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Backward Compatibility

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For most users, maintaining compatibility with earlier versions of WinFlash is not an issue.  Since older files are always compatible with the newest version, you can feel free to create files using any combination of the available features.

 

In some cases, however, where one is creating materials for general distribution, there may be a desire to maintain compatibility with the installed base of older versions of WinFlash. In such circumstances the following guidelines should be followed:

 

1. Create and maintain study files using the old .FLS format. The .FLU format is only usable by WinFlash v10 and later. This will preclude use of Unicode extended characters, mixed fonts and font effects except in the .INT and .RTF support files.

 

2. Keep Pair Size Limit set to 2000 characters.

 

3. Category names must be limited to 12 characters (including any spaces used).

 

4. You may use Introduction and .RTF files as long as you realize that these files will be IGNORED by pre-v6.0 versions of the program.

 

5. Don't use the "Paste From Clipboard" feature to add graphics - these files will not be seen by pre-v9.0 versions of WinFlash

 

6. Don't use the True/False or Yes/No Q&A pair type.

 

7. In multiple choice Q&A pairs, the answer must be either a SINGLE answer or None Of The Above or All Of The Above.

 

8. In fill-in-the-blank Q&A pairs don't use the Multiple Fill-In mode.

 

9. If the file is to be used by any version older than v7.01.00 (check the Help|About dialog for the version) you must delete the companion .fld file before using the file with the older program - this is because the 'history' format that tracks the results of each Q&A pair has been changed in v8.0 and later.  The last release of v7.0 was modified to handle this format as a 'pass-thru' - i.e. you can open a v8.0 .FLU file with v7.01.00 and it will not hurt any of the settings in the .fld file.

 

10. If you are planning to use the .fld file of a v8.0 or later-created file with a v7.0 version of the program, also make sure that the file is in one of the 4 'traditional' modes (Standard or Frequency Based on Priority, Range or History) before opening the file with the v7.0 version of the program.

 

The corollary of this change is that program versions older than v7.01.00 cannot use compiled .flz or .flt files created by v8.0 or later (because the .fld file is embedded within the .flz or .flt compressed file).

 

 

 

 

Page url: http://www.openwindow.com/helpfile/maintaining_backward_compatibility.htm