Added a good chunk of text to documentation
This commit is contained in:
Veronica K. B. Olsen
@@ -4,5 +4,276 @@
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</head>
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<body>
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<h1>novelWriter Help</h1>
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<a name="Content"></a>
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<h3>Content:</h3>
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<ul>
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<li><a href="#Proj">1. Novel Projects</a></li>
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<ul>
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<li><a href="#Proj_Structure">1.1 Project Structure</a></li>
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<li><a href="#Proj_Settings">1.2 Project Settings</a></li>
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<li><a href="#Proj_Documents">1.3 Writing Files</a></li>
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</ul>
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<li><a href="#Novel">2. Novel Structure</a></li>
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<ul>
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<li><a href="#Novel_Headings">2.1 Importance of Headings</a></li>
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<li><a href="#Novel_Files">2.2 Novel File Layout</a></li>
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</ul>
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<li><a href="#GUI">3. User Interface</a></li>
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<ul>
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<li><a href="#GUI_Shortcuts">3.1 Keyboard Shortcuts</a></li>
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</ul>
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<li><a href="#Code">4. Technical Information</a></li>
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<ul>
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<li><a href="#Code_Project">4.1 How Data is Stored</a></li>
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</ul>
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</ul>
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<a name="Proj"></a>
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<h2>1. Novel Projects</h2>
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<p><a href="#Content">Back to top</a></p>
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<p>A novelWriter project requires a dedicated folder for storing its files. See the
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<a href="#Code">Technical Information</a> section for further details.</p>
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<p>A new project can be created from the Project menu by selecting <mark>Project > New
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Project</mark>. A list of recently opened projects is also maintained and can be selected
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from the menu.</p>
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<p>The project specific settings are available in <mark>Project > Project Settings</mark>. See
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further details below.</p>
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<a name="Proj_Structure"></a>
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<h3>1.1 Project Structure</h3>
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<p><a href="#Content">Back to top</a></p>
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<p>Projects are structured into a set of root folders in the left side tree view panel.</p>
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<p>The core novel files go into a root folder of type <mark>NOVEL</mark>. Other supporting files
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go into root folders of types <mark>PLOT</mark>, <mark>CHARACTER</mark>, <mark>WORLD</mark>,
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<mark>TIMELINE</mark>, <mark>OBJECT</mark> or <mark>CUSTOM</mark>. These other root folder
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types are intended for your notes on the various elements of your story. Using these are of
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course entirely optional.</p>
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<p>Deleted files will be moved into a special <mark>TRASH</mark> root folder. Currently, these
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files cannot be permanently deleted from the project.</p>
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<h4>Orphaned Documents</h4>
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<p>In the event the editor crashes or otherwise exits without saving the project state, files
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that have been added to the project tree and are saved to disk will appear in a special
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"Orphaned Items" root folder next time the application is started. These orphaned files will
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not have any meta data associated with them, so the title and other information has to be
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set again, and the files moved back to the correct location in the project.</p>
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<h4>Using Project Folders</h4>
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<p>Folders, aside from root folders, have no structural significance to the project. They are
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there purely as a way for the user to organise the files in meaningful sections and to be
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able to close them in the tree view. When processing the files in the novel, the folders are
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ignored.</p>
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<a name="Proj_Settings"></a>
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<h3>1.2 Project Settings</h3>
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<p><a href="#Content">Back to top</a></p>
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<p>The project settings can be accessed from the <mark>Project > Project Settings</mark> menu
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entry. This will open a dialog box.</p>
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<h4>Settings Tab</h4>
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<p>The Settings tab holds the project title and author settings. <em>Working Title</em> can be
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set to a different title than the <em>Book Title</em>. The difference between them is simply
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that the Working Title is used for the GUI (main window title) and when the export features
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are added can optionally be printed to the cover sheet. The Book Title, on the other hand,
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will only be printed to the title page on export.</p>
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<p>The <em>Book Authors</em> text box takes one author per line. The line breaks matter in that
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this is converted to a list for later correct formatting.</p>
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<h4>Status Tab</h4>
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<p>Each file of type <mark>NOVEL</mark> can be given a status level, signified by a coloured
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icon. These are purely there for the user's convenience, and you are not required to use
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them for any other feature to work. The intention is to use this list to set what stage of
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writing you are on, although you can in principle make them whatever you want.</p>
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<p>Note that status levels currently in use by a file cannot be deleted.</p>
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<h4>Importance Tab</h4>
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<p>Each file of types <mark>PLOT</mark>, <mark>CHARACTER</mark>, <mark>WORLD</mark>,
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<mark>TIMELINE</mark>, <mark>OBJECT</mark> or <mark>CUSTOM</mark> can be given an importance
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level, signified by a coloured icon like for status level. These are also purely there for
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the user's convenience, and you are not required to use them for any other feature to work.
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The intention is to use this list to set how important the character, plot element, or
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otherwise, is for the story. Again, these can in principle be used for whatever you want.
