Cranford Publications
 Using ABC Programs and Conversion Websites

Just as you don't have to write music in order to read it, you don't have to understand ABCs in order to use them. If you can 'cut and paste' and surf the web, you are already equipped for basic conversions

To translate an exiting ABC file into standard notation and midi playback, bookmark this great site - Paul Swartz's Convert-o-Matic. Simply paste or import all of the abc text (one tune or many tunes ... starting with an X:1 header etc) into the online form. This will process one tune at a time, the first tune in the file.

Another useful online abc processing tool is Steve Mansfield's Chord's Out.

To write and edit most programs support many tunes per file. You don't need a powerful computer to import 100 tunes with the click of a mouse.

1. Barfly is the hands-down winner for playback, interactive editing, visionary feature set and regular updates. The documentation gives you everything required to understand reading writing and trouble shooting ABCs. Definitely the platform for anyone writing ABCs. Now available for all Mac systems including system X, we await a Windows version.
2. Abc2win shines in its ability to format output (you can adjust spacing, visible headers. size of notation etc. Unfortunately it hasn't been updated in a long time. Playback is clunky (though it doesn't require a sound card.). Editing is awkward but functional. Windows only.
3. AbcMus - complements ABC2Win, adding better playback and file management utilites