Script Debugger can save compiled script files in two formats. You can choose a format either from the File > Script Format hierarchical menu or in the Save dialog.

• Compiled Script. A file with the compiled bytecode in the data fork. This is the default format created by the current version of Apple’s AppleScript Editor. It is backwards compatible to all versions of Mac OS X and to very late versions of AppleScript in Mac OS 9.

• Compiled Script Bundle. A bundle (package) with the bytecode as a data fork compiled script file inside the bundle. This format was introduced in Panther (Mac OS X 10.3) and is not backwards compatible to earlier systems. It has the advantage that you can store ancillary files inside the bundle, but be warned that some applications do not understand this format.

Historical Note: The oldest compiled script format is a file with the compiled bytecode in the resource fork. Script Debugger can open a script file in this format, but it will save with the bytecode in the data fork.

Warning: A compiled script saved in debug mode will not run normally in other environments (and will not even open in Apple’s AppleScript Editor). Unless that’s what you intend, be sure to save the script in normal mode when you’re finished debugging it.

For a plain compiled script file, Script Debugger stores some secondary information in the file’s resource fork. In a bundle format file, however, no resource forks are used; secondary information is saved in separate files. (The description is saved in an .rtfd file, the recovery text is saved in an .rtf file, and the other secondary information is saved in a .plist file.) For this reason, a bundle format file is the most compatible with version control systems, non-Mac filesystems, and so on.