Compile Sets

Scrivener Wish List
9

No. :smiley: Because (a) as you noted already we don’t do features by popular request and (b) now you’re talking about something way beyond the scope of what the original poster was talking about (I think?). We’ve gone from saving sets of Draft items to select between when compiling, to saving the entire compile setup into presets. I don’t even think most people would want to conflate the two, honestly. If I switch from proofing chapter 8 and 12, to printing the whole draft, I don’t want to lose dozens of settings that I now have to painstakingly recreate from memory because they are off in an other preset. I just want to compile chapters 1 – 24.

So maybe that’s part of the confusion here. I am answering the original poster’s request of providing a better way to switch between compiling chapter’s 1 – 12 and 13 – 24, and that’s it (as far as the concept goes).

As to addressing what they want, maybe things are being overcomplicated by some of the above—but this specifically is as simple as this:

  1. In the binder, select all the files you want to compile and use Documents ▸ Add to Collection ▸ New Collection. Call it “Compile Job” or whatever. Since it is a collection these items can come from anywhere, front matter, draft folder, research. They can be added all at once or assembled and carefully curated gradually over the course of years.
  2. Open Compile, click the filter button, and enable Apply filter. Set it to: “Include” “Documents in Collection” “Compile Job”.
  3. Compile.

As you work, edit the Collection to change what compiles the next time, using the normal collection tools, and then compile again without changing a single setting in there.

To get back to defaults:

  1. Open the compiler, click the filter button and disable Apply filter.
  2. Compile.

Nothing in any of that should disturb your front/back matter settings. You don’t have to modify any compile settings other than that one single checkbox after initial setup. That described method works best for some ways of working, but for others, having a few collections to select between (one extra click) will be beneficial, and again the binder selection option will be best for those where “sets” really only means whatever they want to compile at any given moment.

If anything is not working as I described above, then those are potential beta bugs worth posting to the forum.

Now on that matter specifically, I do believe there are still one or two outstanding bugs with how front matter is handled in the beta.

By and large I would say most people are satisfied with how the compiler compartmentalises versus shares settings in the completed design. I don’t think we’ve had anyone ask for SuperMetaPresets before, in fact.

It is segregated where it needs to be, and shares settings where it should. If you elect to strip all colours out of the document (maybe you use revisions) then that isn’t something you want to have to go in and remember to set every time you switch to a new file type. The main exception is the compile Format, which is bound to the file type, and that seems to please most people. If you switch to PDF you get your “Manuscript (Courier)” or whatever, and “Modern” for HTML. Front and back matter should stick across all outputs unless you choose otherwise.