5 Saving a project

e-SOFTA allows you to save projects in two formats: in normal mode or in solution mode. Normal projects, saved with the .sft file extension, are saved when you want to come back to the project later. Solution projects, saved with the .sfc file extension, are ones that you want to use as exemplars, i.e., for other users to compare their ratings with yours. Allowing different users to compare their ratings with a Solution project is an important feature of the e-SOFTA..

An important characteristic of the Solution projects is that they allow you to revise the exact video segments where any marked indicator occurred.

The File menu option gives you three different ways to save your project:

a) Save, which saves the most recent changes to your project (.sft)

b) Save as, which allows you to save a copy of a project under a different file name (.sft)

c) Save as solution, which saves the project as a solution project (.sfc)

Important: Once the file is saved as a solution project (.sfc), it cannot be changed. Changes can only be made to the .sft file. For this reason, you should always keep a copy of .sft in a computer file. In other words, do NOT create a .sfc file until all of the changes are final.

When you save your dimensional ratings, e-SOFTA automatically assesses their concordance with the SOFTA-o guidelines. If there is an error, a message automatically appears, such as “If only positive items are checked, the score must be above 0.” This message would appear if, for example, you had checked one positive behavior but then given the client a Safety rating of 0.

Another window will then ask if you want to save the project as is or to revise your ratings: