Other people's version of FD not working

[SBdeb]

So I wanted to open my friend's script to make some basic corrections to spelling, grammar, etc. I'm using version 8, he's got version 9.

He sent it, and it opens normally the way that I'm used to seeing, but at the end, there is no script to see! It acts and thinks it [his script] is OPEN but I can't see it. When I go to close it, it says "Save XXX??"

Is this a simply fix that someone can help me with? Is this a version incompatibility kind of thing?

[cvolante]

Re: Other people's version of FD not working

Can the person save it as version 8? Usually that's an option. Other ideas - can the person save it as RTF or a PDF?

[Ronaldinho]

Re: Other people's version of FD not working

It may well be that FD files aren't backwards compatible. I think they're supposed to be, but that's the sort of thing that FD hasn't been super careful about in past updates (even ignoring the .fdr to .fdx switch).

Ironically, you may have better luck in an application that reads .fdx files but isn't actually made by them, like Fade In or Writer Duet.

[SBdeb]

Re: Other people's version of FD not working

cvolante and Ronaldinho--

thanks much for the suggestions. I'll give them a try.

[ComicBent]

Re: Other people's version of FD not working

I am trying to remember ... I think that FD-9 introduced some features that version 8 did not have - stuff with the Navigator, but do not hold me to that. I am working from memory.

In any case, as Ronald said, try Fade In. I will almost guarantee you that the file will open when you import it into Fade In, unless it got really badly corrupted somehow.

Fade In will import both .fdr and .fdx formats (old and new FD formats). However, it only exports to .fdx (the new Final Draft format).

By the way, I checked Final Draft 10 just now, with the most recent update, and it no longer lets you save/export to the old .fdr format. If the feature was there, my old eyes did not see it.

If you download the demo of Fade In, it will probably let you do the import/export business, but it has been so many years since I looked at a demo that I really do not remember. I have been a registered user of Fade In for several years now.

If you have any problems with Fade In, let me know, or check my short "how to" article on setting it up.