I am not sure I understand.

By your word “group”, do you mean staff group?

What is the problem?

Could you give exact steps - what do you do?

What does not happen that you expected?

What happens that you did not expect?

Ok, I have an arrangement of "O Holy Night" for Unison choir and chamber orchestra.   My publisher wants an SSA and SATB arrangement that will fit with the same orchestration.  (I took screen shots of all this but they're too big for here)
So, I

1. add the appropriate staves to the score in the score manager.  Then...
2. add a group and bracket (6 different clicks... Finale has all the wrong options pre-clicked for choral) for both SSA and SATB staves through the staff tool.  Looks great in the score!

3.  In the "manage parts" box under "document" I create parts labeled "SSA" and "SATB" to send to my publisher.  I name the first one SSA and add all the appropriate staves from the menu on the far left.

4.  Do all my arranging and go to the individual part to edit the layout and make it look pretty on the page... I have no group brackets or names in the individual parts.  I have to RECREATE it again...  

help me!

SCORE VIEW:

PART VIEW:

So you are using linked parts to create two separate arrangements? Why not create a file for each and just copy+paste the accompaniment?

I frequently use Paul's approach to (say) keep my orchestration and piano/vocal information all in one file and using different parts/layouts to display the different instrumentations.

That does not address Paul complaint about grouping, but it does not take that many clicks to add the grouping back in once for each part. I'll admit that it's odd that keyboard groups keep their grouping but that user designed groups seem not to (or at least do not do so consistently.).

Your publisher will have to do a lot of clean-up anyway, so I guess it doesn't really matter.

Yes, it does matter.  I do typesetting for my own business as well.    

Yeah, that meant "whatever method works for you."

I played around this for a bit and discovered that if I use the setup wizard to add the vocal staves, than create a group with them, then as you said, the group bracket doesn't make the transition to parts.

But, if I add blank staves with the staff tool, then group them with a bracket, after generating parts the group does make the transition to parts with the bracket intact.

Either way, Finale should do this correctly, but it doesn't. So you need to fix this manually. If Finale was perfect I wouldn't have a job.

If I generate parts, I lose all of my edits on the other parts I've already created.

I'll play around with generating parts, though, and see if I can use this without too much hassle.

Paul,

After I use Manage Parts to create the new (SSA) part...

(For heaven's sake, do NOT generate parts for this, as you have said)

...I simply add the group to the (SSA) part if it does not roll over from you full/working score..

If you find this extra work, do you need to add the group to your full score? It does not appear that you will be using this for anything but a working score.

Yes, I do need to add it to my full score as different places need to buy a full score and set of parts based on the voicing of their group.  Some groups will sing SAB with orchestra and others SSA or SATB.  I have to have the groups carry over to the score.  

Hahaha!  Never generate parts after you've edited.  I've cried many a tear over this one.

… In the "manage parts" box under "document" I create parts labeled "SSA" and "SATB" to send to my publisher.  I name the first one SSA and add all the appropriate staves from the menu on the far left …

Instead of “add all the appropriate staves” I would simply “add the staff group” to the linked part.

When you add a group to a part, the group from the score is retained in the part.

I just tried it (Finale v25), and it works for me.

The group does not populate for me. Is there a “staff option” I have to click? And does it also carry over from score to part?

… The group does not populate for me. Is there a “staff option” I have to click? And does it also carry over from score to part? …

I am not sure I understand your words “group does not populate for me”.

Are you talking about the dialog box Manage Parts?

Here are my steps (in Manage Parts):

I clicked the button “Edit Part Definition”, to expand Manage Parts.

To create the new part I clicked the button “New Part”.

In the rightmost column (= Available Instruments) I selected the staff group, and clicked “< Add to Part”.

The staff group in fact did “carry over from score to part”.

Did you follow some other steps?

This is the step I take but unde “available instrument” the staves I want are individual and not part of a group.
How does one make them show up as a group, like keyboard instruments do.

