Veronica K. B. Olsen
42 lines
2.2 KiB
Plaintext
42 lines
2.2 KiB
Plaintext
*********************
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Technical Information
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*********************
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This section contains details of how novelWriter stores and handles the project data.
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How Data is Stored
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==================
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All novelWriter files are written with utf-8 encoding.
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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.
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Main Project File
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-----------------
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The project itself requires a dedicated folder for storing its files.
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The main project file is stored as an XML file with the name ``nwProject.nwx``.
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This file contains all the meta data unique for the project.
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That includes project settings.
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If this file is lost or corrupted, the structure of the project is lost.
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It is important to keep this file backed up.
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The last 10 versions of the file are kept in backup in the project's ``cache`` folder.
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These files are replaced on a rotation from 0 to 9.
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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.
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Project Documents
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-----------------
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The project documents are saved in folders staring with ``data_``.
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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.
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The documents are saved with a folder and filename derived from this hash.
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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.
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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.
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The file name set in the tree view is only saved in the project XML file.
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Each document file contains a plain text version of the text from the editor.
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The file can in principle be edited in any text editor, and is suitable for diffing and version control if so desired.
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Just make sure the file remains in utf-8 encoding, otherwise unicode chatracters may become mangled.
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