I have a couple different questions regarding saving.
The first questions is reference the saving formats. What is the difference between .env files, and .drl files, and why are they both necessary? I even have a file in my folder right now that is "*filename*.env.drl". Is this normal?
The second question (and I don't know if this is something intentional, or a bug), why does it prompt me to select a file to save to after I have opened a file. Example: Say I open file "Show1.drl" (or Show.env), work on it some, and decide to take a break for while. I go up and click the save button and I get a pop up that is prompting me to select a file name to save to in order to keep multiple files organized.This has caused me to have multiple files saved for some reason, and I'm afraid to delete any of them for fewar I will lose my work. Shouldn't it just save to the file that I had already opened? Thanks in advance!
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Questions
Re: Questions
Hi gpit11,
That is a very good question. We've had this question come up a few times recently so I'm glad that you decided to ask it on the forum.
Very simply:
In your situation with the filename.env.drl, it's likely that you tried to save a production as the same name as your show. EnVision automatically gives all production files a .drl extension. So if you tried to save your production as "filename.env" then it would actually save it as "filename.env.drl".
Second question: "why does it prompt me to select a file to save to after I have opened a file?"
The answer is somewhat confusing. When saving a production, EnVision always saves a .EnV file as well. Most of the time this is not an issue as you should have saved it when you saved the show the first time, after that EnVision will keep track of the .EnV file and automatically save it when you save the .drl file. However, in some circumstances EnVision cannot find the .EnV file and so when you try to save it will ask you to save a new .EnV file. This can happen if the .EnV file is renamed or moved to a different folder. It will also happen if you share the plain .drl file with someone and they try to save it on their machine.
The most recent version of EnVision, v1.3.04, has added some features to make keeping track of .EnV files a lot easier. It will automatically try to find a lost .EnV file when you load a .drl file and will ask you to find it if it cannot do so on it's own. You can also re-connect an orphaned .EnV file through the show manager tool. Check out the full list of updates ( viewtopic.php?f=5&t=7&start=10#p1649) for more new features.
Some rules to keep your files organized:
All that being said, the current setup is obviously not ideal so we are investigating other ways to organize the files. In the end all the different productions will probably end up in a single file so that you won't have to worry about any of the above.
I hope that clears things up a bit for you,
Thanks again for posting!
William
That is a very good question. We've had this question come up a few times recently so I'm glad that you decided to ask it on the forum.
Very simply:
- .drl files hold the actual drill information (performers, movement, forms, sets etc.)
- .EnV files contain show information. For example if you have 3 productions (songs) in your show then each production will be contained in a separate .drl file. Then the .EnV file keeps track of each .drl file so that you can switch between productions within EnVision and share your entire show at once.
- production1.drl
- production2.drl
- production3.drl
- show.EnV
In your situation with the filename.env.drl, it's likely that you tried to save a production as the same name as your show. EnVision automatically gives all production files a .drl extension. So if you tried to save your production as "filename.env" then it would actually save it as "filename.env.drl".
Second question: "why does it prompt me to select a file to save to after I have opened a file?"
The answer is somewhat confusing. When saving a production, EnVision always saves a .EnV file as well. Most of the time this is not an issue as you should have saved it when you saved the show the first time, after that EnVision will keep track of the .EnV file and automatically save it when you save the .drl file. However, in some circumstances EnVision cannot find the .EnV file and so when you try to save it will ask you to save a new .EnV file. This can happen if the .EnV file is renamed or moved to a different folder. It will also happen if you share the plain .drl file with someone and they try to save it on their machine.
The most recent version of EnVision, v1.3.04, has added some features to make keeping track of .EnV files a lot easier. It will automatically try to find a lost .EnV file when you load a .drl file and will ask you to find it if it cannot do so on it's own. You can also re-connect an orphaned .EnV file through the show manager tool. Check out the full list of updates ( viewtopic.php?f=5&t=7&start=10#p1649) for more new features.
Some rules to keep your files organized:
- Name each Production (drill/song) differently. A good choice would be to use the name of the show and the name of the song i.e.
- MyShow_2012_Song1.drl
- MyShow_2012_Song2.drl
- I also like to add versions to my drill files so I can go back to an older version if I don't like the last couple sets I've written:
- 2012.10.10-1_MyShow_Song2_First_Impact.drl
- 2012.10.10-2_MyShow_Song2_LetterC.drl
- Name the show file with the show title and possibly the name of the group it is for:
- MyGroup_2012_MyShow.EnV
All that being said, the current setup is obviously not ideal so we are investigating other ways to organize the files. In the end all the different productions will probably end up in a single file so that you won't have to worry about any of the above.
I hope that clears things up a bit for you,
Thanks again for posting!
William