Help Index → Working with Node View and Raw JSON → Use case 13
Pretty Print reads the current editor into the model and reloads indented text; it is not read-only formatting. Use this example only on a non-inventory tab after preserving every pending pane. Inventory Raw JSON synchronization is defective, so do not Pretty Print it as a safe editing or formatting workflow.
Before you start
- Load the intended save and open the tab whose Raw JSON is hard to read.
- Review any pending text edits before formatting. Keep a separate copy of text you cannot afford to lose, especially if it may contain a syntax error.
- Before any sync, Pretty Print or structured refresh, copy EACH pending Raw JSON pane’s complete text to a separate external file. Successful tab sync refreshes ALL Raw JSON panes and can erase pending text elsewhere.
- A parse error can leave the old tree with a green sync light; an empty [] is silently ignored. Neither green nor a completion notice proves the intended value applied. Preserve text, compare the exact value in both panes, then correct/retry or deliberately reload; Pretty Print can overwrite failed text with the old model.
Steps
- If several panes contain wanted pending work, preserve ALL before any refresh. If applying it, reapply and verify one non-inventory tab at a time; never simply sync each changed tab. Keep inventory text externally and reproduce supported changes with structured tools instead.
- Inspect the Raw JSON text and synchronization light. Decide whether pending edits are intentional before continuing. (control reference)
- If the text contains an unfinished or unwanted change, finish correcting it or deliberately reload saved data instead of treating Pretty Print as a repair tool. (control reference)
- On Bases, Starships or Teleport Endpoints only, with all pending panes preserved and the intended values reviewed, click Pretty Print. Do not use this recipe on Inventory Processing. (control reference)
- Inspect the resulting indentation, line breaks and rebuilt Node View. The formatter serializes the model’s data with four-space indentation. (control reference)
- If parsing reports an error, stop and compare the displayed text with your preserved copy. Correct the error before formatting or synchronizing again. (control reference)
- Use Search Text or Highlight In Text Box to relocate the field you were inspecting after reformatting. (control reference)
Expected result
- On a non-inventory tab with successfully applied, supported nonempty text, the editor is indented and Node View refreshes from the model; compare actual values to verify that condition.
- Even unchanged spacing in inventory text can invoke the defective inventory update path. Pretty Print is not safe there merely because no value edit was intended.
What changes, and when to save
Pretty Print can update editor text and app memory. It does not write a game file, create a backup, or mark a verified live save complete. A refreshed pane is not proof that pending text survived; compare the intended values with your external copies before authorizing a live write.
Check the result
- Check that the intended values and containing records are still present, not just that the text looks neater.
- Check the tab synchronization light and Modified Data Saved separately; a formatting-related editor event may conservatively mark the session changed.
Important details and recovery
- Do not use formatting as JSON error recovery; parsing failure is not a promise that pending invalid text survives unchanged.
- Indentation does not establish that the game supports the data.
- Inventory Raw JSON synchronization is currently defective: it adds index-keyed data inside inventory dictionaries instead of replacing the intended records. Do not sync or Pretty Print inventory text as an editing workflow; keep it externally, use supported structured inventory tools, and inspect actual Name, Slots and unexpected fields before saving.