Save a Document

As you modify a module or section in the Outline Editor, the Developer automatically saves your changes. However, when you open other editors to modify a document such as a topic, package, web page, glossary, or role, you need to save the changes. If you have not saved your latest changes when you close the document editor, a Save Document message opens asking if you to save the document.

The first time you save a document, the Save Document dialog box opens allowing you to name the document and select a folder for storing the document. The Save Document dialog box automatically filters the document display for the document type you are saving. However, if you want to see the names of all documents stored in a folder, you can use the Type field to view all documents. Once a document has been saved, its name appears in the document editor tab. Subsequent saves do not display the Save Document dialog box; instead, your changes are saved to the existing document.

Note: By default, the Developer automatically creates a temporary backup copy of any open document every 10 minutes if a change has occurred. This option can be disabled or the time interval between autosaves changed in the AutoSave section of the Library category on the Options dialog box.

Naming Documents

Each document in the Library is identified with a unique Document ID made up of a long series of letters and numbers, such as 3c4c7b1a-a50a-4d54-3719c6b47732. No two documents in the Library have the same Document ID. When you save the document, you give it a meaningful name, one that identifies its contents or use. There are no restrictions on the length of the name or on the characters used. You can use any combination of letters, numbers, special characters and spaces to name a document. Since the Developer treats this name as a property of the document and does not use this name to identify the document, a folder can contain multiple documents with the same name.

Save As

The Save As command provides the opportunity to create a copy of a document by opening the Save Document dialog box, where you can give the document a new name and select a folder in which to store the document. This creates a new document identical to the original, with all links to the original document preserved in the new copy. For example, if a topic is linked to a web page, and you save the topic with a new name, the new copy is also linked to the same web page. The Save As command is available in any document editor except the Outline Editor. You cannot use Save As to create a new copy of an outline or section document. To create copies of these documents, you can use copy and paste.

Warning! Using Save As to save a document with the same name and to the same folder creates a copy of the original rather than overwriting it. You will be prompted that a document already exists at the save location and that saving will create a new document.

networking icon Multi-user Considerations

When you save a checked out document, it is saved to your data storage location regardless of whether you are working online or offline. You must check the document in to insure that the server has the most recent copy. A new document is not added to the server until you check it in. If a document has never been checked in, your local copy is the only copy of that document.

If you click the Keep checked out option on the Check In Comment dialog box during check in, the content is checked in and the version number incremented by 1 but the document remains checked out and unavailable for editing by other users.

Open documents display check in/out indicators in the document editor tab. While you can edit a checked in or locked document, you cannot save your changes to the original document.

If you edit a document that you did not check out (in other words, a checked out document was opened in Read-Only mode and edited) and you want to save the changes, you may still be able to save it. If you have access rights to the document and it has not been checked out by someone else, you are given the option to save the changes to the original document name. If you choose to save the changes, the document is checked out and the changes are saved. If you do not want to save the changes to the original document, you can save the document as a different document name or you can abandon the changes without saving.

Note: Saving changes to a document that is not checked out to you is not a recommended best practice. This functionality is designed to allow you to save changes to a document that was unintentionally edited in Read-Only mode.

procimageTo save a document:

  1. On the File menu, choose  Save.
  2. Type a name for the document.
  3. Navigate to the folder where you want to store the new document.

    You can use the Save in list and the icons in the dialog box to navigate folder levels. Click to create a new subfolder in the currently selected folder.

  4. Click Save.

Note: You can also open an existing document and use Save As on the File menu to save a copy of the document with a new name and/or to another folder.

Note: If you split the layout of the work area, you must first activate the pane containing the document before saving it. The tab of the active pane shows the document name in bold text, while the text is not bold in the inactive panes.

Related Topics

Use Folders and Documents