Contents of Article


Using the Global Options dialog

Using the NOTIFY command


Introduction


SPFLite can be directed to inform you when a file you are working on in an Edit or Browse session has been modified by some process outside of SPFLite itself. 


How could this happen?  Well, suppose you are using SPFLite to edit a source program, but you are also using the IDE of a compiler to test your program, and that IDE also has its own editor. If you make a change in the source program within the IDE while SPFLite has the same file open, it appears to SPFLite as an external modification.


You are provided with a finer control over the conditions under which you will receive a notification. That means that you can decide how important it is to be informed that such a change has happened.


You have two means by which to manage external file modifications. One is a permanent file notification setting through the Global Options dialog, and the other is a temporary file notification setting by using the NOTIFY command. These settings always apply to all files of all types. You cannot control notifications for a file type or a specific file.


Using the Global Options dialog


The permanent file notification level is defined in the General tab of the Global Options dialog with the Notify tabs on external file change dropdown box, and is either ALL, NONE or EDIT. 


As a global option, this setting is permanent across SPFLite invocations, and is saved in the SPFLite CFG configuration file. It affects files of all file types, and is not dependent on a file's PROFILE settings. These options have the following meaning:


ALL

SPFLite will notify you in all cases when you have a file opened for Edit or Browse, and the file has been modified from outside. When this happens, you will be given an opportunity via a popup, to reload the file at that time. If you would rather reload the file later (or not at all), you can click on Cancel, and then issue the RELOAD primary command later if you wish.


NONE

SPFLite will not notify you in when you have any file opened for Edit or Browse, and the file has been modified from outside. The reason you might choose the NONE option is that you may be well aware of the reasons why your files are getting modified from the outside (probably because you are the cause of it) and you don't want to be bothered with receiving and replying to these notifications.


EDIT

SPFLite will notify you in all cases when you have a file opened for Edit (but not for Browse), and the file has been modified from outside. The reason you might choose the EDIT option is that, if you have a file open for Browse, you may not care if a file has been updated from outside, since you are not modifying it yourself within SPFLite anyway, and will not be saving it. It would be more important to be made aware of this situation in an Edit session, to avoid overwriting a file modification originating elsewhere.


Using the NOTIFY command


The NOTIFY command is used to set the temporary notification level for files opened in SPFLite that are modified by an external process. The setting you choose on NOTIFY only lasts until the next NOTIFY command, or until SPFLite is terminated.


When NOTIFY is used with the ALL, NONE or EDIT option, it sets the notification level as described above. The only difference between using the NOTIFY command and setting the option in the Global Options is that the notification level is not permanently saved.


A NOTIFY RESET command will restore the notification level to that defined in the Global Options.


A simple NOTIFY with no operand will report the current notification level in effect as of that time.


See Options - General and NOTIFY - Set Temporary File Notification Level for more information.

Created with the Personal Edition of HelpNDoc: Maximize Your PDF Protection with These Simple Steps