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<p>Note that importance levels currently in use by a file cannot be deleted.</p>
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<h4>Auto-Replace Tab</h4>
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<p>A set of automatically replaced keywords can be added in this tab. The keywords in the left
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column wile be replaced by the text in the right column when documents are opened in the
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viewer. This will also be applied to exports when the feature is added.</p>
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<p>Note that a keyword cannot contain any spaces. The angle brackets are dded by default, and
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when used in the text are a part of the keyword to be replaced. This is to ensure that parts
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of the text isn't unintentionally replaced by the content of the list.</p>
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<a name="Proj_Documents"></a>
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<h2>1.3 Writing Files</h2>
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<p><a href="#Content">Back to top</a></p>
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<p>New document files can be created from the Document menu, or by pressing <mark>Ctrl+N</mark>
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while in the tree view pane. This will create a new, empty file, and open the item settings
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dialog where the filename and various other settings can be set. This dialog can also be
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opened again later from either the menu, <mark>Project > Edit item</mark>, or by pressing
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<mark>Ctrl+E</mark> or <mark>F2</mark> with the item selected.</p>
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<p>The different classes of documents have some restrictions.</p>
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<a name="Novel"></a>
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<h2>2. Novel Structure</h2>
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<p><a href="#Content">Back to top</a></p>
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<a name="Novel_Headings"></a>
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<h3>2.1 Importance of Headings</h3>
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<p><a href="#Content">Back to top</a></p>
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<a name="Novel_Files"></a>
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<h3>2.2 Novel File Layout</h3>
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<p><a href="#Content">Back to top</a></p>
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<p>Files that exist under the <mark>NOVEL</mark> type root folder can have a number of layouts
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set. See overview below. These layouts are currently not used for any internal feature, but
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when the export feature is added they will be important in determining how the different
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sections of the novel is formatted.</p>
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<table>
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<tr>
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<td><mark>Title Page</mark></td>
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<td>The title page layout. The title should be formatted as a heading of level 1, that
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is one hash: <mark># Book Title</mark></td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td><mark>Book</mark></td>
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<td>In principle, the entire novel can be contained in a single file. In that case, use
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the Book layout on this file. The internal structure is then controlled by the
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heading levels.</td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td><mark>Plain Page</mark></td>
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<td>A plain page is just that, It is not included into content and the heading levels
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are ignored.</td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td><mark>Partition</mark></td>
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<td>A partition can be used to split a the novel into parts. Use a level one heading for
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this.</td>
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</tr>
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</table>
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<a name="GUI"></a>
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<h2>3. User Interface</h2>
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<p><a href="#Content">Back to top</a></p>
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<a name="GUI_Shortcuts"></a>
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<h3>3.1 Keyboard Shortcuts</h3>
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<p><a href="#Content">Back to top</a></p>
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<p>All features are available as keyboard shortcuts. These are as following:</p>
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<table>
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<tr>
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<td><mark>Ctrl+1</mark></td>
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<td>Switch focus to tree view pane.</td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td><mark>Ctrl+2</mark></td>
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<td>Switch focus to document editor pane.</td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td><mark>Ctrl+3</mark></td>
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<td>Switch focus to document viewer pane.</td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td><mark>Return</mark></td>
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<td>If in tree view, open a document for editing.</td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td><mark>Ctrl+R</mark></td>
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<td>If in tree view, open a document for viewing. If in editor pane, open current document for viewing.</td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td><mark>Ctrl+E</mark></td>
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<td>If in tree view, edit a document or folder settings.</td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td><mark>Ctrl+Del</mark></td>
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<td>If in tree view, move a document to trash, or delete a folder.</td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td><mark>Ctrl+S</mark></td>
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<td>Save the current document in the editor.</td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td><mark>Ctrl+Shift+S</mark></td>
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<td>Save the current project.</td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td><mark>Ctrl+A</mark></td>
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<td>Select all text in document.</td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td><mark>Ctrl+Shift+A</mark></td>
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<td>Select all text in current paragraph.</td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td><mark>Ctrl+B</mark></td>
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<td>Format selected text, or word under cursor, as bold.</td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td><mark>Ctrl+I</mark></td>
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<td>Format selected text, or word under cursor, as italic.</td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td><mark>Ctrl+U</mark></td>
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<td>Format selected text, or word under cursor, as underline.</td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td><mark>Ctrl+D</mark></td>
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<td>Wrap selected text, or word under cursor, in double quotes.</td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td><mark>Ctrl+Shift+D</mark></td>
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<td>Wrap selected text, or word under cursor, in single quotes.</td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td><mark>Ctrl+F7</mark></td>
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<td>Toggle spell checking.</td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td><mark>F7</mark></td>
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<td>Re-run spell checker.</td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td><mark>Ctrl+.</mark></td>
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<td>Correct word under cursor.</td>
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</tr>
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</table>
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<a name="Code"></a>
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<h2>4. Technical Information</h2>
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<p><a href="#Content">Back to top</a></p>
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<p>This section contains details of how novelWriter stores and handles the project data.</p>
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<a name="Code_Project"></a>
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<h3>4.1 How Data is Stored</h3>
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<p><a href="#Content">Back to top</a></p>
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<h4>Main Project File</h4>
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<p>The project itself requires a dedicated folder for storing its files. The main project file
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is stored as an XML file with the name <mark>nwProject.nwx</mark>. This file contains all
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the meta data unique for the project. That includes project settings.</p>
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<p>If this file is lost or corrupted, the structure of the project is lost. It is important to
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keep this file backed up.</p>
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<p>The project XML file is suitable for diff tools and version control, although a timesetamp is
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set in the meta section on line 2 each time the file is saved.</p>
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<h4>Project Documents</h4>
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<p>The project documents are saved in folders staring with <mark>data_</mark>. Each document has
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a file handle taken from the first 13 characters of a SHA256 hash of the system time. the
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documents are saved with a folder and filename derived from this hash.</p>
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<p>The reason for this is to avoid issues with file naming conventions and restrictions. The
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file name set in the tree view is only saved in the project XML file.</p>
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<p>Each document file contains a plain text version of the text from the editor. The file can in
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principle be edited in any text editor, and is suitable for diffing and version control if
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so desired.</p>
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</body>
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</html>
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Reference in New Issue
Block a user