Reports sometimes need to represent multiple position names in a single row, but only one position column is possible. Getting multiple position names into a single row is a conundrum. The solution is to use position groups to create nicknames for the groups of positions that appear in a single row.
The circled cell in Figure 1 shows a row representing multiple positions in the Pinboard Cue Sheet report. Cue 05/A fires shots on Pos-01 and Pos-02. Rather than displaying the position names in a list (which is not an option), the report tests if the set of positions to be displayed matches a position group. If so, the report shows the group name. You can make position group names that are recognizable, like “Front” or “Shell Positions” or “Rooftop-A”, etc. It is easy to tell position group names apart from position names themselves — position group names always begin with the at-sign.
Figure 1 – The Pinboard Cue Sheet shows position group names in Position column for rows that represent multiple positions.
You can make position group names by selecting a set of positions and doing the menu item, “Positions > Position groups > Create position group…” Finale 3D automatically creates position groups when you insert effects into multiple positions at once. The position groups are displayed as orange flowers on the left side of the screen, as shown in Figure 2. You can click on the name of the position group underneath the flower to rename or delete it.
Figure 2 – The orange flower position group names are displayed in rows that represent multiple positions.
Sometimes the automatic creation of position groups is overwhelming, so it is worth mentioning that you can turn off the automatic creation of position groups with a setting in the “Show > Show settings” submenu.
If you print a report and notice that one of the cells in the position column is blank, it is more than likely that the row represents multiple positions and that you don’t have a position group created that is an exact match. The position cell will be blank in that circumstance.