Document 552

Creating document shells

Version: 3.x, 4.x, 5.x - Scientific WorkPlace, Scientific Word & Scientific Notebook

You can create your own shells by saving any document as a shell file in one of the Shells subdirectories in your program installation. If you have carefully tailored a document in SWP or SW so that its typeset output meets your needs, we urge you to save your work so that you can use it again. Similarly, if you have obtained typesetting specifications or shells from another source, such as a publisher, you should save them for future use.

Of course, you can use any SWP, SW, or SNB document as the shell for a new document—it doesn't have to have an .shl extension—but saving a document as a shell removes the risk of changing something unintentionally in the original document. Further, if you save a document as a shell in one of the Shell subdirectories, its name appears in the shell list displayed when you start a new document. If you save the shell in some other directory, the name doesn't appear in the list of available shells and you can't create a new document with the shell using the New command. You can create new shell subdirectories as necessary.

In Version 4 or later, you save shells by exporting them as .shl files. Earlier versions use the Save As command.

How to save a document as a shell

  1. Open the document.

  2. If you're using Version 3.5 or earlier, from the File menu, choose Save As.

    or

    If you're using Version 4 or later, from the File menu, choose Export Document.

  3. Select a location for the new shell:

    1. In the box labeled Save in, select the Shells directory in your program installation.

    2. Select the appropriate subdirectory or create a new subdirectory for the new shell.

  4. In the box labeled File name, type a name for the shell.

    The name can include spaces and nonalphabetic characters.

  5. In the box labeled Export type, specify Shell (*.shl).

  6. Choose Save.

    The next time you open a new document, the shell name appears on the Shell Files list corresponding to the shell subdirectory you specified.

Last revised 08/22/05

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