The File Menu is the gateway in to and out of VFEdit and your disk storage areas. You can think of filenames and pathnames as a mailing addresses pointing to where you saved your recordings. Without these filenames and pathnames, the disk drive could never find anything. Filenames and pathnames give the files a "mailing address" so that the disk drive can access it for you. The files themselves are the actual recordings of your audio information, in one and zeroes on magnetic media.

The File Menu lets you open a file that already contains recorded data, or create a new file containing no recorded data. You can save your work to a previously specified file, or save it to a completely new file. At the end of your edit session, you can use this menu to exit the program.

The File Open menu command retrieves and displays previously saved audio files. When you select this command, the file selection dialog box appears. Here you can select the name of the file you wish to edit.

This dialog box looks like the usual Windows File Open dialog box, except for the addition of a button named Format. If you click there you will get an additional dialog box that looks much like the File New dialog box. (Note, however, that the File Type button is inactive on this secondary dialog box. The File Type should be selected from the main File Open dialog box.) Use the File Open dialog box to select an existing file; press cancel to return to the main screen. If you type in only the file name, VFEdit assumes that the file is located in the directory shown to the right of the file name.

To select a file from the list of files, double-click the file name with the mouse (or use <TAB>, position the highlight bar and press <ENTER>).

To specify a different directory, move the cursor to the File Name text box and enter the new pathname. Press <ENTER> and a new list of files will appear.

Press OK or <ENTER> and VFEdit will load and display the sound file in the Audio Graph window.

VFEdit supports Pure (raw audio data), Indexed (VBase), and Multimedia Wave (headered) files. Pure files contain only the digitized sound. Indexed and Wave files contain raw audio data plus additional format, control, and annotation information. Indexed files permit you to group related audio segments, then access those segments by specifying an index number. It is important that you select the proper file format when opening a file. The type of file selected appears in text below the "List Files of Type" drop-down box. You can specify the type of file (Pure or Indexed) by clicking the mouse on the drop-down box button.

When you specify Indexed, you will be presented with an additional dialog box from which to select an index number. You can change your selection at any time by using the "Index" menu described later in this manual.

This is the ultimate "Undo" command, that keeps you from losing previous work if you really don't like something that you did. For example, you try to do something elaborate, with a new mode, or a new filter, or a new way of adjusting the volume-and the results are just crazy. With File Revert you can start clean with our previously saved (good) version by choosing File Revert.

File Revert cancels all accumulated changes made to an audio file since the last time you saved it, and returns you to the previous version of the file. This is a useful way to remove unwanted or experimental changes to a file.

File Revert will ask for confirmation to prevent accidental loss of your changes.

The File Save menu command lets you store your current work back to the audio file on disk.

If you made any new recordings, or made any changes to your existing audio file, remember to finish the job by saving to the original file name on disk. File Save will not ask you for a name-VFEdit assumes that you want to save using the current name, and proceeds to do so. If you request File Exit without first saving the current file, VFEdit will remind you by asking whether you wanted to save the changed file. When you select File Save, The pointer may change briefly to an hourglass during the save operation. When the arrow pointer reappears, you can resume your editing.

Save your work regularly, especially if you are in the midst of a complex edit. Frequent saves, as well as regular backups onto other media, ensure that files and changes are not lost due to power failures or other problems.

If your work was previously saved, its file name is displayed in the title bar. If no file name has been specified, you must use the File Save As command to name and save your file.

When you want to save a file for the first time, or to make a copy to a different name, use File Save As. The dialog box looks pretty much the same as the File Open dialog box, except that it does not allow you to change the "File Type" or the "Data Format". (If you need to change the "File Type" or "Data Format", see the File Export menu item discussed later.).

Use File Save As if you wish to save your work with a file name other than the one displayed in the title bar. Saving a file with a different name allows you to modify that work and save a copy of it without disturbing the original. After selecting File Save As you will be presented with a dialog box that enables you to specify the new name for your file.

This menu selection closes the currently selected audio graph window and the sound file associated with it. VFEdit will remind you to save the file if it has been modified since the last time you opened or saved.

Sometimes you need to bring in data from another file in another format. File Import allows you to load a file that was created with another editing tool, or to convert files between different sample formats.

The File Import menu item has a dialog box titled Import that looks much like the File Open and the File Save As dialog boxes. This dialog box, however, lets you specify what kind of filters you will use when reading the existing sound file. If you click on the filter list you will get another dialog box that lets you select the types of filters to use. Please see the chapter About Digital Audio for more information on anti-aliasing filters and re-sampling algorithms.

The File Import menu command lets you insert audio data from another file. After selecting File Import you can select the name of the file from which to retrieve sound. File Import is useful for moving or copying audio segments from one file to another.

To select a file from the list of files, double-click the file name with the mouse (or position the highlight bar and press <ENTER>). To specify a different directory, move the cursor to the directory box and enter the new search specification. You can specify the type of file by clicking the mouse on the "Format" button.

The triangular "At Position" specifies the position in the current file at which to insert the new audio data. When you select a "Paste" point past the end of the file, VFEdit automatically extend the file with silence if the Options Environment setting "Auto-extend file with silence" is turned on.

Sometimes you need to output a sound file in a different format than the one it was originally recorded in. File Export allows you to save a file for use with another editing tool, or to convert files between different sample formats.

The File Export menu command lets you copy all or part of the current voice file to another file. After selecting File Export you can select the name of the destination file. File Export is useful for saving parts of an Indexed or Multimedia Wave file as a "pure" audio file.

To select a file from the list of files, double-click the file name with the mouse (or position the highlight bar and press <ENTER>). To specify a different directory, move the cursor to the directory box and enter the new search specification. When you select a File Export segment that extends past the end of the current edit file, VFEdit automatically resets the segment end point to the total length of the file.

The File Menu maintains a catalog of your recently used files. You can access one of these files by selecting the specific file name.