Can MuseScore be used programmatically?

Question

I wasn't sure whether to post this on StackOverflow or here, but since the pros in MuseScore should be on this platform, here it goes:

I have a custom build system to create a pdf songbook using LaTeX and I want to include tablature there. I parse ASCII tablatures myself and just need to render them.

So my idea would be:

I export the tablature to a format that MuseScore can read (XML?), then call MuseScore from the command line to render it as a PDF or image, which I then include in my LaTeX page.

Does MuseScore support this?

Answer 1

MuseScore supports MusicXml, so if you can export to that, you're good.

According to the command line options of MuseScore, you can use the "-o" options to specify an output format, and it even has an example specifying input and output.

How to include it in your LaTeX page is of course beyond MuseScore, that's up to you.

Answer 2

Another option (if this could be allowed as an answer) is to read the XML in LilyPond, perhaps via musicxml2ly.

Since LaTeX and LilyPond can work relatively well together, you may have better luck that way. And done the right way (like with the lyluatex package) you could bypass creating the "output" altogether and have it immediately created in your file.