It sounds as though your metatools haven’t been determined (or have disappeared). Have you checked this?

Try the free demo for F25, and see if it helps.

A few things: 

As far as I can tell, the Metatools have not disappeared, and are defined. I opened up a completely different document and tried adding no articulations to no avail. (pic attached) 

In addition, I have loaded multiple default libraries for articulations, and none of them seem to work. I'll try F25 demo, but if purchasing a new product is the requirement for functionality, I will be moving to Sibelius. Not there yet though...... I'll try this and call support. 

… 

• OSX 10.12.6 High Sierra
• Finale 2014.5

…

This behavior is in new finale files, as well as old ones, where I used these shortcuts often. 

I recently updated to High Sierra but from the rest of the pages that I have read, it seems that this is probably not the problem …

If I understand you correctly, you are saying that

- you have not experienced any of the (many) reported compatibility issues with F2014 and Mac OS 10.12, right?

and that

- your problem probably is not a compatibility issue between F2014 and Mac OS 10.12, right?

My first guess would be that your problem actually is a compatibility issue between F2014 and Mac OS 10.12.

Have you tried using F2014 on a Mac with an earlier Mac OS version, like e. g. Mac OS 10.10 ?

2014.5 is not completely compatible with Sierra (there are limitations) or High Sierra—if it works at all, some functionality is crippled. Neither is it supported over High Sierra.

Finale 25, OTOH, is supported and upgrades are on sale for $79 over the 4th of July per MM’s Facebook page—this will expire soon.

If the idea of paying for an update after 5 years (2014.5 was a no-charge update to 2014 that came out in 2013) is so abhorrent that you feel you must go to the licensing clown car that is Sibelius, you gotta go with the tools that get the job done.... Finale 25, Sibelius, Dorico or pen and paper...

Yeah, so I tried using Finale 25, and the same problem is happening. An upgrade doesn't seem to make a difference. 

So I put in a request to the support page and we'll go from there. 

On Mike's note, I don't mind paying for an update, but there shouldn't be functionality problems on new OS' in terms of metatools for no reason, or at least not be readily fixed/patched/addressed by the support page. Even more so, since I feel like Macs and Apple products are significantly more prevalent than they were more than a decade ago. MakeMusic should be on this. 

A Clown Car is still better than a horse-and-buggy. ;) 

Oh, and responding to Peter: 

I actually was using Sierra the last time I needed to do work on Finale Files, and I had no problems there. So it seems like it might have been the step forward with High Sierra that is causing the problem with 2014.5. 

Again, I just think it's absurd to release a product/say that you support it, in 2018, where Mac support isn't completely covered. 

To be honest, I really like alot of the good things about Finale versus Sibelius, but functionality issues like this have been a thing for over 20 years. It's time to get with it. The only reason I'm still using it is that my writing colleague only really has access to Finale through a school account. 

>So it seems like it might have been the step forward with High Sierra that is causing the problem with 2014.5. <

It has been announced over and over that 2014.5 is incompatible with High Sierra. In the real world, it pretty much works but there are major issues. It has also been announced many times that the fix is to update to Finale 25.

>Again, I just think it's absurd to release a product/say that you support it, in 2018, where Mac support isn't completely covered.<

But the Mac is covered.

I don't work for MM neither do I speak for them. I have no idea how much pre-sales support is available but that is what you are asking for. Your upgrade has a 30 day money back guarantee. It may cost you $79 to find out.

I guess if you say that a product is covered and supported, but then say that it’s not compatible with an operating system, I’m not sure what to say. Seems like a contradiction in terms.

If it’s supported (which it says on the page, that 2014.5 and Finale 25 are supported) then compatibility issues shouldn’t be a thing. Errors? Sure, But just to whitewash it as “they support it, but it’s not compatible with new OS’” doesn’t make sense to me. They should at least offer some type of solution for supported software. That’s the very definition of support.

Anyway, not trying to get into a flame war here. I submitted my post, and have done more research. From what I’ve seen, there doesn’t seem to be a workaround.

If Support comes up with something I’ll let you know.

t has been announced over and over that 2014.5 is incompatible with High Sierra is what I wrote.

This is one of many announcements that MakeMusic has made over the last year.

