Where are versions saved?

[Fitch]

Where does Storyist save versions? If I want to go find an old version using Finder, where do I look?

 

Foolish question as it turned out. The User's Manual clearly explained that versions are part of the OS X backup system. I asked because I nearly lost all my effort creating the one file version of my Novel. I'd saved it a couple of times, I write down the file names on a piece of paper and where I put them. That file was nowhere to be found. It didn't appear in the versions from yesterday either, so probably it was operator error. I thought I had saved it more than once. I had an untitled4.story file that turned out to have an almost finished version of the document. I found that this morning, so I saved 95% of the effort.

 

I notice that Word for Mac has the familiar (to a long time PC user) "Save As" feature which allows saving under a new name, in a different location, and even as a different file type. The Mac native SW doesn't appear to have this feature. Storyist doesn't have it. It allows me to rename a file but it's the same file under the same name, not a new copy under a different name. Apparently to get the equivalent of a ]"Save AS" + new name] I need to go to Finder, create a duplicate which will have the same filename with (Copy) inserted into it. Then open that copy in Storyist, change the name, and save it. I didn't find the option to rename it in Finder.

 

WriteWay gave me the option to save a time stamped copy of the document file in the directory of my choice. I liked that feature. Versions is clearly an attempt to implement a similar feature but it doesn't give the user the same level of control that saving a time stamped "Snap Shot" file does.

 

Thanks

Fitch

[Steve]

Hi Fitch,

Foolish question as it turned out. The User's Manual clearly explained that versions are part of the OS X backup system. I asked because I nearly lost all my effort creating the one file version of my Novel. I'd saved it a couple of times, I write down the file names on a piece of paper and where I put them. That file was nowhere to be found. It didn't appear in the versions from yesterday either, so probably it was operator error. I thought I had saved it more than once. I had an untitled4.story file that turned out to have an almost finished version of the document. I found that this morning, so I saved 95% of the effort.

Glad you found the file. One easy way to find your Storyist files is this:

1. Open a Finder window.
2. Type ".story" in the search field.
3. Click "This Mac" in the search bar above the results.

This will show you all the Storyist files that are visible to Finder. It won't show you that are part of the backup system. It also won't show your untitled files unless you are using the Mac App Store version of Storyist, which stores untitled file in your iCloud folder. In general it is a good idea to save a new file to disk after you create it.

 

I notice that Word for Mac has the familiar (to a long time PC user) "Save As" feature which allows saving under a new name, in a different location, and even as a different file type. The Mac native SW doesn't appear to have this feature. Storyist doesn't have it. It allows me to rename a file but it's the same file under the same name, not a new copy under a different name. Apparently to get the equivalent of a ]"Save AS" + new name] I need to go to Finder, create a duplicate which will have the same filename with (Copy) inserted into it. Then open that copy in Storyist, change the name, and save it. I didn't find the option to rename it in Finder.

WriteWay gave me the option to save a time stamped copy of the document file in the directory of my choice. I liked that feature. Versions is clearly an attempt to implement a similar feature but it doesn't give the user the same level of control that saving a time stamped "Snap Shot" file does.

Save As is just a File > Duplicate command followed by a File > Save command. If you hold down the option key when you click on the File menu, you'll see a Save As command, which is a shortcut for those two operations. This will work in all OS X applications that adopt the "modern" document model.

 

-Steve

[Fitch]

Hi Fitch,

 

Glad you found the file. One easy way to find your Storyist files is this:

1. Open a Finder window.
2. Type ".story" in the search field.
3. Click "This Mac" in the search bar above the results.

This will show you all the Storyist files that are visible to Finder. It won't show you that are part of the backup system. It also won't show your untitled files unless you are using the Mac App Store version of Storyist, which stores untitled file in your iCloud folder. In general it is a good idea to save a new file to disk after you create it.

 

Save As is just a File > Duplicate command followed by a File > Save command. If you hold down the option key when you click on the File menu, you'll see a Save As command, which is a shortcut for those two operations. This will work in all OS X applications that adopt the "modern" document model.

 

-Steve

 

Hi Steve,

 

Thanks.

 

Finding that file was huge. I had a day devoted to converting from the Scrivener multi-file version to the single text file version. I still had the RTF files I used to create it, but there was still a bunch of clean up time saved. The conversion result was well worth it.

 

That Option key combined with the file menu will be a big help. (I'm beginning to think I don't know enough to know how much I don't know about the Mac and the conventions common in the software, but I'll get there.)

 

Fitch