Saving files and version control
When you save your FLA files, use a consistent naming scheme for your documents. This is particularly important if you save multiple versions of a single project.
Some problems might occur if you only work with one FLA file and do not save versions when you create the file. Files might become larger because of the history that’s saved in the FLA file, or become corrupt (as with any software you use) while you are working on the file.
If you save multiple versions while developing, you have an earlier version available if you need to revert.
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Do not use spaces, capitalization, or special characters.
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Only use letters, numbers, dashes, and underscores.
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If you save multiple versions of the same file, devise a consistent numbering system such as menu01.swf, menu02.swf and so on.
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Consider using all lowercase characters in your naming schemes, because some server software is case sensitive.
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Consider a naming system that uses a noun-verb or adjective-noun combination for naming files, for instance, classplanning.swf and myproject.swf.
Use the following methods to save new versions of a FLA file when you build an extensive project:
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Select File > Save As, and save a new version of your document.
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Use version control software or the Project panel to control your Flash documents.
Note: SourceSafe on Windows is the only officially supported version control software that integrates with the Project panel. You can use other version control software packages with FLA documents, but not necessarily in the Project panel.You can use several options to save a file: Save, Save As, and Save and Compact. When you save a file, Flash does not analyze all the data before creating an optimized version of the document. Instead, the changes you make to the document are appended to the end of the FLA file’s data, which shortens the time it takes to save the document. When you Save As, Flash writes a new and optimized version of the file, which results in a smaller file size. When you Save and Compact, Flash creates a new optimized file (removing the undo history) and deletes the original file.
Important: If you select Save when working with a document, you can undo before that save point. Because Save and Compact deletes the earlier version of the file and replaces it with the optimized version, you cannot undo earlier changes.If you are not using version control software to create backups of your FLA file, use Save As and type a new file name for your document after every milestone in your project.
Many software packages allow users to use version control with their files, which enables teams to work efficiently and reduce errors (such as overwriting files or working on old versions of a document). As with other documents, you can use these programs to organize the Flash documents outside Flash.
