Sometimes there comes the need to use part of a prototype in another prototype, or to share only a portion of a whole prototype with colleagues. To achieve it, the import and export prototype options are provided. They let you select a subset of elements of a prototype and export them into a new prototype file, and also load a prototype and select a subset of elements to import into another prototype.
The export prototype option is accessible via the File → Export → Prototype... menu. It presents a list of all the exportable prototype elements -screens, scenarios, data masters, templates and masters- on the left and lets you select the elements that are to be exported.
Once you select an
element (tick the checkbox on its left), the template it depends on is selected automaticaly; but other elements it depends
on (e.g. the links or masters that appear
in that screen...) are marked with a warning symbol (
).
These elements must be ticked if you want the selected element to be
fully featured and appear in the exact same face as in the source
prototype. However, if they are not exported they just won't appear
in the final prototype. On the right there are two buttons:
Click on Add Direct Dependencies to automatically add all the elements that are direct dependencies of the elements currently ticked.
Click on Add All Dependencies to make the same process recursively for all add elements until no dependencies are missing.
When you have selected all the desired elements and have dealt with the dependencies, click the … button to select the target file location and give the target file a name. Exported files have the .vp extension. Finally, click on the Ok button to perform the export.
The import prototype option is accessible via the File → Import → Prototype... menu. In the import prototype screen, first select the prototype you want to import. Once selected, the bottom area displays a list of conflicts. A conflict occurs when there are elements in the imported prototype with the same name and type than other elements in the open prototype. For each conflict detected, the system offers three actions:
Copy: Copies the element under a new name, so that you get both in the final prototype. The new name is the old name with a number suffix.
Discard: Discards the imported element and keeps the original one. The imported element is lost. That's the option by default.
Update: Discards the original element and updates it with the imported. The original element is lost.
In the list, each element has three radio buttons to select the action you desire. Once you have dealt with all the conflicts, click Ok to perform the import.