I just updated successfully to v. 1.9, and opened and converted projects to the new file format without a hitch. In the process, Scrivener renamed “project.scrivx” files to the names of their parent .scriv folders, giving them identifiable project-related names–as advertised, and a real boon IMHO.
However, in the v. 1.9 Scrivener manual, Appendix F, “Project Bundle Format,” has some information that I find confusing. To wit: “At the top-most level, the folder will be named according to the project name you chose, and have a ‘.scriv’ extension added to it. Beneath that level, the project.scrivx file is the master file which defines the structure of your project.” This last sentence has a footnote: “In older projects on Windows, the name of the .scrivx file may match the folder name.”
This seems to imply that newly created projects will have their master files named project.scrivx, and that only on older projects will the .scrivx file be named after its parent .scriv folder, which of course bears the chosen project name. This is the reverse of the actuality, is it not? I’ve tried creating new projects as tests, and both the .scriv folder and the .scrivx file are given the name I specify in the new project dialog. Am I missing something, or is this an error in the manual?
Yes, this is a typo in the manual; thanks for catching that. Starting with 1.9 on Windows, the .scrivx file within the .scriv folder will have the same name as the .scriv folder. Older projects that use “project.scrivx” will have the .scrivx renamed when the project is upgraded to 1.9.
While we’re talking, let me drift the thread a little to note that the list of changes for v. 1.9 leads off with “Scrivener’s file format has been updated for compatibility with future mobile versions.” Cool! But inquiring minds (with too much time on their hands) want to know, what changes have been made to the file format? The description in the above-mentioned Appendix F sounds much as before, and the subfolders of the .scriv folder seem similar to what was there before. To the extent that it is prudent, legal, and safe to discuss, what’s new? Some changes in the .scrivx file mainly?
The main changes are in the comment and Scrivener link formats and that the .scrivx includes UUIDs for the documents, which are needed for the mobile version. It’s a bit of a transition phase, so the file structure and so on are mostly the same as previously, with internal changes to the .scrivx and the new .comments file format replacing the old .links files. Internal links are now stored entirely in the RTF files, so they no longer depend on the text range remaining consistent to be properly placed.