Finale notation products and macOS High Sierra (10.13)

https://makemusic.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/115012747227-Finale-notation-products-and-macOS-High-Sierra-10-13- 

https://makemusic.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/227137247-Finale-products-and-macOS-10-12-Sierra 

Just because it mostly works (my words, not MM's) that does not mean that is is supported.

Rude. 

1. I don't have a reading comprehension problem. I believe that if a company says that they offer support for a product, that it will track over iterations of the software. Not just say, "Hey there are compatibility problems, just so go buy the new one. 

2. I already tried using the trial, and it didn't work. So, saying that the solution is to just upgrade to the new software is about as useful as an air conditioner in the winter time. 

PS ---- I mentioned this ^^^^^^^^^^^ in my prior message, so maybe reading comprehension is something you need to work on. 

3. This is a forum for helping other people. Instead of being toxic, especially when I said I had already posted a ticket to support, maybe you should learn the important skill of putting your keyboard away for a minute or two. You're not helping anyone. You're not helping the problem. 

Again, I get that there are compatibility issues. I'm saying there shouldn't be issues in the first place. Most professional devs handle multiple OS' and their updates, as part of the product SUPPORT that they offer. 

And I'll say it again, because of my PS mentioned above (You didn't read everything and didn't understand the issue)------The default solution that was given with the compatibility issues DIDN'T WORK. So I am seeking a solution to that.  

I'll post the results of my conversation with MakeMusic support and hopefully help others who might also have this problem in the future. Using this forum for good, instead of silliness.   

Mark,

"... maybe you should learn the important skill of putting your keyboard away for a minute or two."

We all hope MM Support can help you with your issue. Clearly we on this forum cannot reconcile the performance your software with your definition of support.

“Clearly we on this forum cannot reconcile......” 

This has become abundantly clear. I came seeking answers, and instead was told that I had a “reading comprehension problem” by an “expert” because he wanted to defend software, rather than trying to figure out problems, and concerns that I had about said software.

I stand by my comments as I treated indignation with the rebuttal it deserved. 

To be clear, my definition of support is not one that is out-of-the-norm, or unusual, which I believe that you are inferring from your italicized typing. It’s pretty standard in 2018. I’d like to see them address it. Let’s take a better, more positive tack than both of you “experts” in the Finale community, starting now: 

I would like to hear any progress on resolving issues with meta tools in both Finale 25 and 2014.5, and look forward to seeing what MakeMusic does to support their customers. If anyone has other ideas for resolving meta tools other than installing Finale 25, which as of now is not working, it would be interesting to hear. Once resolution has begun, after speaking to support, I plan to post any response/solution to help others. 

Nothing will be done to improve/fix/debug 2014.5. End of story.

I have no problem using the metatools in F25. So the problem may be at your end. Have you tried a new user account on your Mac? This is simply a test, not a soulution. If the problem is solved, then it will be a matter of finding what on your computer is causing the conflict.

Hmmmmmmm. I tried making an additional user account, and it didn’t seem to work their in F25 or 2014.5. I even gave it admin privileges, and it didn’t seem to do anything. 

Any other ideas? Is there a global setting or something of that variety that I am missing? (I didn’t think that was an option for metatools.) 

Thanks for the ideas 

Do they work if you drag-select, either single notes or multiples? Are you sure you are in the correct layer? Have you tried with a different mouse? (Just throwing out ideas, at this point.)

2014.5 will not install over High Sierra. Neither will 25 before 25.4.1—the current build is 25.5 and works fine.

You can try resetting the preferences. https://usermanuals.finalemusic.com/FinaleMac/Content/Finale/Finale_Preferences.htm 

To delete the Finale preference file

1. Choose Finale > Preferences. The Preferences dialog box appears.
2. Click the Reset All Preferences button. Finale prompts you to confirm the reset.
3. Click Yes.
4. Save your work and Finale shuts down.
5. Re-launch Finale. The Finale Preferences file is re-generated with default settings.

>To be clear, my definition of support is not one that is out-of-the-norm, or unusual<

How many companies support a 5 year old product over as many OS releases nearly 2 years after they released a major upgrade?

Anyone?

Ferris?

To be clear, my question is rhetorical. I'm done with this thread and will not read any of the responses. Life's too short.

