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Technical Information
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This section contains details of how novelWriter stores and handles the project data.

How Data is Stored
==================

All novelWriter files are written with utf-8 encoding.
Since Python automatically converts Unix line endings to Windows line endings on Windows systems, novelWriter does not make any adaptations to the formatting on Windows systems.

Main Project File
-----------------

The project itself requires a dedicated folder for storing its files.
The main project file is stored as an XML file with the name ``nwProject.nwx``.
This file contains all the meta data unique for the project.
That includes project settings.

If this file is lost or corrupted, the structure of the project is lost.
It is important to keep this file backed up.
The last 10 versions of the file are kept in backup in the project's ``cache`` folder.
These files are replaced on a rotation from 0 to 9.

The project XML file is suitable for diff tools and version control, although a timesetamp is set in the meta section on line 2 each time the file is saved.

Project Documents
-----------------

The project documents are saved in folders starting with ``data_``.
Each document has a file handle taken from the first 13 characters of a SHA256 hash of the system time when the file was first created.
The documents are saved with a folder and filename derived from this hash.
If you wish to find the physical location of a file in the project, you can either look it up in the project XML file, or select :menuselection:`Document --> Show File Details` in the menu when having the document open.

The reason for this cryptic file naming is to avoid issues with file naming conventions and restrictions on different operating systems, and also to have a file name that does not depend on what the user names the files, or changes it to.
The file name set in the tree view is only saved in the project XML file.

Each document file contains a plain text version of the text from the editor.
The file can in principle be edited in any text editor, and is suitable for diffing and version control if so desired.
Just make sure the file remains in utf-8 encoding, otherwise unicode chatracters may become mangled.
