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A container packages multiple components into a single file to provide a delivery vehicle for related content. For example, Container1.con can contain all of the files needed for Scene 1 of a game while Container2.con can contain all files needed for Scene 2.
Containers also exist within segment files. If desired, all of the files needed to play a specific segment can be placed into that segment's internal container, so that the run-time segment file will contain all of the files needed to play the segment. This makes containers a good solution for applications such as media players, where the user selects a single file for playback.
The Script Content folder of a script component is also a container. For more information, see Embedding and Referencing Files in a Script.
Only run-time containers (.con files) actually embed other files. Authoring-mode containers (.cop files) save only links to the various files that will be embedded during a run-time save. When you save a run-time container, a full copy of each file located in the Embed Runtime folder is included in the saved file.
Containers have a Reference Runtime folder as well as an Embed Runtime folder. You can drop files into the Reference Runtime folder if you want to override standard behavior and save only a link to a file in the run-time container. Referenced files are important because they allow a number of containers to include the same files without needless duplication of data. You might, for example, want to embed all your DLS collections into a single container file and then place references to specific DLS collections in other containers. In this way you avoid wasting storage space by embedding the same multimegabyte collection in several containers.
The following illustration shows a container in the project tree. The Embed Runtime folder contains references to an audiopath, a band, and a segment that are saved with the runtime file. The Reference Runtime folder contains a reference to a DLS collection that must be distributed separately.
Add references to the Embed Runtime or Reference Runtime folder of a container by dragging the icon of an open file to the folder, or by clicking Add/Remove Files in the Container Properties window.
Note If the folder already contains a reference to the file you are attempting to insert, you cannot insert a second reference.
On the shortcut menu for a reference in a container, click Locate in Tree to select the associated file in the project tree.