Puzzling over Save As (uncompressed XML)

Please post all questions and comments regarding Help & Manual 7 here.

Moderators: Alexander Halser, Tim Green

Post Reply
Dave Gehman
Posts: 575
Joined: Sat Sep 23, 2017 9:05 pm

Puzzling over Save As (uncompressed XML)

Unread post by Dave Gehman »

Tell me about the rationale to force "Save As" xml projects into a new, empty folder.

I have a project for which I'd simply want to save the current project under a new name.

The current project then becomes a previous version, and I can make changes large and small to the newly-named version. (In this specific case, I need to keep the soon-to-be-old project archived with the date in the name [HelpProject-18-June-2018.hmxp, for example] while I forge ahead on HelpProject-24-September-2018.hmxp.)

Frustratingly, I find that the new "Saved As" version uses the Project Search Path of the older version. As a result, references to all the images, etc. are to the sub-directories under the old version. I then have to copy over the sub-folders from the old version, plus go to Configuration and change the new hmxp's Project Search Path to the new sub-folders... which are -- at the point of Saving As -- identical to the old ones.

It would save time and noodling if I could just Save As the new project alongside the soon-to-be-older project, in the same directory, drawing from the same sub-folders.
User avatar
Tim Green
Site Admin
Posts: 23156
Joined: Mon Jun 24, 2002 9:11 am
Location: Bruehl, Germany
Contact:

Re: Puzzling over Save As (uncompressed XML)

Unread post by Tim Green »

Dave Gehman wrote:It would save time and noodling if I could just Save As the new project alongside the soon-to-be-older project, in the same directory, drawing from the same sub-folders.
That's not physically possible, since a project is a closely-integrated whole. Saving two projects in the same folder would be like saving a second single-file HMXZ project inside the first one.

The project search path problem can be mitigated by forward-looking structuring:
  • All graphics and other additional assets should ideally be in sub-folders inside the project folder. Then you just copy these sub-folders to the new copy and it has its own copies of the assets. The references are relative, so you don't need to change any search path settings for folders inside the project folder.
  • The copy should ideally be inside the same folder where the original project is stored. Then references to folders outside that folder will also be correct.
Regards,
Tim (EC Software Documentation & User Support)

Private support:
Please do not email or PM me with private support requests -- post to the forum directly.
Dave Gehman
Posts: 575
Joined: Sat Sep 23, 2017 9:05 pm

Re: Puzzling over Save As (uncompressed XML)

Unread post by Dave Gehman »

Still not quite clear, though I think I see the rationale. And yes, I have subfolders for IMAGES as well as the system-generated _history, Maps and Topics.

However...
Tim Green wrote: The copy should ideally be inside the same folder where the original project is stored. Then references to folders outside that folder will also be correct.
Do you mean the same parent folder? That is, something like:
[Projects folder}
  • [folder with Original project]
    [folder with new project copy]
?

Copying into the same folder is what I wanted to do...
User avatar
Tim Green
Site Admin
Posts: 23156
Joined: Mon Jun 24, 2002 9:11 am
Location: Bruehl, Germany
Contact:

Re: Puzzling over Save As (uncompressed XML)

Unread post by Tim Green »

Dave Gehman wrote:Do you mean the same parent folder? That is, something like:
[Projects folder}
  • [folder with Original project]
    [folder with new project copy]

Yes, same parent folder, exactly as shown above.
Copying into the same folder is what I wanted to do...
Copying to the same project folder is completely out of the question and strictly forbidden. Doing so would only create a mess. :?
Regards,
Tim (EC Software Documentation & User Support)

Private support:
Please do not email or PM me with private support requests -- post to the forum directly.
Post Reply