…This is the step I take, but under “available instruments” the staves I want, are individual and not part of a group …

This is a mystery.

Why does it work for me, but not for you?

Let me get this straight:

1) You clicked the button “New Part”, right?

2) When you did so, the score’s staff group did not show up in “Available Instruments”, right?

An attempt to pinpoint the culprit:

Are the staves named, with a “Full Staff Name” in the Staff Attributes?

In the screen shots you attached, the staves seem to be un-named.

If any of the group’s staves has a “Full Name” in the Staff Attributes, then the staff group will not display in “Available Instruments” (but the individual staves will display).

If none of the group’s staves has a a “Full Name” in the Staff Attributes, then the staff group will display in “Available Instruments” - even if a “Full Name” has been added via a staff style.

I don’t rename the stages when I add them to the score. I do uncheck “display staff name in score and parts” from the staff option dialogue box.

I can create a group using brackets and name it Ice cream Cone if that helps but this is a lot of confusing process for what should be a simple function.

Staves

… I don’t rename the staves when I add them to the score. I do uncheck “display staff name in score and parts” from the staff option dialogue box …

What happens if you - instead of un-checking “display staff name in score and parts” - delete the Full Name?

You can still add the Full Name back when the linked part has been created (with the desired staff group).

Or you can add the Full Name back right away, via a custom staff style.

It doesn change the nature of how my parts react. The group and bracket is still non existent until I create it.

… It doesnt change the nature of how my parts react. The group and bracket is still non existent until I create it …

This is not normal Finale behaviour.

The score’s staff group should be present in “Available Instruments” if none of the group’s staves is named with a Full Name.

* Can you provide exact steps to reproduce this issue? (like “Begin with a Document Without Libraries …”)

* Or perhaps let us examine a Finale document with the issue?

Unfortunately it is not possible to upload a Finale document in this forum. Instead you can upload the document elsewhere, and then here in the forum add a hyperlink to the document. You can e. g. upload your Finale document in this forum:

https://www.finaleforum.com/index.php 

No Finale documents in a Finale forum? Wow... at least we got medieval notation last upgrade. I’m out of my office right now but I’ll send when I get back.

This is now more screwed up than ever.  I finally got my SAB and SATB to form groups that I could use from "available instruments" but now it has made my piano 2 different staves and I don't have a "piano" group to use in "available instruments" list.  Just two separate staves with no grouping... I am losing my ever loving mind.  

So... I decided to add another piano from the Score manager page and just start over... now it's erased all of my groups and decided to rename the whole blasted choral part "SAB"... everything from Unison down to SATB is a giant SAB 

I would upload a screen shot but it's too big of a file.  

… I would upload a screen shot but it's too big of a file …

A screen shot probably would not tell us much more than you have already told us.

To find the culprit we really need to examine an actual Finale document with the issue.

I emailed the file to the person I originally started this whole process with. I will probably call on Tuesday. The email and forum thing is too slow.

Considering all the problems you have had trying to make the process automatic, my manual solution adding grouping within the part no longer appears quite so involved, at least to me.

What an asinine thing to write.  I'm trying to learn a process to make the future processes go faster.  

There is predictable behaviour regarding groups added to linked parts.

If the group does NOT have names staves (that is, the Staff Name field is empty; not just set not to show) and the group has a name, then groups are preserved when they are added to linked parts, like piano and organ parts. You can add a group by name, because it will be listed in the Edit Part dialogue box as the group name.

If the group DOES have staff names (like the string section, or the woodwind section, or a choir) then groups are NOT preserved when added to a linked part. Usually, it's only the choir example that causes problems.

You can take advantage of this by ERASING the staff names for your choral parts, adding the group (which you should name), then after the fact edit the Staff Name fields. You might find this easier than re-creating the groups in the linked parts. 

I generally find it to be less hassle to just recreate the group. It's not really that many mouse clicks.