value of this feature.
 
All the best Konrad,
Jon
(otherwise BIG time fan of CW)
 
PS I would more than happy to be made wrong and to see S4 bring serious upgrade to notation. I will repent and kiss the ground all the way to CW Headquarters at 179 Lincoln Street, Boston ;-)

I do not draw the conclusion that CW staff are not musically trained, based on whether or not staff view works properly.
 
I do not think it bubbles up high enough on the features list for things they want to invest developer resources on, and that is most likely purely a business decision.
 
I do think it quite unlikely that staff view will get much, if any, attention, since it has not really had any for such a long time.
 
That being said, if there is something causing crashes, perhaps they would look into fixing something with that, but at this point it would likely be in an upgrade, rather than a maintenance release for X3.
 
I wish I could assist with your issues here.
 
Bob Bone
 

Super Newbie
Konrad,
 
Sorry to hear about your problems with the staff view. Unfortunately, I can't re-create on my system, nor help...
 
Also, I sincerely you don't expect anyone from CW to answer your post or even be more far fetched and hope that CW will ever address/fix/improve/enhance/develop the Staff View to remotely match what is available in other DAW. For example, look at what Cubase offers since V6 (over two years ago!) and prepare to drool:  .
 
It's well documented that in the past many years, despite hundreds of posts (with many that included pure begging) that the bakers will not get involve with the main feature of Sonar that involves the fundamental language of music: Notation. I can only assume (hopefully incorrectly) that most people at CW are not trained musicians that know/use notation fluently/frequently thus not truly understanding the true value of this feature.
 
All the best Konrad,
Jon
(otherwise BIG time fan of CW since V1!)
 
PS I would more than happy to be made wrong and to see S4 bring serious upgrade to notation. I will repent and kiss the ground all the way to CW Headquarters at 179 Lincoln Street, Boston ;-)

I agree that Sonar's staff view can be improved, but I think the bad rap it often gets is exaggerated.  For example,

Sonar is the only DAW that I know of that lets you open up as many staff views as you want, docking and locking them.  This is an enormous time-saver, not having to constantly be adding or subtracting particular instruments to the staff view.  Cubase cannot do it, either can DP for Windows, not sure about Logic or Pro Tools.  Though Cubase's staff view has more options (mainly a larger number of notation symbols), it is still very clunky compared to Sibelius, and Digital Performer's staff view also cannot correctly display tied triplets under certain conditions.

I've completed 12 albums and 8 symphonies in Sonar's staff view, just finished yesterday a piece using the staff view (linked below).  Of course the long-standing complaints that are the most problematic are display issues:  tied and dotted triplets and 64th notes and 32nd note triplets don't display correctly.  But they PLAYBACK correctly, so it doesn't affect production quality.  Since I create my final scores in Sibelius anyway, I just think of Sonar's staff view as a MIDI inputting and editing tool, it isn't meant to be (in my opinion) anything like Sibelius, which is a true publishing-quality notation tool.

And you're probably right, probably the majority of musicians who use Sonar do not read and/or write notation, so they have no use for it. 
 
To hear the 1st movement of my newest symphony click on the link below.  I think it is a good example of what Sonar's staff view is capable of, I have no doubt it is highly functional for complex orchestrations. If you can't create the pieces you want then you just haven't mastered the staff view yet.  Keep working at it!  I've developed lots of little shortcuts (using keybindings) to make the staff view quicker to navigate. 

Jerry
http://www.jerrygerber.com/symphony9.htm