Mike Rosen-

Thanks for your reply. Yeah I can Add multiple articulations, and single select. It also seems like the metal tools are assigned to the articulations. I’m getting the normal screen when I pull up the articulations dialog box to add multiple articulations, and single select. It also seems like the metal tools are assigned to the articulations. I’m getting the normal screen when I pull up the articulations dialog box, with S being staccato, etc.

It seems odd, but I do realize that High Sierra just may not be compatible. However, even with the finale 25 demo I Tried, the same problems occurred.

That’s why I think it’s something that either my computer is doing or that I’m doing. Appreciate your help.

Have you tried manually programming in a metatool, instead of using a pre-made one?

Hi Jeff thanks for your thought ----- 

I tried making a new meta tool and reassigning it to one of the articulations that didn't have a metatool created for it (some of the more rarely used articulations) and it just kept bringing me back to the articulation page. 

One note --- when I pressed shift and selected A for accent, it did go there directly in the articulations page. It didn't place it, but it would seem that at least it's trying to use the basic metatools but is not completing the operation. So that's something. Maybe that will help in figuring this out! 

Oh,, I forgot to mention this: The metatool did assign to one of the new articulations. Just thought I'd say that as well, as that might be more information to bringing this to a close. 

Hi Mark,

Welcome to the forums! Rest assured that everyone here is trying to help you out the best they can and provide all the information that is available. Mike H. was simply pointing out that technically Finale 2014.5 is not supported with macOS High Sierra (correctly so), so you may in fact run into issues that may be related to this.

However, this is not something that we expect to happen because of compatibility. If this is also happening with the trial version of v25, this tells us that there is underlying cause to the problem. When we do see this, typically this is caused by a hardware or software conflict (anti-virus or security software is often the culprit), and we can find a resolution. I know that you have opened a case with us so we should be able to straighten this out quickly for you.  

Hello All! (Problem resolved) 

Thanks to all those who offered actually concrete help on this matter. David, thanks for your idea, and it turns out that you were right! 
I finally got a little bit more time today to sit down and work, and Austin emailed me after I sent him my SPX file, and told me to disable Webroot. 

I had received this free anti-virus program from work for free (Webroot), and didn't even think that it would make an impact. I disabled it and everything started to work again. I then came to the page to post results, and I saw your comment you posted yesterday after the software conflict (anti-virus) and it makes sense. 

So to anyone who is struggling with this problem on a Mac, turning off any anti-virus/security software, after you've tried the basic solutions already posted, seems to be your best bet. Truth be told, I know that on a Mac, you really don't need anti-virus anyway. I just threw it on because it was free, and didn't think anything else of it. (Nothing wrong with a little precaution. But in this case, that helped get the metatool shortcuts back on in both 2014.5 and the free demo of Finale 25 I've been using.) 

Again, thanks to those who offered positive solutions and constructive feedback. I am still using 2014.5 for now, until the time is right for me to upgrade, and all the functionality that I need is still there. Have a great weekend. 

Just to add a hopefully helpful note, we had a problem here with Webroot on a completely different issue (remote access) and we discovered that Webroot has a pulldown menu choice called Pause Secure Keyboard Entry that not only fixed our remote access issue but cured Finale of the articulation metatool non-entry issue, and we didn't have to disable Webroot at all. So I hope this helps. I just spent an hour looking for the same metatool solution and Mark you pointed the way so thank you.

>I know that on a Mac, you really don't need anti-virus anyway...<

The jury is still out on that but Apple does a very good job. One must be on the current Mac OS or two versions back to receive security updates, however. El Capitan support ended last November.

I use Avira Antivirus. Free and it regularly detects infected files and email attachments. Whether those would actually harm my system or not is debatable, of course. With my job, I'm logged into hundreds of web sites daily and using nothing would be foolish. I run a deep scan once a month, otherwise I let it run in the background.

https://www.avira.com/en/free-antivirus-mac 

No known interference with any of my apps including all versions of Finale neither does it slow my system down. If I suspected anything, Console.app is the tool that would show it.

Good to know. I'll have to check that out! I don't really visit too many sites on my Mac anymore, since I got a pretty hefty gaming/video editing rig. I mostly just use my Mac for Finale. 

As an update: I did decide to update to Finale 26, skipping Finale 25, as I went forward with Mojave. I really like the improvements so far, so I am glad that I waited. 

For anything that Finale doesn't cover well, I just use Sibelius, so things are all good. Thanks for attention on this matter.