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Navigation: Reference Guide > Text Editor

Using Sketch Information in the Editor

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If a model contains sketch information, the information contained in a sketch about positioning and connections will also be encoded into the Text Editor.  If there are Sketch Views for the current model, this information is stored at the end of the model equations.  The beginning of the sketch information is marked by the special character sequence \\\--///.  Everything after this is treated as sketch information, not model definition code.  

The format for storing sketch information is simple, and described briefly in Sketch Files.  For the most part it is not intended for user modification.  You can modify the variable names.  The ReplaceĀ  Var command is the easiest way to do this.  

NOTE If you add or remove variables from a model, the sketch information will be only partially valid.  Vensim uses any sketch information available, ignores information that is not applicable, and adds in the necessary words and arrows to keep the sketch and model consistent.  Because of this, you can move back and forth between the Text Editor and Sketch Editor, making incremental changes in each, without losing previous work.  

If you have your own equation format, or if you prefer to keep your original model equations intact, you can cut the sketch information from one file and paste it into another.  This allows you to keep an archived development history of model structure (see "Backup and History Files"), and at the same time have a sketch of the model available for review and display.